Deciding on tooling/ tool holding

The ways won’t ”look” worn, its an even and consistent wear across an area. Any dings or dents are usually from things like dropping the chuck when changing them out, chuck key slipping out of your hands, material slipping out of the chuck when loosening, etc. That kind of damage can usually be stoned flat.

Along those lines, I would recommend you get yourself a 1/2” or 3/4” chunk of plywood that you can slip over the ways and under the chuck to protect the ways in case the chuck slips out of your hands when swapping them. It will happen eventually, no matter how careful you are. Best just to slip the plywood in place to protect the ways and not take the risk. Ding the plywood, not the ways….

Its the “dip” in the ways from running the carriage back and forth over the same spot that is typically classified as “wear”.

To check the ways for wear, you need to drop a machinists rule on them and check them with feeler gauges under the rule. How much clearance will indicate how much wear they have.

axa vs bxa is basically just sizing. If the lathe can handle the larger size, you’re typically better of going larger. My TH42 is a 10”, so axa is about as big as you want to go there. I could cram a bxa on there, but little to anything would be gained as it would be oversized. A 12” might be appropriate for a bxa post, someone else will have to chime in on that one.

The other thing that cones to mind is setting the lathe up. You want to make sure theres no “twist” in the bed.

Basically, the length of the bed has to be in line with the headstock or you can end up cutting tapers and such. The molo has a procedure in it for setting the lathe up with a machinists level. The molo will call it “leveling” the lathe, but what its doing is making sure the ways are true to the headstock.

Note that a machinist level is not the same as a carpenters level. A machinists level is much more precise than a carpenters level. A carpenters level isn’t sensitive enough to do the job to a tolerance that is acceptable. I use an older 6” Starret machinist level. You can pick them up for around a hundred bucks of so and they will do the job just fine. You can find them for less if you shop around and are patient….
 
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Hey Old Man! said:
I do have tool holders for the lantern post, a full set near as I can tell.
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There you go then..... Use that while you're making your decision about what to invest in. Grab some HSS blanks in the correct size (That'll be dictated by the tool holders that you have), and have at it. Those holders are probably going to be quarter or 5/16 inch, which are decent cutters for a non-industrial lathe, but if it was anything from 3/16 to 3/8 of an inch you could make real chips with it. Maybe not instagram or youtube worthy chips, but good chips... So measure and go with what the tool holders are made for, and make friends with the lathe.

Personal opinion here- Putting the tool on center height is is the biggest slow down with a rocker/lantern post. Make project number one be a height gauge. (I made a crappy out of a cheap 6 inch combination square, and every time I use it I regret having not made one, so I still use it and don't make one.....) That takes 2/3 of the "slow" out of the rocker posts. Full disclosure, I primarily use and prefer to use a rocker tool post on my small lathe. So I am in a minority. And I'm OK with that. After just cutting some stuff up for no reason, getting to know my lathe, my first project was essentially a "Norman Patent" tool post and a couple of holders. That very much covers my needs when modern materials are tougher than the high speed steel. For example, one of my scrap sources is damaged hydraulic cylinder rods, which most commonly in my world tend to be chrome plated with an induction hardened layer under that. I can cut the steel with HSS just fine, but the hard part, the chrome part.... not so much so.

The big drawback to either system, the rocker/lantern post, or the Norman tool post, is that they do not repeat. Yeah, other issues are real. Absolutely. But that's the one that's a big deal. Less of a big deal on dials than on a DRO, but that one is the big deal. That's some thing that needs doing each and every time they're moved. I'm not in too big of a hurry, and I'm not working for NASA, so I'm OK with that.

This way you're only in for a small investment in some HSS blanks and if you do decide to go with a quick change tool post, the HSS will carry over nicely. Any size can be made to work in any quich change holder that's equal to or larger than the tool blank. (Provided it fits, which in these sizes won't be a problem). You'll have to take the "tips' off and re-grind them, as the rakes and clearances will all be wrong due to the presentation angle, but at that time you already own 'em, and it's a very small portion of a consumable.

Hey Old Man! said:
It also came with a 4 jaw Chuck and a new 3 jaw Chuck that needs to have the faceplate turned to fit. I will probably tackle that in the future once I get some time on the lathe under my belt. I also got a live center and dead center and a jacobs chuck with the correct Morse taper and a steady rest.
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You're quite ahead of the game then. Your lathe, or any machine tool is ALWAYS going to want something new. (Note I didn't say that you're gonna want it :cool: ) But it sounds like you have very functional setup for a wide variety of work once you get something sharp and pointy bolted on there.
 
The benefit of BXA is size. The larger mass, larger bolts, larger everything, just makes it more resistant to vibration. With an Atlas, you're about to be introduced to the concept of "chatter". Chatter is caused by vibration.
The benefit of AXA is that it is cheaper.
 
Hey Old Man! said:
my question is, do I start with 1/4” tooling and the lantern post or
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I always advise people to make what they have producing chips in the most straightforward and inexpensive way possible.. I have every type of tool post (except Multifix, but one day,...). For starting out, none has a strong lead over the others. Each one has a cost, complication, or tooling requirement that complicates your life, which will delay you making chips.

We have a pass around set of samples of HSS tools for you to learn to grind and there a many dozens of youtube videos showing you how to end up with a HSS lathe tool.

One thing that will make your life easier - no matter what tool post you choose - is to make a lathe standard. this is a rod that is made to a proper height to help setting your tool height. For a while, you can use a centre in your tail stock, and line up to that. This works, but is less accurate than making a lathe standard - which you can make in your lathe!

Use what you have, and research carefully before spending money.

As a cautionary tale, I have real Aloris QCTP in CXA and BXA, as well as quality Taiwanese AXA. I also have very inexpensive offshore Aloris tool posts in BXA and AXA, I have a mix of piston and wedge tool posts. I have lantern (rocker, American) tool posts on all my lathes (this is what you have). I also have a Dixon for my big lathe. Very nice. Most of the time I use my 4-way tool posts, which all my lathes have. So I'm not parochial about the type of tool post.

Make chips, and then decide!
 
Tip #1: find and read the Southbend Lathe "how to run a lathe" book. It is the foundation of what you want to learn.
It will answer many of your questions.
 
Fit a DRO, you will use it all the time, which seems the best value investement.
 
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