First tooling purchase for the Bridgeport - Advice Wanted

Tried to do this as a quote, but the board was having none of it.



  • high precision 5C round collet set - 15 piece (for my previously purchased collet blocks)
  • 1/8-7/8 7-piece high precision R8 collet set

  • 3/16-3/4 tin coated 2 and 4 flute end mill set (this is just to get me familiar with end milling...I plan to buy higher quality mills as they need
  • replacing)
Skip these and buy quality endmills as needed. I would start with 4 flute cobalt, in 1/4-5/16-3/8-1/2-3/4 and then build from there. 4 flute wont be optimal in aluminum, but they will be better than 2 flute in steel. $115
  • 1/2=1" M2AL 4-piece roughing end mill set
Don't care for them much. Their gold in certain situations, but for a beginner your money is better spent on the 2 flute endmills as per the sizes listed above. - $120
  • Live center for my lathe
  • tool blanks for my lathe
Again, cobalt is your friend here.
  • 2" adjustable boring head with carbide indexable boring bar 6-piece set w/extra carbide inserts
Im torn about this as a 2" can be limiting vs a 3"
  • HSS dovetail cutter set
Hard pass. You will need to learn quite a bit before you can run these without destroying them. Spend the $110 on regular end mills.
  • Wiggler edge center finder set
Ive used these for finding punch marks for bolt holes and such with decent results, but it takes a lot of practice before you get good at that. As an Edge finder? No, skip that routine.
  • edge/center finder set
Get a good one. Mechanical, not LED.
  • 3" face mill with R8 arbor with extra carbide inserts
This is on the verge of being too large for a B-port. These can be hard on the machine and I would recommend a 2.5" or smaller.
  • adjustable parallels
Skip these, buy them as your needs grow.
  • ultra thin parallels (I already have a standard set)
For $60, skip these. Their kind of a PITA to use and you can always slip your parallel out or move your part if you have a interference concern.



That knocks about $450 off of your total.
 
If you are in central MI what about making a trip to KBC tool.

KBC Tools & Machinery

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as an alternate opinion, get some cheap stuff and keep your eyes open for good deals to replace it, practice with the cheap stuff and break it, if you can make good parts with cheap stuff the good stuff will last a lot longer and you will have a better idea of what you want. the last thing that you want to do is blow all of your available budget on that high end tool and then destroy it because you did not know better, any operation you can make work with a cheap carbide end mill will be easy with high end stuff when you get it. running a tool to fast will kill even the best tool and you will be prone to do that until you get better skills/knowledge. at the same time you can keep your eyes open for good deals on stuff but will not be waiting on your budget to catch up to learn some skills and or have fun. also if you buy a cheap tool and never really need it you will not be as depressed seeing it sitting in the toolbox unused.
 
MSC is one of the most expensive places you could buy tooling, but they do have just about everything you could need. Take a look at the Travers sale catalog, you can get some of your stuff during their monthly sales. https://catalog.travers.com/us-m2/november-2024-bro/

I agree with the advice to buy better quality and get what you need as you need it. I didn’t need most of the stuff on your list for a while after I started, and some things I still don’t have 20 years later. Starting out with cheap tools, you won’t know if the problems you are running into are you, or the tools. With quality tools, it will be you.

Take a look on Ebay for some of the Shars items, they sell under the name “discount_machine”. Shipping prices are better for me on Ebay than it is from their website, and the prices of the items is usually better too.

If you decide to buy used end mills on Ebay, or mmcmdl on here, and get them reground, I have been happy with Gruschow Grinding. https://gruschowgrinding.com/
 
Electronic edge finder. There are two made in the USA (1/2 and 3/4 inch shank) Haas tooling is selling them for 66% less than what Travers scalped me for them.

The 1/2 inch shank is more convenient but the 3/4 inch shank has both LED and audible features. I have been using these for a while, they are fantastic. I'm going to fashion a holder so I can set my lathe tool heights with them also.

Electronic Edge Finder, 0.4" Tip, 0.75" Shank

www.haascnc.com www.haascnc.com

Electronic Edge Finder, 0.2" Tip, 0.5" Shank

www.haascnc.com www.haascnc.com
 
Ischgl99 said:
MSC is one of the most expensive places you could buy tooling
Click to expand...
True, but they actually stock it. There's a bunch of these tooling outfits that don't stock a thing, it's all dropped shipped from the manufacturer. You know, some day, far into the future.
 
Precision LLambrich Keyless Chuck with integrated R8 holder. Includes a wrench, big spanner type that's proven brilliant when hand tightening is not enough. $312 at Zoro for the 1/2 inch.

Do not skimp on your drill chuck, it's the R8 tool I use the most.

I used to buy Albrecht chucks but they have become stupidly expensive. The LLambrich are just as accurate and just as nice.

 
coolidge said:
Electronic edge finder. There are two made in the USA (1/2 and 3/4 inch shank) Haas tooling is selling them for 66% less than what Travers scalped me for them.

The 1/2 inch shank is more convenient but the 3/4 inch shank has both LED and audible features. I have been using these for a while, they are fantastic. I'm going to fashion a holder so I can set my lathe tool heights with them also.

Electronic Edge Finder, 0.4" Tip, 0.75" Shank

www.haascnc.com www.haascnc.com

Electronic Edge Finder, 0.2" Tip, 0.5" Shank

www.haascnc.com www.haascnc.com
Click to expand...
At less than half the cost of the Haas on sale, this is the most reliable edge finder I tested a while back, and is a much better choice for a hobbyist/beginner:

 
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