Lathe tools

Lots of guys buy sets of carbide tools like you have and try to use them right out of the box. When they don’t work worth a darn they blame the tools or carbide. But to get them to work right you need to sharpen them. So you need a grinder with a green grinding wheel to sharpen carbide. And the tools should be set right on centerline.
A diamond hone will help keep them sharp after they have been sharpened.
Try to find a machinist hobby group close to home and see if you can get someone
To help you grind your first few tools.
 
Janderso said:
Just my 2 cents. You may want to learn how to grind quality HSS.
My experience with those type of lathe tools made me look like I had no idea what I was doing. Once I began to understand and practice grinding my own HSS tooling, I have had much better results in finish quality.
IMHO of course.
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This has been my experience as well. My problems all but dissapered when I started using hss cutting tools.
 
I agree with the HSS tool recommendation but those brazed tools will work until you can gear up for tool grinding. Listen to @ttabbal and the others and sharpen the carbide part with a diamond hone. We cannot see the brazed insert but it should have a relief angle on the sides. That is, the side of the insert will not be vertical; it will have a slight angle to it such that the cutting edge is proud of the area right below it. Maintain that angle when you hone and try to smooth out the side of the insert, then flatten the top. Finally, put a very tiny radius at the nose, following the angle of the insert under the cutting edge. Done this way, a brazed tool will actually cut pretty well.

As @Jimsehr says, a green wheel will allow you to grind it better but you have to know how to do that. Until you do, honing will work pretty good.

Learn about cutting speeds and how to calculate it. You need enough speed for these tools to cut well. Unlike inserted carbide, a sharp brazed tool will take a light cut without issues so your little lathe should work okay with them.
 
Hello vimes1984 I would follow the advice of ttabbal and give the tools a lick with a Diamond file. You can't go wrong with an investment in some Diamond files as they come in handy for all sorts of things.
Open Source Machine https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC79QdJW2rayvCzqNq-SAM-g Have a number of old,(and some new), training videos that you may be interested in.
Best thing read a bit,(The Amateurs Lathe by L.H.Sparey is sort of a Bible for some), watch some videos, play and get a feel for your machine. I have to warn you now though that everybody starts to tutu with their stuff after a while and fettling can become addictive.
Most of all just have fun.
 
Got it, thanks! Learned a new thing today. Tutu in Hawaiian means Grandmother, and we did not mess around with her!
 
COPY THAT! I've just learned something new too and that is always good.

Funny how Maori say that their ancestral homeland is 'Hawaiki '. Getting off subject.
 
I completely missed the last couple of posts to this thread I've been bust futzing around with the new toy :D
 
brazed carbide and a light duty lathe can be the start of some frustrating machining, and a great learning experience at the same time.
you'll find that most brazed carbide tooling is useless in the state you get them from the tool outlet.

as others have stated, the cutting edge geometry needs to be modified with increased relief angles of the cutting edge to work well with machines lacking in rigidity and/or horsepower

i would strongly suggest listening to Mikey in regards to cutting edge geometry, he understands the subject inside and out .
no disrespect meant to ttabbal ;)
 
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