Models for grinding HSS Lathe Tools

I just got to page 5 and I already had a few revelations-

(1) I'm in good company as far as lathe size goes. Mikey's running a Sherline (slightly jealous) and a lot of people on the thread are small lathe guys. I'm glad I found this place over a year ago.
(2) A belt grinder has been on the "I want that" list for a while. Now to find a good one...
(3) Ceramic belts? Interesting. Speaking of cutting, I just tried a Freud Diablo Laminate / non-Ferrous blade on an aluminum electronic enclosure. I needed to cut it in half. It was double the size I needed so I got 2 for one and the project takes up 3" less space. The cut? Wow! I barely had to file it. The burr was almost nil. And it cut thru it like butter.
(4) I'm interested, where do I sign up? I could have used this skill
 
Most hobby guys run smaller lathes so these HSS tools are well suited to them. I also own an Emco Super 11 CD. It, too, is on the small side but is pretty decent and works very well with HSS tooling.

I have that Freud blade and agree - works good on aluminum and plexiglass.

PM Jeff to get on the list for the models, Mike.
 
Mike6158 said:
I just got to page 5 and I already had a few revelations-

(1) I'm in good company as far as lathe size goes. Mikey's running a Sherline (slightly jealous) and a lot of people on the thread are small lathe guys. I'm glad I found this place over a year ago.
(2) A belt grinder has been on the "I want that" list for a while. Now to find a good one...
(3) Ceramic belts? Interesting. Speaking of cutting, I just tried a Freud Diablo Laminate / non-Ferrous blade on an aluminum electronic enclosure. I needed to cut it in half. It was double the size I needed so I got 2 for one and the project takes up 3" less space. The cut? Wow! I barely had to file it. The burr was almost nil. And it cut thru it like butter.
(4) I'm interested, where do I sign up? I could have used this skill
Click to expand...


If I had to guess, based on the active posters the 10-12" class is probably the most common on this site. I think that there are probably a lot more out there with mini-lathes, but guys are funny and they tend not to want to talk about their little equipment. :grin: Many of the posters with big lathes started off with smaller lathes.

Much better than most other sites, but there is still a bit of a bias against the mini-machines. I think many mini-machine owners stick to brand specific forums and facebook groups after having bad online experiences which is too bad. Most of the little machines are great within their capability and are much less intimidating for somebody testing the waters of machining as a hobby.
That said this site does have many great ambassadors for this hobby who don't judge people on the size of their machine, only what they do with it.


I use a Diablo non-ferrous blade on a 7-1/4" Ryobi miter saw, it does a nice job on brass and aluminum. I've use Nikx-Stikx on the blade to keep the aluminum from sticking and so far so good.
 
I wouldn't mind having a 10" - 12" class lathe but it won't fit in the kitchen :oops: I neeeeeed to build a shop. I want a lathe and a good mill. Shop first.

The little lathe will work pretty well on small stuff. If I can learn to measure and machine that accurately the rest should come in time.

I converted my cutoff saw just to get my parts cut. The blade was a little too thin for the saw and I had to shim it. The blade is back in it's package now. I'll probably get a dedicated saw for it. I didn't see a smaller blade so I ended up with a 12" blade (trying to make up for my lathe size). Nikx-Stikx... I hadn't seen those before.
 
Mike6158 said:
I wouldn't mind having a 10" - 12" class lathe but it won't fit in the kitchen :oops: I neeeeeed to build a shop. I want a lathe and a good mill. Shop first.

The little lathe will work pretty well on small stuff. If I can learn to measure and machine that accurately the rest should come in time.

I converted my cutoff saw just to get my parts cut. The blade was a little too thin for the saw and I had to shim it. The blade is back in it's package now. I'll probably get a dedicated saw for it. I didn't see a smaller blade so I ended up with a 12" blade (trying to make up for my lathe size). Nikx-Stikx... I hadn't seen those before.
Click to expand...

I started a couple years ago with the Sherline lathe in a spare bedroom / hobby room, then moved down into into the basement when I got a Sherline mill, because mills are messy. I only got larger machines earlier this year (and they are still relatively small) and am still in the process of turning a corner of the basement into a small shop. Although joined by bigger machines the Sherlines are still employed and I have no intention of booting them out into the cold. It can be handy to have an extra machine around and small ones don't take up a lot of space.
 
Mikey and everyone,
It's time for me to report in...RH and LH square, RH knife, 60 deg threading tools made from this post and a lot of help from Mikey on the side. I'm using a 6" Dewalt bench grinder so they're not as pretty as those done on a belt grinder, but so far the square and threading tools are working pretty well! I think I need to broaden the NR on the knife tool though. Coming up are a couple of tools for brass and aluminum and an offset threading tool. And, I dug up an old Carboloy tool in the tools that came with the lathe, want to sharpen that up and give it a shot.
I've gotten really interested in doing this, since the HSS tools are perfect for my old lathe. It's a huge mental and skill challenge, and I've enjoyed every minute of it. All suggestions, comments solicited!
Thanks again, Mikey, I'm nowhere near done but couldn't have gotten this far without your encouragement.
Tim

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Definitely getting better, Tim!

Yeah, it does take some time but this is a skill that will last you a lifetime so it's worth learning. I think you're doing great!!
 
Okay folks I’m onboard this thread. I’m waaaaay behind on reading up but I’ve PMed Z2V to be included.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Somewhere in the 35 pages of discussion was a tip on using a protractor and thin permanent marker to mark the desired angles right onto the tool blank being formed. Since I don't have a fancy guide (yet, it is on my ever lengthening project list) just the standard grinding platform I have found that to be really helpful to keep my grinding on the proper angle.
 
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