Phase II QCTP. Not what I expected.

mikey said:
...They fit good enough to work; just not good enough for me so I have to fuss with it until it is.
Click to expand...

Then you should find out why and correct the deficiency. Mine seat the same every time. But they are Aloris and Dorian.
 
What would you suggest? Everything is clean, everything deburred so it isn't like I haven't looked. My posts are Aloris and Dorian, too.
 
If you are determined you will find and correct the fault.
 
Sometimes on the forum I forget and type as I am talking to a buddy. I am not a tool snob and my statement much earlier regarding why put an import qctp was a bit blunt shall I say. Re read and thought what a d---!
We all know just how expensive machining can be to get setup. It never ends.
I thought I would just suffer with the four way t. Post until funds allow but like stated I d rather have other stuff for the shop but man I used to work with a Dorian and not just the post but the holders changed the machine it went on. Really made a differece I thought and feel it s worth it.
Another thing is I think Import stuff can b quite good. I would just like to see it and ordering online turns me off the imports.
The Bostar had decent reviews and if it needs a tuneup it will still be progress for me.
After making another five boring bars all different sizes the light went off and thought why make all these blocks when one day I won t be using them and it can be a bit frustrating with hss as most my tools end up with rake and centre height changes with parallel holders.
I thought I deserved a bit of a hard time !
 
I can appreciate that someone using their tools and equipment for their livelihood would want to have high end products. but for my situation, it doesn't fly.

When I bought my Grizzly 602, I also bought one of their QCTP. It is coming on five years now, and I have no complaints concerning its performance. The only problem that I have had with it has been the plastic knob on the locking lever and I replaced that with a bronze knob. Doing it over, I would probably opt for the wedge type rather than the piston but in truth, for most work, alignment is repeatable. I usually re-orient the tool post to optimize cutting geometry which requires re-referencing the tool and vertical alignment is usually good to a thousandth or two.

My total investment with eight extra tool holders is lwess than $300. If I had bought the Aloris or Dorian tool post with the additional tool holders, they would have exceeded the cost of the lathe. As a hobbyist, I try to get the most value out of my tooling budget which in my book means acquiring tools and equipment which enable me to do the kind of work that I want to. Spending an extra $1,000 on a tool post means that something else doesn't get purchased.
 
I have spent hours looking @ 8" rotary tables and their accessories, reading reviews, adding up the costs of the complete set + Frt. I have more faith in Taiwanese tools than those from China. Somehow I expect the Chinese tools to have greater variability even within brands. Looking closely at the photos I can see that many of the brands are the same product, or is it that they just use whatever photo happens to be handy?
It's not like I'm nearly destitute but rather what you might call kind-a-cheap. Every time I start a new project it seems there is something else I "need."
I've decided to bite the bullet and buy a Taiwanese set. I'll have no way of knowing if it is significantly better than the cheapest of the imports or not. I'm rationalizing it as "insurance." And since I've never used one I won't even be able to tell how good or bad it is, sort of.. I'll know if it is frustrating though. Much of what I do is mostly to prove to myself that I can.
 
I watched the video, BUT I don't seem to understand why the "slop" that he measured would matter. Seems like what matters is the movement of the tool holder when the wedges are tightened. My lathe/tool post is Chinese. I wiped the wedges & tool holder sort of clean. Mounted my dial indicator to a mag base mounted on the cross slide. Tightened the holder lever and measured the change. That would be the relationship of the tool to the cross slide, .0003". I repeated the process several times getting very nearly the same answer every time.
Then I tried loosening the tool post, pivoting and returning, tightening. I got about .0003 in the opposite direction. I attribute that to the fact that the "TEE" head of the post that goes into the cross slide is quite a bit thinner than the slot. Probably one of those universal fit things. I could make a new Tee bolt if that .0003" got to bothering me, BUT since it doesn't hardly vary from one tightening to another....
I've not had any problems with chatter or a nub when parting off or facing why worry about .0003" and just compensate for it if you can/need to.
 
The physics of a toolpost in vibration are very complex, perhaps too complex to model. By removing much of the vertical play in the tightening screw, it is helping to remove sources of freedom of movement. It isn't clear that doing so will change anything, but I applaud him for finding it and fixing it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top