Where to shop for quality metal lathe tools?

cneuor

cneuor

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H-M Supporter Gold Member
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Hi everyone,

I’m a beginner and currently have no tools at all, so I’m looking for everything I’ll need for a metal lathe. I’ve been relying on recommendations from this forum and learning as I go. From inserts to measuring tools, I’m not sure what specific items I need yet.

Amazon seems to have mostly cheap options, and I haven’t found much elsewhere. Any recommendations for quality tools and sites that won’t break the bank on shipping?

Thanks again for your help!
 
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Would help if you could tell us what you are looking for. Lathe tools is too broad. That could be anything from HSS tool bits and inserts to chucks to CNC conversion and everything in between.
 
KBC Tools, Has bimonthly sales flyer (Kind of reminiscent of Enco) and free shipping on orders over a certain amount, varies.
Victor Machinery Exchange, lots of import stuff but usually of good quality.
McMaster Carr when you need something tomorrow and they are very reasonable on shipping.
 
Cutting tools or measuring tools or workholding tools? Gotta specify
 
I get a lot of good tools from Amazon. The difficulty therein lies in the fact that they have the full range of quality from gold to garbage. I'm sure you'll get a lot of good answers / recommendations if you ask about specific items. There's no one-stop all-quality shop for everything...

...well, I guess there *is* McMaster...

GsT
 
First, what size lathe? We need this to determine what size tool post, tool holders and tools you will be shopping for.

As an example I have a 1440 lathe which takes a BXA size tool post and tool holders. To further narrow things down from there I opted for the Dorian BXA QCTP. Dorian BXA tool holders can hold up to a 1 inch shank tool which is much larger than the typical 5/8 inch shank tools for a BXA. Dorian drops the floor of the tool holders to achieve this, so that excludes using 1/2 inch shank tools as they cannot be adjusted high enough to get to the lathe centerline. 5/8 barely make it to centerline on my 1440.

Since 5/8 shank was the minimum size that works for my lathe I opted for a 14 piece set of 5/8 shank turning tools from Quality Machine Tools (a forum sponsor). This included a variety of turning tools and a couple boring bars that use a popular insert. Also two boxes of the inserts, one for steel one for aluminum/brass. Excellent value imo, good job QMT.

Next I ordered a 9 piece set of 3/4 inch shank turning tools from OSCARBIDE on Amazon. 3/4 inch shank because get some! Also an excellent value. Some use the same insert at the QMT tools, plus a few different styles.

Reeling from the cost of Made in USA Dorian tool holders I splurged on 10 Accusize BXA 5/8 shank max tool holders on someone's recommendation here on the forum. That's basically 10 tool holders for the price of 3 Dorians. They are substantially smaller. The threading is most definitely CHINA loose and sloppy but were at least drilled and tapped straight and the bluing on the tool holders was pretty good. I loaded all the 5/8 shank QMT tools into those and the 3/4 shank tools into the Dorians.

So QCTP, tool holders, tools, and inserts prepare for sticker price shock.
 
Info on what lathe stuff ? Size ? Insert tooling ? Measuring tools ? Lot of us on here have top shelf tooling willing to sell . You may want to post in the wanted section to give us a clue .
 
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