Where to shop for quality metal lathe tools?

[cneuor]

You are a contributing member . Keep your eyes out on our for sale list when ready . I for one is selling out the shop . I don't own offshore stuff , so your budget may be an issue . For lathe tools , I have 1000s of HSS blanks as well as insert tooling . Live and dead centers etc . My number is in my signature and I'll be selling from now on . Once again , I dont own offshore stuff but am unloading 48 years of tooling .

Thank you, @mmcmdl . I will definitely take a look at your stuff. Will you ship to Austin, TX if I find anything?

 

[coolidge]

Hmmm... it needs to be that specific? I hope I don't have to shop at different places for every single tool.

The machine still en route is PM-1022V. I'm sorry, but I can't figure out what "MT size" refers to. The tool post on that machine will be AXA quick change.

Shopping at multiple different places is how you get maximum quality and the best price. The price of an item can be drastically different across tool vendors. I was shopping for a specific Mitutoyo digital 0-1 mic a while back. Prices ranged from $220 to some ridiculous amount like $400. But one of Amazon's vendors had it in stock in Amazon's warehouse for $149 with free shipping. I pounced on that.

Now shipping charges which have gone up need to be factored in. Sometimes paying a bit more to bundle purchases at a single vendor saves money overall when shipping is calculated. If delivery speed is a factor again there are some go-to vendors. McMaster-Carr and MSC are super fast shippers and have the warehouses to get your order to you fast. Amazon is another. I have received some Amazon orders the same day and MSC and McMaster-Carr the next day yet only paid normal ground shipping.

WARNING: Some of these tool vendors let you think they have the item in stock when in fact they don't, they are drop shipping from the manufacturer or worse sub your order out to another vendor. When in doubt call first to confirm. I had one company do that on a $900 item and it took me 6 weeks to get my money back, total fiasco. MSC, Amazon, McMaster-Carr are very reliable in terms of in stock or not. These other outfits are shady. I have also had good luck with KBC Tools and Travers Tools but call them to confirm the item is in stock before I place the order.

BEWARE the word "type" in a product description. Is it a Yuasa rotary table or a Yuasa "type" rotary table. Item descriptions can be shady and misleading.

BEWARE the photo on the tool vendors website may look NOTHING like what they actually ship you. I see this on items that were once made in the UK, USA, Japan or Taiwan but have since been moved to China or India and cheapened yet they are still showing the old photo of a quality item. They frequently leave the country of origin blank or label it "Varies" or "International".

It's buyer beware out there.

 

[coolidge]

The machine still en route is PM-1022V.

Does Texas allow you to buy a lathe that small??

 

[cneuor]

Shopping at multiple different places is how you get maximum quality and the best price. The price of an item can be drastically different across tool vendors. I was shopping for a specific Mitutoyo digital 0-1 mic a while back. Prices ranged from $220 to some ridiculous amount like $400. But one of Amazon's vendors had it in stock in Amazon's warehouse for $149 with free shipping. I pounced on that.

Now shipping charges which have gone up need to be factored in. Sometimes paying a bit more to bundle purchases at a single vendor saves money overall when shipping is calculated. If delivery speed is a factor again there are some go-to vendors. McMaster-Carr and MSC are super fast shippers and have the warehouses to get your order to you fast. Amazon is another. I have received some Amazon orders the same day and MSC and McMaster-Carr the next day yet only paid normal ground shipping.

WARNING: Some of these tool vendors let you think they have the item in stock when in fact they don't, they are drop shipping from the manufacturer or worse sub your order out to another vendor. When in doubt call first to confirm. I had one company do that on a $900 item and it took me 6 weeks to get my money back, total fiasco. MSC, Amazon, McMaster-Carr are very reliable in terms of in stock or not. These other outfits are shady. I have also had good luck with KBC Tools and Travers Tools but call them to confirm the item is in stock before I place the order.

BEWARE the word "type" in a product description. Is it a Yuasa rotary table or a Yuasa "type" rotary table. Item descriptions can be shady and misleading.

BEWARE the photo on the tool vendors website may look NOTHING like what they actually ship you. I see this on items that were once made in the UK, USA, Japan or Taiwan but have since been moved to China or India and cheapened yet they are still showing the old photo of a quality item. They frequently leave the country of origin blank or label it "Varies" or "International".

It's buyer beware out there.

very good tips. Thank you so much, @coolidge !

 

[cneuor]

Does Texas allow you to buy a lathe that small??

lol... you know it, everything is big in Texas!... except for my lathe

 

[francist]

I haven’t purchased for a while but I always found Little Machine Shop a fun place to browse for stuff….

Tooling, parts, and accessories for bench top machinists

The premier source of tooling, parts, and accessories for bench top machinists.

littlemachineshop.com

 

[mickri]

When I started down this rabbit hole I was just like you. I didn't know squat about machining. I stumbled onto Mr Pete's videos. IMHO he is the best of the best for learning the basics of how to operate a lathe. He is a retired high school shop teacher and knows how to teach. Start with his first videos and work your way through them. It will be time well spent.

mrpete222

My channel is devoted to the wonderful world of MACHINE SHOP! I have about 950 video demonstrations on the Bridgeport mill & South Bend, Atlas, Clausing, and Logan Lathes. There is also groups of videos on the subjects of FOUNDRY, MODEL ENGINES, TRACTORS, ANTIQUE ENGINES & much more. 52...

www.youtube.com

#1 MACHINE SHOP TIPS tubalcain playlist #1 thru #100

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

www.youtube.com

#2 MACHINE SHOP TIPS tubalcain playlist #101 thru #200

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

www.youtube.com

#3 MACHINE SHOP TIPS tubalcain playlist #201 thru #300

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

www.youtube.com

#4 MACHINE SHOP TIPS tubalcain playlist #301 thru #400

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

www.youtube.com

Go through the various play lists I linked to and watch what seems pertinent to what you need to learn to know how to do some task.

Have fun with your new lathe.

 

[mickri]

Another suggestion. Don't buy everything under the sun. Only buy what you need for a given project. Over time you will amass a lot of tooling that you will use.

 

[cneuor]

Depends on what you are after. Haas offers excellent value on indexable tools. Personally, I'd stay away from Amazon and Shars if you are looking for consistently good quality. Lots of specific recommendations in this. If you're looking for measurement and workholding, have a look at my curated list here.

Thank you, @davidpbest , for sharing your excellent work and recommendation.

 

[cneuor]

When I started down this rabbit hole I was just like you. I didn't know squat about machining. I stumbled onto Mr Pete's videos. IMHO he is the best of the best for learning the basics of how to operate a lathe. He is a retired high school shop teacher and knows how to teach. Start with his first videos and work your way through them. It will be time well spent.

mrpete222

My channel is devoted to the wonderful world of MACHINE SHOP! I have about 950 video demonstrations on the Bridgeport mill & South Bend, Atlas, Clausing, and Logan Lathes. There is also groups of videos on the subjects of FOUNDRY, MODEL ENGINES, TRACTORS, ANTIQUE ENGINES & much more. 52...

www.youtube.com

#1 MACHINE SHOP TIPS tubalcain playlist #1 thru #100

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

www.youtube.com

#2 MACHINE SHOP TIPS tubalcain playlist #101 thru #200

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

www.youtube.com

#3 MACHINE SHOP TIPS tubalcain playlist #201 thru #300

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

www.youtube.com

#4 MACHINE SHOP TIPS tubalcain playlist #301 thru #400

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

www.youtube.com

Go through the various play lists I linked to and watch what seems pertinent to what you need to learn to know how to do some task.

Have fun with your new lathe.

Thank you so much!