Before I start a flame war on the merits or not of Chinese tools I'm just talking about one tool I have not the quality of all of Chinese tools.
When I got my lathe I decided on carbide insert tools so I didn't have to sharpen them.
I bought a moderately priced set of tools and have used them for a few weeks.
Last night I was getting inconsistent results with one of them so I had a closer look and noticed the screw that held it in place had come loose. Didn't think much of this at first and just did it back up whilst in the tool holder and attempted to cut again but got terrible results.
So I removed the tool and had a closer look at it and went to tighten it up again and then I saw what was wrong.
The hole the screw threaded into to hold the insert in place was in the wrong place by a fraction of a mm.
This meant there was space on either side of the insert so when you did up the screw the last fraction of the turn, it actually rotated the insert by about 5 degrees, which also meant the cutting edge was now no longer supported.
Obviously when the insert was first put in it was held at the correct angle by some jig which is not possible when doing it up by hand.
So basically the tool is useless.
I returned the tools to where I got them from today and the shop owner matter of factly stated, 'oh thats common with that cheap set, you just have to fiddle with it to get it right or maybe put it in your mill and mill it out a bit'
At which point I told him I don't have a mill (We won't worry about the fact that milling the tool wouldn't fix it and if I could do that I would just of scratch made one)
I asked him if he could replace it as it was useless to me and he said no he had to send it back to the supplier.
So now I have a long weekend and I don't have my main cutting tool.
Needless to say when I get it back I won't be making future purchases from the shop.
When I bought that set he actually recommended them to me as the best tools for my lathe and as I was handing over the cash didn't say. 'By the way these are cheap Chinese tools that will possibly give you problems'
If he had I wouldn't of bought them.
Enough of my griping though, I guess this gives me an incentive to have a go at grinding myself a tool on my HSS blanks I have sitting in my draw.
When I got my lathe I decided on carbide insert tools so I didn't have to sharpen them.
I bought a moderately priced set of tools and have used them for a few weeks.
Last night I was getting inconsistent results with one of them so I had a closer look and noticed the screw that held it in place had come loose. Didn't think much of this at first and just did it back up whilst in the tool holder and attempted to cut again but got terrible results.
So I removed the tool and had a closer look at it and went to tighten it up again and then I saw what was wrong.
The hole the screw threaded into to hold the insert in place was in the wrong place by a fraction of a mm.
This meant there was space on either side of the insert so when you did up the screw the last fraction of the turn, it actually rotated the insert by about 5 degrees, which also meant the cutting edge was now no longer supported.
Obviously when the insert was first put in it was held at the correct angle by some jig which is not possible when doing it up by hand.
So basically the tool is useless.
I returned the tools to where I got them from today and the shop owner matter of factly stated, 'oh thats common with that cheap set, you just have to fiddle with it to get it right or maybe put it in your mill and mill it out a bit'
At which point I told him I don't have a mill (We won't worry about the fact that milling the tool wouldn't fix it and if I could do that I would just of scratch made one)
I asked him if he could replace it as it was useless to me and he said no he had to send it back to the supplier.
So now I have a long weekend and I don't have my main cutting tool.
Needless to say when I get it back I won't be making future purchases from the shop.
When I bought that set he actually recommended them to me as the best tools for my lathe and as I was handing over the cash didn't say. 'By the way these are cheap Chinese tools that will possibly give you problems'
If he had I wouldn't of bought them.
Enough of my griping though, I guess this gives me an incentive to have a go at grinding myself a tool on my HSS blanks I have sitting in my draw.