Quick Change Tool Post

[scruffy]

My friends dad worked at Ingersoll-Rand at that time Louis he lost a finger. great progress with the tool post

 

[gus]

I have yet to do dovetails, but its coming one day. When you say 'too heavy', about how much were you advancing the dovetail cutter when bad things happened?

I got greedy when I saw the dovetail cutter to take more hand heavier feed.
I was advancing manual feed a wee bitty to much. It was an old cutter by now a bit too worn out.A heavier 20mm x 60 degree just came in by post today.With
this new cutter,I could finish up job a lot more faster.

 

[gus]

Demolished Brand New 3/8 x 60 degree Dovetail Cutter.Became too ambitious took heavier cuts.
See cutters Eeny Mini Moe lined . Moe is latest 20mm x 60 DoveTail Cutter arrived yesterday.
With 20mm Cutter,I could take heavy cuts with no worries. The 3/8 cutter was too delicate.
Good news.Tool holder no 2 had dovetail slots cut in record time. Was able to mill to size with minimum manual fitting and scraping. Tool post and tool holders make good "Lego" blocks.

 

[gus]

One Tool Holder done with clamp screws and tool height setting screw.Two holders to go for now.All in will need 5 as full complement required.
Next on the list would be the Cam and Tool Post Clamp Device. The Cam call for push fit. This will a while to figure out and machine.The two more female dovetail grooves were milled thru like a breeze with the bigger 20mm x 60
dovetail end mill which more robust. 3/8 Dovetail EndMill cutter just cannot take up the cutting load.It was sooner or later it will perish.

 

[gus]

OK.Three cutter tool holders made c/w tool height adjusting nut.
Also shown is my poor man's C.I. mark out plate which began life a Ingersoll-Rand compressor valve plate.
The HSS Tool Blanks are Made In China. This the first time I bought Chinese HSS blanks.I plan to free hand grind and using them.The Parting Tool came from LMS and it works well on my Mini Lathe.Comes with side relief.

Hi Guys. Feed back please,on this Chinese HSS blanks.

Next on the list to make the cam lock and cam pistons.Will take another week of sweet time to complete.

 

[Tin Falcon]

Gus:
I have a variety of HSS tooling. And I have no doubt that the USA Swedish UK steel is superior.

I have heard many negatives on Chinese HSS.
IIRC the import ones I buy from enco are from India. but I do have a box of 1/4 Chinese blanks that I have ground and used. They work fine on aluminum and brass. and probably ok on 12L14 steel.

My Chinese insert tools are junk I have set them aside(Horible Fright Brand)
I will say if you can afford the tools the AR Warner tools from Latrobe PA are fantastic.

http://www.arwarnerco.com/c-12-turning.aspx I have talked to the owner several times. I have 3 of his sets and I have yet to need to replace an insert.

part of cutting tool performance is the metallurgy you can not get away from that.

part of it is how the tool is sharpened. if you overheat the tool you can reduce performance. Tool geometry is important. every material has a best set of angles. the better the grind the better the performance. hone the tool. it helps a lot.
Speeds and feeds drastically effect tool life. Use the correct ones for the job.

Tin

 

[gus]

Bought some Taiwanese Endmills which seem to stand up better than the Chinese ones.
The Japanese EndMills cost a bomb but they stood well.The Chinese endmills are OK for aluminium.
Today the nuts and bolts vendor gave me F.O.C. some 4mm 6mm 8mm 10mm 12mmSolid Carbide EndMills and they were made In USA by Menlo Tool Co.,Warren,Mi.I am puzzled why metric.
These EndMills are very expensive.

 

[gus]

Tool Post Block port holes drilled,bored and reamed to take Cam Lock Pistons.Cam pistons fitted with to "O" rings to act as low height springs just like the polymer springs we used for press tools to eject stampings.
Parting of completed pistons from stock bar was made easy with 1/16 w 2 " parting bit from LMS with DIY holder.
Tool height must be set slight below centre to cut properly. Using Tapmatic Tapping Oil makes parting very smooth and chips eject easily to avoid seizing and tool breakage.The old fashion Eclipse Parting tool lose out in performance.

Just discovered you could use twist drill to centre job in four jaw chuck to bore pot holes.The scribed circle line was too faint to see. Centering use scriber block very tough. Over the next two days will complete QCTP.

 

[gus]

QCTP almost done except for the cam and final fitting up.
Passed by a specialist bolt and nut shop,could not rest buying the red plastic balls for the handle bar.For now same seems bigger than required.But will ergonomic to Gus.
See foto. Been a great day with no goofs.The weather was cooler than usual.That is not hot.Took freqent breaks.To rest the mind and reminding myself why rush and mess up.
As usual I did not follow the QCTP drawing and took some short cuts .
Quite happy I did.

 

[gus]

First time in 50 years I use a dial gage to center a job piece in a four jaw chuck.Bought China made Magnetic Stand and Dial Gage from Victoria Market,Melbourne,Australia. Surprising cheaper than buy in Singapore.
Centered the raw cam piece and offset to 0.050" to cut cam.
Assembled QCTP c/w handle bars and knobs.
QCTP completed to complement the existing.Come tomorrow,will use this new QCTP.
Saved US$150 DIY my QCTP using surplus stock bars. US$200 in total saved.
Switching new cutters will be a breeze w/o having to look for misplace
Allen Key.Tool height setting also made easy.

 

[gus]

OK.
QCTP completed and fine tuned with test cuts taken using 5/16 Chinese HSS tool bits.Tool holder changes made easy to remove , slot in and lock.
Cam lock worked fine with two tool holders.One holder needs repairs to fit in. Another three more tool holders to make to complete complement.
Tomorrow will use QCTP to make new hose barb fitting for air cleaning gun.
Fellow Forum Menbers .Thanks for the encouragements and support given.This is the last job for 2012.

 

[starnovice]

Well done Gus, now you can go fishing

Pat

 

[gus]

Well done Gus, now you can go fishing

Pat

Hi Pat,

Fishing been very bad with too much NE Monsoon rain.The Straits of Singapore gets more its fair share of rain water from West Malaysia Main land.
Monsoon been late.
If one loves to eat Marine Catfish then it harvest time. We landed three 5 kg
Cats. GAve away to the Malay boatman.You see the smile on his face."Tonite we have Catfish cooked in Hot Sweet Sour Curry.

If it doesn't rain today/tonite/tomorrow early morning,we'll have good harvest of Snappers 1-----2kg size.The best eating is 1kg and below.

Come Feb 2013 will going for Dogtooth Tunas in Burma!!!!.

Gus

 

[gus]

Gus:
I have a variety of HSS tooling. And I have no doubt that the USA Swedish UK steel is superior.

I have heard many negatives on Chinese HSS.
IIRC the import ones I buy from enco are from India. but I do have a box of 1/4 Chinese blanks that I have ground and used. They work fine on aluminum and brass. and probably ok on 12L14 steel.

My Chinese insert tools are junk I have set them aside(Horible Fright Brand)
I will say if you can afford the tools the AR Warner tools from Latrobe PA are fantastic.

http://www.arwarnerco.com/c-12-turning.aspx I have talked to the owner several times. I have 3 of his sets and I have yet to need to replace an insert.

part of cutting tool performance is the metallurgy you can not get away from that.

part of it is how the tool is sharpened. if you overheat the tool you can reduce performance. Tool geometry is important. every material has a best set of angles. the better the grind the better the performance. hone the tool. it helps a lot.
Speeds and feeds drastically effect tool life. Use the correct ones for the job.

Tin

Hi Tin Falcon,
Your expert advice is seeked.
By dipping hot HSS tool bit into ice water,I could quickly cool down same to continue free hand grinding.My concern is the tips gone blue n brown. Does this in any way change the tool performance. See fotos.
Took test cuts with all three tool bits. As for the HSS free hand grinding was taught by a very pro-active machineshop instructor. His advice on the blue tool tips was "no worries".He taught me free hand twist drill grinding too.

Singapore never really had an strong manufacturing base in the 40s 50s 60s 70s. We took off in the 80s 90s.Today we are known for precision industries after Japan,Taiwan and South Korea.

 

[lensman57]

Hi Gus,

It is better if they didn't change color but provided the steel is a good one a bit of discoloration should not do them any harm, hope you didn't mind me replying. I use a belt sander in preference to a grinder and I find that it works cooler and I don't need to quench the tool so often. And well done with the tool post, looks very good.

Regards,

A.G

 

[gus]

Hi Gus,

It is better if they didn't change color but provided the steel is a good one a bit of discoloration should not do them any harm, hope you didn't mind me replying. I use a belt sander in preference to a grinder and I find that it works cooler and I don't need to quench the tool so often. And well done with the tool post, looks very good.

Regards,

A.G

Your kind advice well given and will be well taken. I guess way back in 1961,all the HSS tool bits were USA or UK made. And hence slight discoloration was not a big problem. With Chinese HSS tool Steel there may be some doubts.Will try out. Resharpening will not be as harsh.

Bought some Ground HSS bits from LittlemachineShop and they had no discoloration. Had there been,you bet it will return goods.

The QCTP now on my Nbook desk. Change tool holders now a breeze.
The Red Knobs add color and comfort when hand tightening.
Will do housekkeeping before year ends.


Merry Christmas!!!!

 

[Tin Falcon]

I agree better if there is no discoloration. one should never wear gloves when free hand grinding. Two reasons : 1 it is dangerous the glove could catch and drag in the hand. 20 you want to feel the temperature of the bit if it gets warm cool it. there is no need for blue tipped tooling.
one of the attributes of better HSS steel typical higher cobalt content is red hardness. This is the ability for a tool to keep an edge if the edge heats to red.
so in theory a little color on the tool from grinding or gutting will not effect it. But IMHO a cool tool is a happy tool.
Tin