Lathe tool recommendations?

Thread drift

A vice for milling needs to be strong and rigid. Mostly, turning is a continuous cutting action, where milling is an interrupted cut, which tends to produce a hammer effect.

As in any cutting process, if the workpiece, or cutter can flex appreciably, accuracy and finish will suffer.

So I hope that you didn't buy a vice intended for drilling.

Howard

no, not that wet behind the ears, thankfully. its the self centering milling vice that ARC had on clearance. It looks absolutely ideal for my purposes. should help me get the most out of the limited milling travel available, and hopefully be good for rigidity.

A question I would have asked, is why was it in a clearance sale?

None of my machine vices have a swivel base. I've swivelled the vice to machine a part once in the last 20 years. So I'd take the swivelling base off; it just uses up height and reduces rigidity.

There are some (very expensive) self-centring vices available Self-centring Vices with accuracy figures. I'm not sure cheaper variants would have good repeatability.

A problem with self-centring vices is that one loses a fixed reference as both jaws move, and could twist, rather than one jaw being fixed.

Andrew

The job I've got in mind will need the rotation. Intention is to index the part from the centre and the previous cut. But yes for straight up milling I will remove the base. If I need a vice with a fixed jaw down the road I'll get one, but this one is good for the job and the budget...

The specific manufacturer who made this for us, closed down. Reasons for closing down were sad, financial rather than quality related.

It is true that cheaper variants to the very expensive vices do not come with accuracy figures. But then, this product is aimed at the hobby market for which the level of accuracy provided for the price is appropriate. If this was aimed at industrial production, it would be understandable for expectation on high accuracy figures at the prices suggested for expensive vices.

There are other manufacturers who make the product we have in clearance, at prices cheaper than what we were paying this maker.

We paid this specific maker more than the market price, because

a. we wanted to help him to deal with his financial difficulties,

b. In turn, he was happy to supply us a product as we wanted - consistently.

Unfortunately, we along with others (not Groz or Soba) were unable to provide him with enough orders for different products over time. Price competition increased, and production, labour and raw material costs made it impossible for him to continue to pay off inherited debt, resulting in closure.

Ketan at ARC.

Edited By Ketan Swali on 15/07/2022 15:27:58

Thanks for the elucidation.

If no accuracy figure is provided how does the user know that it is appropriate for his hobby application.

Andrew

I wouldn't know the answer to your question. All I can say is that we have had zero returns for this vice, and we have sold plenty to hobby users. What ilk of hobby users they are, and the suitability for their purpose and budget, only they can answer.

Judging by your remarks, the very expensive £1,000+ would be more suitable for you.... that is if you were in the market for one.... and then again, you would probably wait for it to come up on ebay, unless you could justify the purchase cost for a specific purpose

Ketan at ARC

Edited By Ketan Swali on 15/07/2022 16:14:30

Superb equipment is available. IF you are prepared to pay for it.

Because industry has a demand for it, and is prepared to pay the price for the material, the, design and development time, quality of machining, processing treatment and inspection, and testing, industrial machines are very costly, but good..

Industrial equipment id expected to "deliver the goods" precisely, reliably, and consistently when worked virtually 24 /7, to its limits, for many years.

It is unreasonable to expect a £800 hobby lathe to match a £40,000 industrial machine for capability, consistent accuracy, reliability and durability..

Nor is the machine likely to be installed or maintained as well as in Industry. Your shareholders want to take care of a large chunk of their money.

In Industry, equipment is regularly maintained and calibrated.

I use measuring equipment some of which has been rejected as out of spec.

I think that i can live with a vernier height gauge which is 0.002" over 18", (an error of 1.1111 x 10 ^ - 5% ), in a shop which is unregulated in terms of temperature and humidity.

You do not expect a bottom end of the market car to match or supercede a Rolls-Royce do you?

If you want to measure bores; which is the hobbyist likely to buy; a £120 bore set, or a Swiss made Compac with a $5000 price tag and a 6 month lead time from order placement?

One is likely to be used, perhaps less than once a week, on average, the other all day and everyday in an environment which is extremely exacting in terms of accuracy and consistency.

Howard

Very likely, but I'm not in the market for one. I've never come close to needing a self-centring machine vice. I suspect the commercial ones are mainly used on CNC mill production runs rather than manual mills. If I was in the market for one then repeatability would be of the utmost importance. It's a bit like a 3-jaw self-centring lathe chuck. If it isn't self-centring......

Andrew