QCTP to suit Unimat 3 Lathe.

Hello,

I am looking for a hardened steel (preferably) Quick change toolpost for my U3.

Years ago, Emco made their own version, however no longer seem to be available.

I was about to look into the Dave Lammas designed 3-way toolpost, but before doing so, thought fellow members may have some suggestions.

Many Thanks,

Jim.

Jim;

Do Sherline Tools have one? I do seem to remember seeing a Sherline QCTP on a Sherline lathe - see what they have. (presumably it will fit; the lathes are approximately the same size, if I remember correctly)

John.

I got my QCTP from Pro Machine Tools, I see that they still show the Emco made QCTP with 2 tool-holders as in-stock. They also carry the individual tool-holders.

Similar Far Eastern clones can be found on eBay, however they or may not be compatible.

Clive

I think the smallest Aa size Multifix will fit the U3, this seller has some reasonable prices and seems to get recommended quite a bit

Jim,

Now that you have received some proper answers; I hope it's O.K. to add this rather clever little device, featured in Popular Mechanics.

MichaelG.

That does not look very quick to change Michael

Another option if you were thinking of the 3-way is to make the 4-way that Gerald Wingrove detailed in his book. I made one of these when I was about 15, think I dod the roughing out at school to speed things up but it can all be done on the U3.

J

PS looks like now may be a profitable time to sell my copy of GW's book

.

Quite right, Jason ... Which is why I left mentioning it until some proper answers had been given.

It is, however a, clever solution to another 'Unimat-Size' problem; and I therefore hoped I might be forgiven.

... Apparently not

MichaelG.

PS looks like now may be a profitable time to sell my copy of GW's book

.

What an utterly ludicrous price !!

Hello,

Thank you to all that have replied re the QCTP for a Unimat 3 lathe.

I will take on board your suggestions and check them out.

The QCTP from Pro Machine Tools looks interesting, thanks, Clive.

I had been told locally (Australia) that Emco no longer produced accessories for these machines.

Kindest Regards,

Jim Crawford.

Jim Crawford, sorry for the late posting but I just came across it.

Don't try to make and use a 4 way or a 3 way toolpost on the U3, they take up far too much room on the short bed. The 4 way is far to big and the 3 way loaded with tools will continually stab/cut you.

Go for a simple single tool QCTP as per this one, ---------

http://www.toolsandmods.com/lathe/mini-lathe-qctp.

Works very well but it has one drawback ONLY, it is not repeatable when changing tools, who cares, it only means you have to take one cut and do a measure and away you go.

I made one very similar to the one in the above link and made 12 blocks and have them all loaded, best thing I have ever made for the 'mighty midget', so simple and yet so practical.

I do have a drawing for it if you so require.

regards Graham

Edited By Graham Green 3 on 04/07/2015 11:20:23

Edited By Graham Green 3 on 04/07/2015 11:20:59

Edited By Graham Green 3 on 04/07/2015 11:25:26

It appears that the link I posted is not working, so I'll try again, you might have to highlight it to make it work for you ---------------

--- http://www.toolsandmods.com/lathe/mini-lathe-qctp ----

.

**LINK**

MichaelG.

Hi Jim,

I've been looking at the various options open to me in terms of additional tool-holding for my EW. I currently have a small 'economy' QCTH fitted to it (with a small number of tool holders) but have found a number of disadvantages in using this type of holder on the smaller lathe (work access, overhang, gripping smaller tooling properly {I generally use 3/16" HSS}, cost of new commercial tool holders etc) .

So before I went to the trouble of making any more tool-holders for this existing QCTH - I decided to research this area again in terms of previously published ME/MEW/EIM designs. There are quite a few, including some specifically designed for the Unimat (Bob Loader for instance).

However, the solution I've decided to explore further is (perhaps surprisingly to some here) is not a QCTH at all.

It is in fact a 'tool-block' system published as part of a series of short articles in 1972 (ish) by a Dr Rose (of New Orleans). His system uses very simply made tool blocks, combined with an equally simple tool height setting gauge. Dr Rose makes some very interesting claims both about the inherent strength of this system, it's ease of construction, the speed of tool changing together with it's convenience in use. He claimed it to be superior to any QCTH system he had seen at that time. Having thought about it - I decided it was well worth trying, as the effort required was small and the potential costs of more tool holders low.

I also believe that I will be able to use the blocks on both my lathes (EW & Myford) at the same (undisturbed) height setting - as I don't use the EW's compound and can therefore adjust the EW's effective tool (clamping) height...

Yesterday I collected the raw materials for my new tool-blocks (at the Guildford Show) and will hopefully make a couple of 'test' blocks sometime this week. I have the 'Rose' articles to hand and will scan them for you if you are interested.

Regards,

IanT

Did it look anything like this one ? ? ?

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/radish1us/library/tooling/Toolpost?sort=3&page=1

regards Graham

I don't know Graham - I can't see it - it says the album is private...

IanT

Ooops, my apologies, it's been rectified, see if it can be viewed now.

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/radish1us/library/tooling/Toolpost?sort=3&page=1

regards graham

Edited By Graham Green 3 on 05/07/2015 22:01:07

Edited By Graham Green 3 on 05/07/2015 22:01:38

OK, I can see that now Graham, thank you - but it's not a tool block.

I would call the one shown a 'Norman patent' style tool holder - and I've used larger versions of this kind of tool holder on my Myford S7 for some years now. CES used to sell the castings.

I will make the test blocks (to the Rose design) that I mentioned and post some images once they are done.

Regards,

IanT

Hello Graham and Ian,

Thanks for your postings. I am not rushing into anything (ie. buying a commercial QCTP).

I take your points about the disadvantages of three and four way toolholders. I thought they may be a little cumbersome on a small machine.

Ian T, your setup sounds interesting. Yes please, to a scan of the drawings.

Best wishes,

Jim.

Hi Jim,

I scanned the articles for my own use yesterday. Please PM me with your email and I will forward them to you.

I also machined a test block yesterday to Dr Roses general dimensions and it didn't take me too long at all. Once set up (e.g. I've settled on the tool slot height & clearances required for my lathes) producing a dozen units (or more) will not be a huge problem and they won't cost too much either. My scrap box didn't have the necessary (without machining down some much larger bar section) so unusually for me, I purchased new steel bar for the job. I can therefore tell you that my new tool blocks will cost just over £2 per holder.

I am away on other duties for my 'Manager' (SWMBO) today, so I will have to finish the prototype later in the week (it just needs drilling/tapping the tool hold-down screws).

I've made the block to suit my Super 7 top-slide but I can already see it will also be fine on my 2.5" EW lathe's boring table - with a slightly lower block mounting than I have for the QCTH at the moment. I have a few jobs in the pipeline so I will try to use the new block(s) for that work to see if Dr Rose's ease-of-use claims are met.

I'm pretty certain that the block will hold the tool very firmly, lower (eliminate?) tool overhang and give better work access than my current QCTH set-up - it's almost inherent in the very simple design. The questions revolve around the ease of tool height setting & block changes. As I'm pretty sure they will work well for my 'brass' work (and given the ease of making them) I'm going to make a few more blocks anyway (to hold my favourite HSS brass tooling) to test this side of things....

Regards,

IanT

Edited By IanT on 07/07/2015 09:58:37