cutting tool help

hi can you help my I got a tool cutting set with my new lathe but don't know what thay are for thay are the same as the 6 set for sale in machine mart for £23.98 could someone tell me from top to bottom please I will get better ones when I know what I am better know what I am doing better

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/6-point-metal-turning-set/

Are these the ones Mathew?

**LINK**

If so I would suggest that a HSS set may be better bet.

In any case the third one down looks like a single point threading tool and the forth one is a boring bar. Some of the others are a bit more difficult to indentify. The top one looks similar to a cranked knife tool for turning. The second one could be a left hand knife tool and the fifth one could be used for chamfering. I'm sure others will have some ideas!

3 is threading

4 is boring

2 looks a bit strange, I think it might be turned the wrong way

I tend to just stick my tool in and see what happens(a bit like life)

yes

You should really start with HSS tooling, then progress to carbide

HSS is far more forgiving until you get some experience

Carbide can be very prone to chipping if you have any slop, it's fabulous stuff once you learn to use it though

Edited By Ady1 on 02/04/2016 10:03:15

Top - Right hand turning tool used to cut along teh length of teh work to reduce diameter

2nd - Parting tool viewed from the side used to part of work

3rd - threading tool

4th Boring tool for internal holes

5th Roughing or chamfer tool, to take larger cuts off the dia or add a small chamfer to break corners

Bottom - Could be used as a lefthand or facing tool to face off the end of work

You will either have to get a small diamond slip to sharpen or a green grit wheel for a bench grinder

This set would be a better idea but you'll need a grinder at some point to sharpen them. A slip stone will do to touch them up to start with though.

**LINK**

2 is probably a parting off tool. 5 and 6 are left and right had turning tools. 1 may be a finishing tool or I may have mixed up 1 and 5. The slope on the top of the tool will always go away from the direction of the cut but there is little or none on this style of tool. They are usually ground up for use on cast iron but can be used on all materials.

You can use these but resharpening needs a green grit wheel. Some use diamond but the green grit wheels work well on ordinary off hand grinders - they do with 8" wheels anyway.

Before anyone suggests anything it would be good idea to know what lathe you are using and the tool height it needs in the holder. The tools have to be packed up so that the tip is one just slightly below the centre line of the lathe. Some sizes of tool may cause you problems in this respect.

John

-

I have this set; nice tools & only need a slip stone / diamond lap to touch up ...

**LINK**

+1 for JasonB comments

George.

Edited By mechman48 on 02/04/2016 10:52:53

Repeat after me

" I must not be tempted to buy sets of tools"

"I must not be tempted to buy sets of tools"

Ditto

one hundred times

However there is this really nice set of dri........ WHAT DID I TELL YOU go back to the beginning.

If you look at the detail for this set on the Machine Mart website, it will give you this table:

• Tool specification, from top of picture
• ISO 6R 1010 P30
• ISO 7R 1208 P30
• Non tipped tool steel
• ISO 8R 1010 P30
• ISO 2R 1010 P30
• ISO 2L 1010 P30

You can then Google the numbers to find out what they are. The first number is the tool shape, the last (P30) is the grade of the tip material. Or look at the Sandvik website. Useful if you don't have time to ask on this site, or to check before purchase.

Jason has of course explained it all correctly. Note the threading tool is HSS, not carbide tipped, so can be sharpened on an ordinary grinder

Once you've got some lathe time under your belt Mathew have a look at one of these.

**LINK**

It may seem expensive but it uses easily ground HSS and does not require any shims to set it on centre height. It can be used to both turn and face without moving the tool. I have several of these both bought and home made and do most of my turning with them.

As with Vic; have also got one of these which I use the majority of times for most material ... plus some indexible tip tools...

**LINK**

Can only repeat Bazyle's mantra...

'Repeat after me

" I must not be tempted to buy sets of tools"

"I must not be tempted to buy sets of tools"

Ditto'

one hundred times

George.

Bazyle is entirely right really but people do buy sets. I used to buy this type of tool pretty regularly in the shape I wanted. There are other shapes but the nose rad on them tends to be rather large for smaller lathes.

In many ways this general style is the most useful single tool and the rad doesn't look too large on this one. Some at this size will have much bigger rads on the end. They can be ok for finishing,

**LINK**

Go up to Myford 7 size and the rad is likely to be a bit on the big size even for a myford.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if new lathes with ordinary tool posts came with a selection of packing. Finding suitable material must be a bit of a problem for beginners.

Edit - Looks like Chronos have the same shape in L and R hand. It is a shape that will be used unlike some in sets. They probably have a parting of tool to match. That can be used to square up shoulders removing the rad left by the V nose tool.

John

-

Edited By Ajohnw on 02/04/2016 12:11:52

I dont think you ever stop buying lathe tools until you end up with like 50 of them.

You also make alot for odd jobs, i've got an internal threading tool that can fit inside and thread an M3 hole, it's like 0.6mm thick at the tip but i use it for small imperial thread sizes. 

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 02/04/2016 12:24:49

I reckon that's true but sometimes buyers realise that there isn't any need really for what they have bought. It's not too bad if some one buys HSS toolbits and knows what shapes will be needed but then you buy way too much hss. One pretty sensible HSS set I have used came off Peatol / Taig. Decent HSS too even though the basic toolbit isn't ground, just the cutting parts are.

John

-

I had been using carbide tools on my South Bend 10K. I am going to switch back to using high speed steel. I need to make a couple tool holders for my QCTP. One will be for a tangential tool, the other to provide about 15* back rake for the tools. The carbide was nice because I could cut at higher surface speeds and I did not have to grind tools, just switch inserts. Unfortunately the geometry of carbide tooling is not suited to low horsepower machines. By switching back to HSS tools I will be able to optimize the tool angles.

The tools pictures in earlier posts show tools similar to those sold by the notorious Harbor Freight in the US. Most users have found them of poor quality and prone to chipping.

I would also add those tools often are quite blunt, i have the same set and will try to resharpen them with a silicon carbide wheel.

Michael W

If you do grind them Michael do make sure you keep the clearance angles the same. They will chip easily if that is increased.

What I used to do is grind at a steeper angle to get the support steel out of the way and maybe a bit of the carbide and then grind the correct angle on the carbide as near as I could by checking that it's grinding evenly.

John

-