[killerofall]

I have a HF 8X12 lathe that i was thinking of getting one of the QCTP's from enco for $150, However while looking around on the net last night i saw that several people make them for around that price and was just wondering who has the best and for what price? >$200

[slatsmith]

look on Ebay or where ever for an AXA or BXA size with a bunch of holders included ...alot cheaper than picking up more holders later

[courtiron]

Check out CDCO machinery. Just picked up the small AXA type set and set it up on my old 9" SB change gear lathe. The SB has a non standard compound slot and I had to tap a new plate with 14mm thread to use the supplied post. Under 80 bucks, for that price you can add more tool holders...
Paul

[packrat]

I'm just an old guy, but I don't see the need for a QCTP. With a lantern style tool post and a left and right tool holder I can do more cuts with fewer tools.

I know it's not a popular thing anymore, but a lantern style post is still viable.

cary
PS, yes I have both.

[emh114]

Check out CDCO machinery. Just picked up the small AXA type set and set it up on my old 9" SB change gear lathe. The SB has a non standard compound slot and I had to tap a new plate with 14mm thread to use the supplied post. Under 80 bucks, for that price you can add more tool holders...
Paul

I got mine for my Jet 9 x 20 from CDCO good price...... i also seen them at wholesaletools.com


Sebashtion H.

[CalG]

And do you want to keep sending your money over seas?

Get A Good used KDK or Aloris and appreciate it every time you use it!

[HuFlungDung]

I'm just an old guy, but I don't see the need for a QCTP. With a lantern style tool post and a left and right tool holder I can do more cuts with fewer tools.

I know it's not a popular thing anymore, but a lantern style post is still viable.

cary
PS, yes I have both.

How old is old?

A quick change toolpost is all about productivity. I used the lantern style toolpost back when I started out 30 years ago, then a 4 way (which sucked most of the time because of tool interference), and then a multifix 40 position toolpost came installed on a used lathe that I bought. With no preconceived ideas, that multifix toolpost revolutionised the way I could work. This gives you almost as many positioning options as you get from a lantern style toolpost, but a lot more rigid, and the tools are out farther from the compound so you can get better access to the area near the chuck. Switch to any tool and back in 5 seconds. Also justifies the usage of a DRO, because of the repeatability. If you make more than one of anything, changing tools in the lantern is pretty much a waste of your day.

[packrat]

How old is old?

A quick change toolpost is all about productivity. I used the lantern style toolpost back when I started out 30 years ago, then a 4 way (which sucked most of the time because of tool interference), and then a multifix 40 position toolpost came installed on a used lathe that I bought. With no preconceived ideas, that multifix toolpost revolutionised the way I could work. This gives you almost as many positioning options as you get from a lantern style toolpost, but a lot more rigid, and the tools are out farther from the compound so you can get better access to the area near the chuck. Switch to any tool and back in 5 seconds. Also justifies the usage of a DRO, because of the repeatability. If you make more than one of anything, changing tools in the lantern is pretty much a waste of your day.

Older than dirt Or at least it feels like it some times, 62.

Never used a multifix but with the aloris or other style QCTP you still have to have a different tool shape for each different cut and some times need to change the base/post orientation to get what you need.

Now for another tool post thing-- back when I was an apprentice (45 years a go) the old guy that taught me how to run a lathe was in his 70's. He taught me to turn the compound to 90 degrees(parallel to bed) instead of the 29 degrees they taught in shop class. The reason was,to make holding shoulder dimensions easier. Ever hear of that one?

cary

[BobWarfield]

Now for another tool post thing-- back when I was an apprentice (45 years a go) the old guy that taught me how to run a lathe was in his 70's. He taught me to turn the compound to 90 degrees(parallel to bed) instead of the 29 degrees they taught in shop class. The reason was,to make holding shoulder dimensions easier. Ever hear of that one?

cary

Yep, that's how I like to run my compound. In fact, I like it so much I even made up a quick and dirty DRO for it:



Cheers,

BW

PS Note the expensive carriage stop in the upper left of the picture. They work good!

[mactec54]

Hi killerofall
You should check out these as well, the have some very nice tooling & good prices as well

http://www.shars.com/product_categor...g__Toolholders

[killerofall]

Hi killerofall
You should check out these as well, the have some very nice tooling & good prices as well

http://www.shars.com/product_categor...g__Toolholders

Thats where most of my tooling has come from so far.

Thanks for all the help guys. Whats a lantern style tool post never heard of it? :drowning:

One more question how much modification is needed to mount one of these?

[HuFlungDung]

Older than dirt Or at least it feels like it some times, 62.

Never used a multifix but with the aloris or other style QCTP you still have to have a different tool shape for each different cut and some times need to change the base/post orientation to get what you need.

Now for another tool post thing-- back when I was an apprentice (45 years a go) the old guy that taught me how to run a lathe was in his 70's. He taught me to turn the compound to 90 degrees(parallel to bed) instead of the 29 degrees they taught in shop class. The reason was,to make holding shoulder dimensions easier. Ever hear of that one?

cary

The Aloris style toolpost is not quite as versatile as the multifix. Plenty of times you want a few degrees clearance one way or the other: for example, to give a turning tool enough clearance to do a wide facing cut; to give a boring bar a few degrees of clearance when roughing a hole and the chips are getting caught between the bar and the rough bore; using a bar to face the bottom of a blind hole.

So far as the setting of the compound, I gave that up when we began to use DROs on our lathes. Also, running a carbide threading tool at 29° tends to have a shortened life due to rubbing on the trailing edge. Carbide needs to stay under the chip.

Instead, on heavy threads, we'll jog the compound back and forth a few thousandths to produce a staggered cut. At the bottom of the thread, a thousandth or two ahead or back to finish the thread on both sides is pretty standard practice, so it really doesn't matter what angle you roughed it at.

[packrat]

Thanks for all the help guys. Whats a lantern style tool post never heard of it? :drowning:

Here is the lantern/rocker tool post; http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?P...&PARTPG=INSRHI


Until the recent/internet craze of home shop machining and the "experts"(read never did it for a living) that followed, The lantern style was the default tool post.

If you bought a lathe this is what it was equipped with. It is used with these; http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?P...&PARTPG=INLMK3
There are left hand, right hand, and straight style, plus cut-off holders, and so on.

Still the most versatile even if old school.

cary

[packrat]

Yep, that's how I like to run my compound. In fact, I like it so much I even made up a quick and dirty DRO for it:



Cheers,

BW

PS Note the expensive carriage stop in the upper left of the picture. They work good!

Nice adaption to your lathe! I wish someone(china?) would copy those "expensive carriage stops". Those are the most versatile, useful clamps ever made.

cary

[killerofall]

Cant really tell from the pic, how do you adjust the height of the tool? Thats one of the main reason i want the QCTP. Other than that i have no real problem with the tool post I have now, and boring looks a little easer with a QCTP.

[packrat]

[QUOTE=killerofall;761064]Cant really tell from the pic, how do you adjust the height of the tool? Thats one of the main reason i want the QCTP. Other than that i have no real problem with the tool post I have now, and boring looks a little easer with a QCTP.[/QUOTE

If you look at the picture you'll see a slot through the main body of the post, the tool holder goes through there.

Going through the main body is a crescent/half-moon shaped bar, thats the rocker. The tool holder sits on this.

Under the rocker is a ring with a concave shape to it, thats the ring. The rocker fits in the ring through the post. You adjust the center height of the tool by the position of the rocker on the ring. Sliding more of the rocker through the post (toward the center of the bed) tips the tool higher. Pulling more of the rocker back toward you tips the height of the tool down.

By grinding a tool bit in to a boring bit and holding it in a tool holder you can bore to around 2 3/4 inches deep. With the different bits I've ground over the years I can bore from about .100"dia., to as big as the lathe will swing.

cary

[killerofall]

Thanks for the info. Other than price is there any reason I should go with the lantern style? Witch would be most advantageous?

[mactec54]

Hi killerofall

No reason to go with a lantern at all, the lantern style has been around since machines were made, like almost as old as dirt,I did not know that they still made them,( Chinese I guess) you will curse the day that you wasted your money on one, if you went that way, If you have not used one before then don't go back in time

[packrat]

Hi killerofall

No reason to go with a lantern at all, the lantern style has been around since machines were made, like almost as old as dirt,I did not know that they still made them,( Chinese I guess) you will curse the day that you wasted your money on one, if you went that way, If you have not used one before then don't go back in time

Not wanting to start a flame war, but for a small (8x10) lathe that the O/P has and him as new to machining, why would it be best to start with a QCTP?

While I'm new to this forum I'm not new to machining. I don't know where your located, but in my area, if you go into any machine shop you will find a whole lot more lantern style post's on lathes than you will QCTP. This holds true in Industrial settings and small job shops. The next common style is the 4 way tool post, you never find a Aloris style. They are the realm of the home shop machinist/hobbyist.

Just like guy's advising newbies that you HAVE to use carbide to machine with
(on small bench top hobby machines) I have to chuckle to my self.

Instead of spending a lot of money on a QCTP (that like you said has been around for ever ,and has always worked) the O/p would be farther ahead getting a lantern tool post and a good drill chuck or other tool for the lathe. Just my dumb old opinion.

cary

[HuFlungDung]

If I was a customer and walked into a machine shop to get some work done, and I saw lantern style toolposts on the lathe, I'd be expecting that their shop rate is about $10/hour, because there is no way they're going to be productive with a lantern toolpost.

But for a hobbyist, the lantern may be a cheap enough start, except that you have to buy overpriced toolholders to hold your HSS bits, you can't fit large enough boring bars through the lantern, and the side slung boring bar holders are ****ty in performance. So then you need a better style boring bar post. BTDT.

While some old timers might like the big long chip curls coming off an HSS toolbit, I don't. I like chipbreakers. Carbide provides an inexpensive chip breaking solution, both for external and internal turning.

Oh, and tell me about how wonderful those ancient HSS parting off tools work in a lantern toolpost. Those things cause skittishness and nightmares