[humperdingle]

Hi fellas, My name is Mark, I live in Scotland, and I am the slightly scared owner of a new lathe...eek! I plumped for a 7 x 14 lathe from a company called Amadeal here in the UK. Just a generic Chinese mini lathe, but it seems decent enough.

I've been reading up on lathe related sites, watching Mr Jose Rodriguez's DVD on mini lathe use. Must say, it's much easier doing that than actually turning some metal into a recognisable shape

So I just came across this fine (and slightly bewildering) site, and thought i'd introduce myself.

Looking for some VERY novice stuff to try out (just made a miniature chubby shotgun shell for my first practice run), and I'm finding that perhaps buying a £22 set of carbide tip tools wasn't the best of ideas, so i'm after advice on what tools to go for in the future. (The parting tool was just a disaster )

So hello to you all, looks a massive forum, but a friendly one!

All the best, Mark.

[fragger6662000]

Hi

I think lathes are far more scary than mills.

tool wise you cannot go wrong with a glanze parting tool and index cutters from Chrionos. they are really good and had a lot of success with them. But as with every thing you get what you pay for and they are expensive.

turning

parting

i would go for the 10mm set. They also do a multi blade off that has 2 blades 4 inserts and a holder for 50ish which is very good value.

[Fastest1]

Welcome! Don't worry parting off is 1 of the most difficult tasks. Watch YouTube for instructional videos too. There are many great teachers there (and some not so good). I watch a user named Mr.Pete222 he has some great tutorials. Seems to be very experienced and efficient. Frustration is to be expected in the beginning (most of the time for me) and a little fear or respect of machine tools and soft body parts is justifiable if not wise.

[fragger6662000]

here is a video of the parting tool that i did for chronos

parting and turning

[humperdingle]

Thanks guys - I'm thinking it will be a good idea to hold off doing much more tinkering until I've purchased some better tooling. I've been reading up on these Glanze tools, and they look very good. Unfortunately after blowing all my spare cash on the lathe, aluminium stock and various other bits and pieces, my funds are zero .

Time to start saving all over again.

[Fastest1]

Dont hold off. Did you break your tooling or just make it dull? Try sharpeining it. It isnt going to hurt the machine to practice. Lathes make quite a bit of noise while turning, parting or threading. I have a tendency to try to spin everything too fast thinking it will make a better finish. That isnt correct. Keep tinkering.

[Joshua]

Thanks guys - I'm thinking it will be a good idea to hold off doing much more tinkering until I've purchased some better tooling. I've been reading up on these Glanze tools, and they look very good. Unfortunately after blowing all my spare cash on the lathe, aluminium stock and various other bits and pieces, my funds are zero .

Time to start saving all over again.

Hello, the carbide brazed tools that you bought are not that bad...actually i have found them very good value for the money! they just need to be cleaned from the paint in the carbide portion a quick and dirty lapping with a diamond stone...they should get you started without a problem! do you have a QCTP? if not are you shimming the tools to get them to the correct height?

for something a little better you can try a diamond tool holder from from Eccentric Engineering and it covers 90% of turning operations...and you sharpen it in very few seconds! The diamond tool holder and a half decent parting tool, plus a carriage lock, you should not try to make parting cuts without locking the carriage...and a rocker tool post from arc euro trade...should give you a nice setup.

Or in alternative buy a box of 1/4 inch hss toolbits and grind them...they will give you the best finish on a mini lathe...besides you can grind specialized tools...for cutting brass, for steel...etc. and are very cheap.

Indexable carbide tooling is good to have...but save your money and only buy the best you can afford...glanze it's ok for toolholder, but they are cheap indian stuff, very poor inserts...look at sandvik, kennametal, mitsubishi, Sumitomo..etc.

[humperdingle]

Hello, the carbide brazed tools that you bought are not that bad...actually i have found them very good value for the money! they just need to be cleaned from the paint in the carbide portion a quick and dirty lapping with a diamond stone...they should get you started without a problem! do you have a QCTP? if not are you shimming the tools to get them to the correct height?

for something a little better you can try a diamond tool holder from from Eccentric Engineering and it covers 90% of turning operations...and you sharpen it in very few seconds! The diamond tool holder and a half decent parting tool, plus a carriage lock, you should not try to make parting cuts without locking the carriage...and a rocker tool post from arc euro trade...should give you a nice setup.

Or in alternative buy a box of 1/4 inch hss toolbits and grind them...they will give you the best finish on a mini lathe...besides you can grind specialized tools...for cutting brass, for steel...etc. and are very cheap.

Indexable carbide tooling is good to have...but save your money and only buy the best you can afford...glanze it's ok for toolholder, but they are cheap indian stuff, very poor inserts...look at sandvik, kennametal, mitsubishi, Sumitomo..etc.

Thanks for the info.
I've since bought a couple of plain HSS bits (total cost £5) and already, they are much better, and have assured me that I wasn't doing something wrong. The difference in use is quite astonishing.
I do have a QCTP, and yes, all the tools have been centred. Might have a go at cleaning the tips as you suggest on the carbide tools.
Also used WD40 more often when facing/turning and that seems to help a lot.

Tried my tap and die set for the first time today, and used the lathe to keep things centred. Came out better than i'd anticipated for a first time!

This lathe business doesn't half eat into spare time

[humperdingle]

I'm officially loving my new lathe!

My little shed has never seen so much action :banana:

On the tooling front, i've been using HSS tools. Very basic, but i'm learning ways to make them do what I need to do. A friend of a friend will hopefully show me the ropes on grinding/cutting various shapes of tools before I invest in a grinder.

Really enjoying tinkering!!

[Fixittt]

i know the feeling buddy. I had a 7x10 lathe and out grew it quick, upgraded to a 11x26 and for the first time ever I cut threads. I could have done it on the 7x10 as well, but never had the need. now that I have a more capable machine, it makes things alot more fun. not knocking the 7x10 by any means. I have made many custom parts for motorcycles on it.
Getting something done that you have never done before is a great feeling!
here is a little tip. If your trying to make a cut and it is struggling, then something is wrong. Be it the tool is dull, above or to far below center ect, too deep of a cut and so on. Allow the machine to do the work. If it fights back, then look over the variables.

[wildwestpat]

Hi Mark

Unless you want to master the art of sharpening your own tools use inserts. This will allow you to get going with the minimum of trouble. There are a lot of different inserts available for cutting different materials at various feed rates and surface finishes. Take a look at Sandvic's insert catalogue. I suggest you buy a single triangular insert holder from Chronos as you are in the UK. Make sure it is mounted correctly at centre height and assuming the gibs are correctly adjusted the cut should be good! There are many of the inserts available with different tip radius and lip angles to suit most materials but the ones stocked by Chronos will do to get you started. They also do insert parting off holders and inserts which are also effective and with your lathe you can mount these upside down BUT must have the tip at centre height and run the lathe in reverse. This helps with chatter and can also be used for normal turning provided the left hand tool is regarded as right hand of course. There are other suppliers at the DIY end of the market of insert holders Glanze - Arceuro - Axminster Tools just make sure you get the full designation of the insert tips as eBay is a good source for some of the more exotic tips.

Investigate the Mini-Lathe.com web site if you have not done so already.

Good luck - Regards - Pat

[Fastest1]

My problem is generally too much spindle speed. I always think faster is better, in machining it isnt necessarily true.

[humperdingle]

Hi Mark

Unless you want to master the art of sharpening your own tools use inserts. This will allow you to get going with the minimum of trouble. There are a lot of different inserts available for cutting different materials at various feed rates and surface finishes. Take a look at Sandvic's insert catalogue. I suggest you buy a single triangular insert holder from Chronos as you are in the UK. Make sure it is mounted correctly at centre height and assuming the gibs are correctly adjusted the cut should be good! There are many of the inserts available with different tip radius and lip angles to suit most materials but the ones stocked by Chronos will do to get you started. They also do insert parting off holders and inserts which are also effective and with your lathe you can mount these upside down BUT must have the tip at centre height and run the lathe in reverse. This helps with chatter and can also be used for normal turning provided the left hand tool is regarded as right hand of course. There are other suppliers at the DIY end of the market of insert holders Glanze - Arceuro - Axminster Tools just make sure you get the full designation of the insert tips as eBay is a good source for some of the more exotic tips.

Investigate the Mini-Lathe.com web site if you have not done so already.

Good luck - Regards - Pat

Thanks - Some good infor there.

I will be using HSS tools. I've started to grind my own tools, and they seem to be working! Some satisfaction to be had from creating your own tools that give a good finish.

Currently saving up for some of the indexable Chronos tools.