Metal lathe tooling

[Cheach80]

Hello all,

I’m upgrading to a compound cross sled on my lathe for pipe making to get the accuracy I’m looking for, the problem is I have no idea what tools/bits/tips I need for my tool holder as I’ve been doing everything freehand up until this point.

I’m looking for tools that work well for shaping of the bowl and mortise. I have bits for drilling out the bowl and mortise that have been working well, shaping is the name of the game now.

I appreciate all and any guidance in some suggestions on what a guy should be using.

Thank you for your help.

Jonathan

[LatakiaLover]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxVodOHo1Nw

[Cheach80]

Can I comment on the irony that I was just reading at him this afternoon after Smokingpipes.com sent out their monthly pipe talk article Thank you for the video, just watching what he is using is answering some questions already.

[UnderShade]

Left and right hand cutter are essential IMO. Also, a parting tool will get you started. Once you learn how to grind a cutter, you can order blanks and grind your own custom tools.

[KurtHuhn]

What lathe? Tooling recommendations might be highly dependent on what you've got to start with.

[SofaSamuraiX]

So I have watched the Former video,what a shop. That is an awesome qctp. What brand or style is that? I am struggling to decide between Aloris AXA or for less money and more stuff, LittleMachineShop everything AXA kit.If jumping this thread is poorest in form, SORRY! But I am wondering where those cutting tools came from also!?

[KurtHuhn]

I bought a chinesium AXA toolpost and holder set off of eBay. To my surprise, it is exceedingly good. I buy tool holders from Amazon, also chinesium and in a handful of different flavors, and they are excellent as well. If you're going QC toolpost for your lathe, those are a viable option.

[SofaSamuraiX]

This is the setup I am going to go with... https://littlemachineshop.com/products/ ... &category=
I am trying to get them to machine the t-nut for me. I don't have a tool post yet...

[KurtHuhn]

You probably can't go wrong with that. I will say that the knurling tool is complete garbage in my set - which I suspect is made by the same folks that made the LMS set - but once you have your lathe up and running, you can make your own with no trouble. The thing you will find you need almnost immediately is more holders.

The t-nut is trivial to make - if you have a toolpost. I made mine with my old-school lantern post, out of a chunk of steel rod stock.

--K

[NPS]

What lathe? Tooling recommendations might be highly dependent on what you've got to start with.

Good point......I use mainly carbide tips......but you need a fair old RPM to get a decent finish....around 1200 for 7mm-15mm Aluminium gets me a great finish with a decent feed rate.....a couple of my old lathes wouldn't be able to do this very well.

I'm going to try a round radius tip to turn some rough maple soon............the small cutting /facing tips I usually use for metals aren't great with the Oak I have ............at any RPM .......

A good parting off tool is a good investment!

[NPS]

You probably can't go wrong with that. I will say that the knurling tool is complete garbage in my set - which I suspect is made by the same folks that made the LMS set - but once you have your lathe up and running, you can make your own with no trouble. The thing you will find you need almnost immediately is more holders.

The t-nut is trivial to make - if you have a toolpost. I made mine with my old-school lantern post, out of a chunk of steel rod stock.

--K

Can't comment on the quality.....but I agree...that looks a really attractive package for the price!

.....I also end up making/modifying things......I have access to a really nice milling machine (pity my milling skills aren't great )......and end up going between the lathe and mill.

[CSCmachine]

While I know that carbide insert tooling is great for convenience and works great for metal work, they usually do not work as well for wood. HSS can be ground and honed much sharper with a little practice. The alternative is carbide ground specifically for wood turning, those inserts just plain cut like crazy and leave a very nice surface finish. My lathe is a 14" tool room Rockwell lathe, so I do not get the chatter I would get on my smaller JET bench top lathe when I tried to use carbide. I found it wanted to grab and tear, not cut, the wood fibers. When I switched to HSS and stoned the edge after grinding my cutter to the right shape, they worked like a champ.