LOL. Tom's questions make perfect sense - to an ex-novice who figured out box
tools on his own. Well to be honest there was an rcm gent who gave me a real
leg up.
1) the spindle turns in the conventional direction. (for a while, I was sure it had
to be run in reverse. I was wrong)
2) the roller box tool in question has a the tool sit on a rocker which is controlled
from two square head screws. The rocker puts the tool "on center" and does not
adjust the depth of cut.
3) the depth of cut is adjusted via a screw that moves the tool sort of back and
forth. I should really take photos....
4) the tool can be sharpened with only ONE grind, across its end. The end of the
tool is basically what would be the top in normal operation. The front clearance is
basically predetermined by the angle the tool makes, with the vertical.
5) once the tool is all set up, it really does not matter what orientation you put the
tool into the turret. I can be any orientation and it will still cut as well. There will
be a preferred orientation for the chips to fall away. I seem to recall this is with the
tool towards the operator but try it and see.
6) the rollers. There are two ways to do it, rollers running on the un-turned
portion, and rollers turning on the diameter that has been turned by the tool
already. Either way works, in one case the tool is a bit forward of the rollers,
and you set the rollers with a pre-turned bit of stock in the spindle. In the other
way, the tool is a bit back of the rollers, and you set the rollers on raw stock.
If you use the rollers on the turned portion you get a nice burnished effect sometimes.
I like to set the roller that opposes the tool, first, because it will have a large
effect on the finished diameter. The 'top' roller just keeps the workpiece from
climbing the tool.
Good luck tom1, roller box tools were a real eye-opener for me.
Jim