First Lathe

Circuit 1 · Nov 15, 2015

I have had a Haas VF-3 for about 15 years and I finally decided that I needed a lathe. The only problem is that I know nothing about a lathe. I ended up buying a 1993 Mazak SQT-10M with the T-Plus control and it should be here in about a week. So I'm hoping I could get some input on what is a good general tooling package to start with. What brand and style of tool holders and inserts are best for roughing or finishing. And just any information that might make this learning curve a little less painful. For now I'll more than likely be just machining aluminum and plastics, but later I will be also doing stainless. Now this isn't really much different than when I had first bought my mill. I had actually only seen them on TV and decided that's what I wanted to do and so I bought one. There was a point when I thought I made a huge mistake because the learning curve was kinda overwhelming. But then all of a sudden it clicked and now I stay pretty busy building prototype parts for a company that designs inspection tools. So I know I can learn this fairly quickly but I hoping to avoid some of the stupid mistakes I made when learning the mill. So any information and knowledge would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

onecut · Nov 15, 2015

Good luck but I dont think you will be learning this "FAIRLY QUICKLY" maybe to power up and get the spindle turning

jscpm · Nov 15, 2015

The control panels for those old Mazaks look like the inside of an F-16.

Bluejeep · Nov 16, 2015

For basic tools in AL and plastic, A holder for CCGT 43* inserts, a couple of boring bars for CCGT 32.5* and some smaller ones, It just depends on your work, (*= 1 = 1/64 nose R. 2= 1/32 R.) A few strait shank ER collet holders ER16 or ER32 I'd recommend to have both, some sleeves to hold your boring bars and collet holders. and a Seco MDT tool holder with a chip assortment for whatever you parts may require. Maritool has nice collet holders, Exkenna at latheinserts.com can get you good deals on turning and boring stuff. Be careful lathes are much less forgiving in crashes than mills.

Circuit 1 · Nov 16, 2015

Thanks!
I'll check those tool holders and inserts. And yes I do know that lathes are much less forgiving than a mill, that has been one of my concerns. I realize I'm not going to making parts right away. I hope to be making fairly simple parts in a few months and that is what I consider fairly quickly. Any thoughts about the lathe? I heard a lot of good about the Mazaks.

wippin' boy · Nov 16, 2015

no worries. go to the Mazak forum, there is lots of help there. and Mazak factory support has always been solid for me.

Circuit 1 · Nov 16, 2015

That's good to hear. And I'll check out the Mazak forum too.
Thanks!

woodrim · Nov 16, 2015

Congratulations. I too just today bought my first metal lathe; an old Southbend.

cncFireman · Nov 16, 2015

I know a couple of contractors in the area that work on Mazaks if you ever need a repair guy.

Circuit 1 · Nov 16, 2015

I'll get those from you at some point, because with my luck there will be problems. It's going to be at least a month by the time it gets shipped here and electrical put in. Unfortunately I have to run it on a phase converter and I don't want to order it until the lathe is here at the shop. I know phase converters aren't the best way to go but I don't have a choice here. My Haas VF-3 has run off a 30 hp converter for about 15 years now and I haven't had a problem yet.

Circuit 1 · Nov 16, 2015

That brings up another question. Does anyone have and SQT-10M 10hp cont./15hp 30 min and if so what size breakers are you running it on 3 phase. I just wanted to get a general idea of what to expect.

Otis L. · Nov 16, 2015

Develop good work habits early. Always remember to remove the chuck key. No long sleeves. Good luck and have fun.

Circuit 1 · Nov 18, 2015

Blue Jeep do you have any preferences for brands of tool holders and boring bars. I looked at the Seco MDT and that looks like a very good all around turning tool.
Thanks!

Bluejeep · Nov 18, 2015

For regular turning holders I have LMT Fette "pointe blank" holders. I got these because you can plumb your coolant into them and it sprays right on the insert nose and you don't have to worry about birds nests knocking your coolant nozzles awry. I also like Seco tool holders and they have a similar coolant system available on their "Jet Stream" holders as well. The MDT is a great tool. You wouldn't use it as your general turning tool but it does all the things it say it does. As for boring bars for 1/2" and up I just bought a selection from Exkenna. they work fine for what I've used them for and they are inexpensive. Depending on your work if you need bars smaller than 1/2" I would just stick with brand name stuff and get coolant thru bars. If you hold your small bars in a collet you can plumb the coolant line right into the back of the collet holder. What I would look for mainly is that with plastics and aluminum you want positive geometry tooling. Also you need to decide if you will be using left or right hand tooling. There are many threads on that topic>

Circuit 1 · Nov 18, 2015

I'll check those out.
Thanks I really appreciate the input!

Circuit 1 · Feb 23, 2016

Finally got the lathe and there has been a lot of issues with it (that's a story for another time)in fact I had it for over a month and a half before I got power to it. I have a few more things to finish up and then it should be in good shape. It's definitely has been a huge learning curve and I couldn't really start to learn the Mazatrol until I had power. I learned what I could from the manuals but those things are horrible. I'm really disappointed with the parts manual. But anyway my question is I've started to buy tooling and my OD turning tool (Seco MWLNR 12-3B) is a 3/4" shank and I have realized that this lathe is setup with 20mm holders. Unfortunately I've used the tool to do some test passes so I can't return it. So is it acceptable to shim tool holders in a cnc lathe? It sounds like a lot of guys do it to kind of fine tune things. I just don't want to find I did something stupid. Also as you guys mentioned before I should pick up some straight ER collet holders. Should these have a flat on them or is without okay? I decided to go with the Iscar Cut Off tool. Are there any preferences for threading tools? I appreciate every ones input, experience and opinions. Thanks!

machtool · Feb 23, 2016

Circuit 1 said:
But anyway my question is I've started to buy tooling and my OD turning tool (Seco MWLNR 12-3B) is a 3/4" shank and I have realized that this lathe is setup with 20mm holders. Unfortunately I've used the tool to do some test passes so I can't return it. So is it acceptable to shim tool holders in a cnc lathe?

You wouldn't throw away a good tool, just because its a little low. Yes shim it. Steel pallet banding strap is often 0.020" thick. Two pieces of that especially if you can find it 5/8 or 3/4" wide, would have you horribly close.

Regards Phil.

Circuit 1 · Feb 24, 2016

Phil Thanks!
Banding strap would be a good choice. Is it better to be dead center, a little low or a little high? I'm finding out the lathe is definitely a different world than the mill.
Again Thanks!

Circuit 1 · Feb 24, 2016

Okay next question. I just received some 1.250" Bush Rite bushings. How tight should these be it the tool block or are these blocks a metric size also? It just seemed like they should be a bit more snug than what they are.

Jay Fleming · Feb 24, 2016

I'll contribute what I think I know but I'm really here to just follow along as I'll be starting up an Okuma lathe in a month or so and dealing with the same tooling issues and whatnot.

The tools should be dead center, otherwise for facing ops, you'll end up with a tit. For turning, I don't think it's so critical but shouldn't be too hard to get dead center. Start low, take a test facing cut, measure the tit and divide by two for your shim thickness. The sleeves I would think should be pretty snug but they are always going to have some play. Do your tool blocks have 2 sets of 2 opposing bolts? If so, this would offer some alignment for the ID tool and the snugness would be less critical. The tool blocks can usually be purchased with metric or standard bores. You could probably look up the part number of the block and see exactly what the bore should be.

Maybe Philabuster can chime in on this topic. He has/had similar lathes and is quick to offer advice (not in a know it all way).

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