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Plans wanted for Carbide Tip inserts tool holders

Jors

Plastic
Joined
Oct 16, 2010
Location
South Africa, Cape Town
I have seen one or two projects of fabricating your own Carbide Tip Inserts Tool Holders. Some of them was just flat, but some of them specify for the tip to be on an angle to determine the rake.
I would like to get hold of some of these plans to make some myself.

Here in South Africa the tool holders are so expensive that a hobbyist can not afford them.

I have even welded the tips off some concrete drill bits and brazed them on square rods and that also seems to work as a cheap alternative.
 
carbide insert tool holders

cheap ones from harbor freight
5 Piece 1/2" Shank Indexable Carbide Tool Set
uses a screw to hold insert

5 tool holders with inserts and wrenches averaging $6 each. you would have a hard time buying inserts and buying steel to make tool holders for that price. many companies will ship internationally using FEDEX or DHL or UPS, etc

it has been my experience in different countries that between the internet, telephone books, and even asking taxi drivers in large cities where the largest tool stores are that the problem usually more finding a local distributor or supplier.

sometimes you can find on the internet through company web site where the closest distributor or supplier is.
 
Those toolholders from Harbor Freight aren't worth the recycled bean cans they're made from. DO NOT even think about using those, or any others of the that style because it'll leave a bad taste in your mouth for carbide that could last for years.

There's only one or two tools in that set that get used anyhow, so just buy something good the first time around. Those things often come supplied with the crappiest carbide and the wrong geometry for the holder! I've seen quality HSS-Co tooling that can out-perform those tools, easily.

What's wrong with Ebay over there in South Africa? Lots of quality tools show up there for cheap prices. What size shanks does your toolpost use? How much HP does your lathe have? What kind of work will you be doing? The answers help determine what tooling you should be looking for.
 
Lathe tool bit holder

Go to GOOGLE put in Popular Mechanics July 1980, look for Popular Mechanics July 1980 Google book result, look on contents go to page # 92 Lathe tool bit holder. Good luck Richard
 
Wow. I just found that toolholder in the old Popular Mechanics issue. I didn't think it would be possible to make a worse toolholder than those cheap Chinese piece of dog turd, but there it is.

It looks like the use a TNMG insert on edge and cut with the radius of the corner. Then to make it even more unstable, there's no screw through the center to hold the insert onto the holder.

I don't believe in book burning, but there's a good case for magazine burning right there.

;)
 
I have the basic set that use carbide tips, bought from Adendorf ( South Africa). They have 5 basic tools for left and right, a parting tool and a thread tool.

These tools work excellent on brass and aluminum, but it is another story on steel or stainless. The inserts are prone to chip, unless you take the smallest of cuts, I mean micro size. This have left a bad taste for carbide tips.

There is nothing wrong with the tool holders. They are 10 mm size (just bigger than 3/8). All of them is flat mounted. What I mean by that is that the tips are not mounted at an angle but flat. This same set is available in bigger size tool holders as well, but with the same tool inserts.

I rather use HSS tools and carbide tipped brazed on tools that I have to sharpen every now and then. Carbide tipped tools (home made with concrete drill bit tips that I have salvaged and brazed on my own shafts work the best and cost almost nothing).

I have changed my mind when since the day before yesterday, I have modified a QCTP to fit on my lathe and I just had to take of some metal from the bottom of the oversize tool holders. I have taken them to Steelcraft, my cousins' factory and used their Quantum lathe, as their milling machine was being used at that moment.

My cousin set the hardened tool holders in the chuck and he used a 20mm tool holder with a larger tool insert than my small ones. His have cutting edges on top as well as on the bottom (the tip can be turned over once all three corners are damaged). This tool changed my opinion again as this tool was able to cut better than I am used to with HSS and even with hardened steel. I am aware that his lathe has more torque but I did not take much bigger cuts than I am used to. I must also state that he use no new tips on this loose manual operated lathe. He uses the tips first for some time on his CNC machines and then take them over to the manual one.

This tool holder of him cost about R700.00 (about $ 120.00) and the tips about ($10.00 - $15.00). The set that I have was R945.00 (about $160.00) and they chip for nothing. I now use them solely on the softer metals like brass and Aluminum.
 
Jors, sounds like your cousin is using negative rake inserts, they work good in production, but you need horsepower and rigidity to realize the maximum benefit. If you have a small lathe you might be better off staying with positive,and neutral rake tooling.
James
 
I make alot of custom tooling that isn't on the market. I try to use Iscar inserts. If you go to thier website, you can get most of what you're looking for from thier e-catalog.
have fun
i_r_machinist
 








 
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