Clausing Lathe Turret

the tool holders for turret lathes have a round post to go in those holes - there are many varieties - just search for them and you will find

Naww a couple of morse sleeves in the #2 and #3 size that have 1-1/2 in straight shanks is robably all you will ever need, readily available on ebay so there's no need to make them yourself.

Typically one would reserve #1 station for a stock stop, just a simple 1-1/2 dia rod is all that's needed there........

--After that I would suggest 2 or 3 jacobs chucks or if you already have some 1-1/2 shank extension collet holders then use them instead...and a criterion boring head pretty is nice to have...and several straight reducing holders which will allow you to rough using endmills and to quickly turn ID chamfers etc.

There are a bunch of tools linked from this page for turret lathes.

Wes

-- "Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller

Good advice. Gunner's senior moment is for drill bushings

Karl

Easy way is to use a MT3 to straight shank adapter. Enco has these for 16.25$US hardened and ground.

Wish I had a good excuse!

Karl

The sort of tooling likely to be used in a turret of this sort (which is a bit larger than mine which has 1" diameter tool holders) is:

1) Roller box tool -- turns down a large amount in a single pass.

Special ground HSS or carbide bit which cuts on the end, instead of the side. Two rollers which act as a travelling steady rest precisely right for that tool.

Example: eBay # 310283537557

2) Drill chuck on straight shank arbor. (normal chucks, just get the right size arbor.

3) Floating reamer holder (self aligns).

Expensive eBay example: # 230634528945

4) Geometric style (or other brand) die head -- replaceable chasers for specific threads -- in sets of four. Feeds onto the end of the spinning workpiece, cutting threads, then when the turret reaches its stop, it feeds a little more releasing a dog clutch, and the chasers retract radially from the workpiece, allowing you to retract it while the workpiece is still spinning.

Example: eBay # 130507912832

5) Releasing tap holder -- holds tap until the turret reaches its preset stop for that station, then pulls a little farther releasing a dog clutch and letting the tap spin freely in the holder until the lathe spindle is reversed to back the tap out. (For large holes, there are Geometric taps similar to the dies except that the chasers retract inward.

Example: eBay # 380337848241

6) T style knurling tool (no examples on eBay at the moment.

Holds two knurling rollers at 180 degree separation, feeds on from end of workpiece. Straight knurls can produce diamond or parallel spiral by turning the shanks in which the knurls are mounted.

7) Various things which hold multiple turning tools at once to turn several size steps in a single feed. (Usually finish cuts on castings, I think.)

8 -- ?) Things which I have forgotten, or never knew about.

?++) Use your imagination for more tooling.

Tools with smaller shanks can be adapted at the cost of a bit of metal stock. I've seen sleeves split so they will clamp down firmly when the cam grips.

One worthwhile thing is a combination workpiece end stop and retractable center drill.

You really want to have a lever style collet closer to feed stock through the spindle for multiple parts and cutoffs. (You also need something to keep that stock from whipping. For smaller or shorter pieces, PVC pipe can do. All it needs to do is apply enough force to keep the end of the stock from getting very far off center. Once it is past a certain amount of deflection, there is nothing that will stop it, and you want a panic bar to shut down the spindle *quickly*.

Pick up the two volume Moultrecht _Machine Shop Practice_ book to see a lot about turret lathe work and many other impressive machine tools.

If you look back through my previous postings, you can find one or more examples of me describing how I make certain parts in production mode.

Good Luck, DoN.

Depends! 3/4" Geometric die holders tend to have at least a

3/4" shank, and more often a 1" shank. 1-1/4" Geometric die holders may (if I am lucky) have a 1" shank, and your 1-1/2" shank should handle them all fairly well.

Avoid 1/2" Geometric die holders. I've got one, but never found any chasers to fit it. :-(

I use the 3/4" one with dies for threading a 5/8-27 thread on brass -- fairly frequently. I start with 3/4" brass rod stock, a box tool turns it down to slightly over 5/8", and the Geometric cuts the full thread in a single pass. I knurl it, and undercut the end of the threads at the shoulder, and then part off -- while filing a bevel on the end of the threads and on both ends of the knurled 3/4" diameter section. (Oh yes -- I also drill #7 and then tap 1/4-20 with a deep enough hole to clear the chips.

There are 1" MT shank holders -- I think made to go in boring bar holders, but they fit the turret just as well.

Hmm ... not a particularly useful set as far as I can see, but examples still.

Make at least one 1" adaptor as well -- for the larger likely Geometric die holders.

There are Morse taper drill holders, and Morse taper tap holders. I've made up an adaptor for #1 Morse taper to the releasing tap holder, and have the taps in the Morse holders. (The drill holders want a flat ground on each side of the drill shank as an anti-rotation key -- but I use a drill chuck for the drill bits, and only use the Morse holders for the taps. (We'll see how they work with thread forming taps in place of the home-made holders for the standard gun taps.

Enjoy, DoN.

Aside from what I already posted -- one thing to be really sure to set up right before you start working.

Index a hole to the locked position, and then check for it being concentric with your spindle (sweep with a dial indicator of some sort). If necessary -- adjust the gibs to bring it truly on center from front to back. You may need to shim if the height is not right.

The manual for my Clausing bed turret (which came with a matched serial number to the lathe bed) had instructions to bore it to final size using a tool in the spindle. It comes slightly undersized to allow this. Since yours is not brand new (nor was mine) and you did not say that it came with your machine, you'll need to work on tuning the gibs instead.

While tuning for concentricity -- check a 1-1/2" bar held in it for being parallel to the bed as well -- as you feed the ram in and out.

Good Luck, DoN.

Thanks. Would this possibly be usable as a floating tap holder?

Very cool. Now that I think about it, I have one such head.

Very nice idea.

This is very awesome. Thanks DoN. Your eBay-fu is most impressive.

i

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Not in a turret lathe. It is floating in that it will slide to adjust to being on axis, but will not release to spin freely when you hit the feed stop (as the releasing tap holders will do). You *might* be able to use it in the CNC milling machine with reversing at the proper time. I'm not sure what kind of torque it will handle. But reamers are not designed to run in reverse (it damages the edges), so I don't know how the holder in question will do. (It is much fancier than the ones which I have -- which you slide into alignment after setup and then lock down a pair of nuts to keep it there.

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I thought that you did, and I described how you could probably use it in a quick-change toolpost with a boring bar holder. (I've never actually *tried* that, because all the centering is a pain.

And *this* is what you want for tapping in a turret lathe.

I've found a bunch of them today. They just were not listed with "turret" in the description. I had to search on "Knurling tool" instead, and live with all the extra hits. Here is one with a 1" shank which might work up to 1-1/2" workpiece diameter -- and down in the auction are several photos with different views.

# 270765793713

The current price is pretty good -- so far.

And here are the knurling roller holders which are in these tools. (I've never seen them sold separately before.)

# 110480232833

For whatever reason, I don't see the V-grooves which define the alignment of the rollers -- perhaps on the other side? There are typically five -- square, +/- 30 Degrees and +/- 45 Degrees.

Note that for turret tooling, the letters B.S. frequently does *not* mean Brown & Sharpe, but instead Boyar Shultz.

BTW -- I've also picked up turret style cut knurling tools -- three cut knurling rollers on what look like weird jaws for a 3-jaw chuck, allowing you to adjust the diameter and lock it. One I have is OD only, the other has two sets of jaws, for OD or ID knurling. They don't show up often, and it has been several years since I last looked seriously. I've pretty much stopped purchasing via eBay these days, with them trying to force the vendors to use PayPal.

Deadly expensive if bought new, of course. :-)

The swing-arm knurlers are for a special version of turret lathes, -- an "automatic screw machine", which automates things like the operation of the lever.

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Mostly for these because I spent a lot of time looking for turret tooling, and learned the common terms used to describe them. I'm sure I've missed some, since I did not do a thorough search.

Enjoy, DoN.

Several manufacturers offer them but the more common generic name is "Brookfield Holder"