HSS Diamont point QC toolholder

Does it look like this one?

Sounds useful - I just built a Armstrong tool holder for my Aloris. So the various tools I have just fit - nice and strong. It is oversized a bit to support the added mass. I think that would be easier - large slot. You can find Armstrong tool holders everywhere and buy new ones from lots of people - even Armstrong. They are current products.

But I can see a magic tool as you explain. I'd like to see it myself.

Martin

Martin Eastburn @ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net NRA LOH & Endowment Member NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

Roy wrote:

These work well. It's the toolholder I use 90% of the time. My gripe is that I wish they'd made it so the bit has the correct angle to the work when the Aloris toolpost is square to the axis so I wouldn't have to re-orient the toolpost to use a parting tool.

I suppose they made it with a lantern type toolpost in mind. Ugh!

I picked one of these up about 3 months ago from the inventor ( who lives near me here in Melbourne) and have hardly used anything else since. He showed me a handy little trick,if you want to face with it,just swing the tool post around so that one face of the tool is parallel to the axis of the lathe, if you want to turn down the diameter of the work, turn it so that the other face is perpendicular to the axis. You can order directly from him on email snipped-for-privacy@optusnet.com.au

Tom

Don The ones my friend makes (personal use not for sale) are built specifically for the quick change toolposts so they have the dovetail and the portion that holds the tool already built into one item. I do not know and neither does my friend know what the angle is that the ones listed in the link are positioned at, as he has never had one of them in his hands, but whith his years of being in the machine tool sharpening service and machine shop field, he used the 12 deg angle and grinds the top at 30 and it works fine..........All the ones I seen pictuered on the link were made for use in a lantern type or a turret type tool post.. Adding the dovetail for aloris style opens up another whole new ballgame in functionality and use........ If you make one for aloris style toolposts just make sure there is sufficient offset to the chuck and length so you can clear a tailstock.

What I like about them is the ability to use the HSS blanks a lot easier without a lot of grinding or adding shims etc to the common aloris tool holders. I use HSS a lot for acrylics and aluminum and while I do know how to sharpen them for various uses, its a lot easier to grind them for this type tool holder. Its a perfect "project" for someone with a mill and a lathe.

I got around to making my diamond point tool holder today. I used a piece of 1.5" sq stock, milled in the dovetail to bit ther BXA Aloris toolpost, and slotted it for 1/4" HSS tools. I works like a champ...about as ridgid as you can possible get and use HSS tooling on a lathe.......makes a pretty decent finish as well. NIce to be able to machine longitudinally and then face it as well without having to move the position of the holder/tool post. I decided to see if I could improve the finish more, and I found that if I grind a very slight radius longitudinally on the sq corner of the 1/4" HSS tool blank and cut with that slight radius, instead of the corner, it makes one hell of a nice finish. It may just become one of my favored tools for my lathe......Of course my mind left me, when I was about to mill the 12 deg compound angle slot, so I must have set there thinking for 30 minutes until the light bulb went on. I milled a 12 deg bevel on a piece ofd scrap stock. seated the block of 1.5" stock against that 12 deg taper, and kicked the mills vise 12 deg and made the slot.......I'm slowly loosing what little mind I had to begin with.......or it may have been one to many beers or too long out in the hot tub...anyway tool holder is done and its a good project, which would be bound to add ridgiity to any lathe setup.

Got any pictures? :)

Pics can be seen at:

Thanks!

I built one yesterday and took some pix today. I'll post them later and add a note to this thread with the link to my earthlink web page. Incidentally it works pretty well. Sure helps to have a tilt/rotary table. ...lew...

Lew, when you used it did you leave the cutting tool sharp on the high end or did you just round the corner slightly.

I used mine quite a lot today, turning down some steel shafting to make arbor and spindles for a friend who want me to make him a wetcut rock cutting saw. He supplied all the steel......wow, talk about a bucket of rusty stuff.......I figured I sure did not want to wear out my inserts and better tooling on that stuff, and figured once I knocked off the worse crud, then change cutting tools........I used the tool for it all, and I actually think its a pretty neat tool and quick and easy to keep sharp......I could have extended the nose portion of my tool out about 1/4" more and machined a harder angle on the nose as well and it would have improved overall clearence angles a lot........Heck yuy can[t have too many tools anyhow, so I'll use it like it is for now and put it on my ever growing list of things to do on rainy days.......so that essentially means I'll never get to make another since the last rain we had here was back in early July...my ponds are over 4 feet low, and this time of year thats unheard of in this area, usually they are full to the brim.

Regards

I left it sharp (90deg corner). I finished the other end of the holder today. The first one I put the bit "square" with the bar and angled both "sideways" and "endwise" at 12 deg. Then for kicks did one on the opposite end with the bit "diagonal" to the bar, and made the angles 5deg. With this config I can use 5/16 or 3/8 bits since the clamping is across corners. I can see problems in getting into some places with either configuration. The pictures will be in my "home page" I guess it's called. ://homepage.earthlink.net/~lhartswick Right now they are a little big, I have some croped and compressed but want to add the new diagonal end ones before I up-load them maybe by Sunday. ...lew...