3/4" dia shank boring head bars?

Alan H.

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I am looking to buy some 3/4" diameter shank boring bars for a Criterion boring head. The Criterion bars, while very nice, are very pricey.

Anyone have experience with these bars. They are available from All Industrial which gives me some level of confidence. They use an insert which means you can insert them for whatever material you are cutting. The bars come in a set, $118 delivered, and highly probable to be Chinesium.

1509300742491.png
 
For my 2" Criterion I have the 1/2" set from Shars that also uses TCMT inserts. Also made in China of course but I don't need to use it that often so cheap import is fine with me. I do however use TCGT inserts though. I went with Shars one only cause I liked their case better, flat style so it takes up less space for me height wise cause I can stack on top.

http://www.shars.com/products/index...-90-degree-1-2-shank-indexable-boring-bar-set (probably cheaper on ebay & is where I got mine)

I also have a 3" Yuasa boring head (Criterion copy) but I haven't got any 3/4" bars for it yet. I got the Yuasa dirt cheap but haven't had a need to use it yet, I thought about just making sleeves to use my 1/2" bars.

Shars sells the same 8 pc 3/4" set in the flat style case also but IIRC they were $150. I bet they are pretty much the same as All Industrial's set. I'd buy it. I've never had a problem with anything I have bought from All Industrial, great vendor.
 
I am looking to buy some 3/4" diameter shank boring bars for a Criterion boring head. The Criterion bars, while very nice, are very pricey.

Anyone have experience with these bars. They are available from All Industrial which gives me some level of confidence. They use an insert which means you can insert them for whatever material you are cutting. The bars come in a set, $118 delivered, and highly probable to be Chinesium.

View attachment 245451

(Click on Reply, doesn't look like it used to.

Chinesium boring bars should not be a problem, so long as their not rubber, and hols a commercially available insert, its the insert that does the work.I wouldn't worry about the holder. if it's oversize you can turn it down, undersize, (under .750) you might have a problem.
 
(Click on Reply, doesn't look like it used to.

Chinesium boring bars should not be a problem, so long as their not rubber, and hols a commercially available insert, its the insert that does the work.I wouldn't worry about the holder. if it's oversize you can turn it down, undersize, (under .750) you might have a problem.
Tom, you hit on the problem with Chinesium - lack of quality control and crappy materials. The only answer I have found is avoidance or when I must, I am sticking with brands and/or suppliers I know.

On the supplier theme, All Industrial has been a winner for me in the last year and I have bought a lot from them without any issues. I have found their customer service to be excellent. I had to swap out a high dollar item earlier this year for a different model and they gladly worked with me to sort that out.

Will (@darkzero), for these bars, I am likely to buy the Shars via ebay. As you point out, the storage solution they have with theirs is better vs. the wooden box from All Industrial. Storing all this stuff is becoming an issue for me. I also have a few Shars items that are okay. They ship lightning fast from their ebay store and appear to prefer to promote their ebay store over than their own website - strange to me.

BTW, I am likely to buy a left handed 3/4" diameter cross bar from Mesa Tools as well. That gives the 3" Criterion quite a range then. I have their 1/2" bar for a 2" Criterion I have and it works very well. It too came with a marginal insert but I expected it.

Here's a snippet of the Shars set. We all know the inserts will be marginal but that is easy to remedy.
1509371591429.png
 
McMaster-Carr has a decent variety of boring bars. Not sure on 3/4" though.. Borite cobalt are my bars of choice. Easier to regrind.
 
Love me some McMaster - order at twice per month. A positive is they are not generally selling Chinesium. I have never gotten anything from them that was made in China. I did get some setscrews that were Taiwanese made.

Unfortunately the bars I see in the 3/4" diameter shank do not appear to have a flat ground on the shank for clocking the bar in a boring head. I also didn't see anything that looked like a Borite HSS bar. Am I missing it?
 
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Yes, familiar with Mesa. Have one of their gadgets and a left handed bar cross bar for my 2 inch head.

I am looking for regular bars for deep cuts.
 
Bought the Shars set and now have more bars than I can ever use. The inserts look better than I expected but looks do not always perform. As I expected, I do like the storage case to keep them organized and easily stowed away.

While I bought them for a 3" boring head, I may use one soon in the lathe on a small adapter piece I need to make just to try one out.

Here's a photo of what I received.

boring bars.jpg
 
Write to McMaster carr. They have Borite brand boring bars. Borite doesn't have a Weldon flat, but it's not really necessary.
I like the Cobalt Borite bars. The Criterion bars can be found on Ebay for less. The problem with cheap boring bars is that they aren't ground well or offset in many cases.
 
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