- Joined
- Jun 14, 2017
- Messages
- 263
So, I decided to try and play with boring bars.
I took a look at what was avail for the asian mini-lathes, and it is mostly 3/8" and 1/2" shanks.
I was on LittleMachineShop and could only see a holder for a standard 4WTP that supported 1/2" shanks. Since the compatibility list showed a lot of clones of my King, and I figured rigidity of 1/2" is better over 3/8" any day, I went with 1/2.
First problem, I noticed that it is an extreme tight fit to get this block into the 4WTP. There is around a 20mm gap only to fit into, and seems just a little too short to fit the boring holder. I can only get PART of it to fit in.
My thoughts were to wait until I get a milling machine, then mill part of this rectangle off so it fits. Then no, that sounds stupid when it may be easier to just use my grinder and manually try that... or better yet, I can probably get away with just using 2k or 3K sand-paper and see how that goes? It's a close fit, but not quite.
But now I am worrying about if I made a mistake about something else. A 3/8" shank in a similar rectangle square holder, is going to be sitting a little lower in a holder than a 1/2" shank, due to the change in radius. I have a theory that my tool may end up off-center. A smaller bar you can shim up always if it's sitting too low...
Or maybe I am just over-paranoid so far and over-thinking this stuff.
I tried to check with a dead-center but without being able to fit and tighten things down, there is too much play to get an accurate reading right now.
In any case, thought I'd share this before I end up doing something silly, ahah!
I will try to sandpaper the top of this rectangle holder tomorrow until I can get it to slide in easily enough into the 4WTP... does this make sense for now?
I took a look at what was avail for the asian mini-lathes, and it is mostly 3/8" and 1/2" shanks.
I was on LittleMachineShop and could only see a holder for a standard 4WTP that supported 1/2" shanks. Since the compatibility list showed a lot of clones of my King, and I figured rigidity of 1/2" is better over 3/8" any day, I went with 1/2.
First problem, I noticed that it is an extreme tight fit to get this block into the 4WTP. There is around a 20mm gap only to fit into, and seems just a little too short to fit the boring holder. I can only get PART of it to fit in.
My thoughts were to wait until I get a milling machine, then mill part of this rectangle off so it fits. Then no, that sounds stupid when it may be easier to just use my grinder and manually try that... or better yet, I can probably get away with just using 2k or 3K sand-paper and see how that goes? It's a close fit, but not quite.
But now I am worrying about if I made a mistake about something else. A 3/8" shank in a similar rectangle square holder, is going to be sitting a little lower in a holder than a 1/2" shank, due to the change in radius. I have a theory that my tool may end up off-center. A smaller bar you can shim up always if it's sitting too low...
Or maybe I am just over-paranoid so far and over-thinking this stuff.
I tried to check with a dead-center but without being able to fit and tighten things down, there is too much play to get an accurate reading right now.
In any case, thought I'd share this before I end up doing something silly, ahah!
I will try to sandpaper the top of this rectangle holder tomorrow until I can get it to slide in easily enough into the 4WTP... does this make sense for now?