Bought a few QCTPs to compare quality in inexpensive brands.

Mr Mike

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While waiting for my lathe and twiddling my thumbs I bought a few less expensive QCTP brands to see if I was capable of spotting differences between them.

First one arrived today.

All Industrial in house brand Culton AXA, They said this set is new to them for about a year.. This set was about 159.00 shipped.

Keep in mind I'm totally new with little knowledge of QCTP & Holders, or life in general... That being said on first glance out of the box this Colton set looks pretty nice. Comes in a branded box individually wrapped in oil with a 5 yr warranty, and the finish seems nice...

I repackaged everything but kept a tool holder #102XL out to compare with my Accusize #102 none XL tool holder, see 2nd photo.

TPsml1.jpg

I haven't checked the rest of the Colton set, But I'm glad this piece has a 5 year Warranty cause I think its defective. While each face is flat, the holder isn't square and the top of the tool pocket inclines from right to left, Its not a camera aberration the hold down insert screw is vertical. I can't imagine this is ok but I could be wrong, On the plus side the thumb screw on the Colton set is .125 larger than the Accusize making it easier to adjust.

The rest of my Accusize set should be here Tomorrow, then I can check holder for holder differences, Guess I am kind of checking to see how well the build quality of the Accusize set is and if it will be adequate enough as a starter set, along with the BXA PM set thats coming I should bet set to start, then when I have a clue what I am doing, whats good and bad Ill give away or sell these sets and invest in proper tools. Good tooling on the other hand Id like to get good stuff off the bat, and will need help with, guess I need to get Davidpbests book ordered soon.

TPHsml.jpg
 
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While waiting for my lathe and twiddling my thumbs I bought a few less expensive QCTP brands to see if I was capable of spotting differences between them.
 
The top of the tool pocket is not important at all... nothing should ever seat on the top. The bottom of the pocket is the most critical surface.

I have an Aloris CXA, an unbranded Chinese CXA, and two unbranded Chinese BXA tool posts... the Aloris is much better quality, but all are very functional.

-Bear
 
The top of the tool pocket is not important at all... nothing should ever seat on the top. The bottom of the pocket is the most critical surface.

I have an Aloris CXA, an unbranded Chinese CXA, and two unbranded Chinese BXA tool posts... the Aloris is much better quality, but all are very functional.

-Bear
The top of the tool pocket itself is not important, but the distance between the bottom of the tool pocket and the top of the QC tool holder is important - it determines the the minimum CH height.
 
I like and appreciate buying quality made products, since I'm likely to fully abuse the tools and tooling make mistakes in the beginning, I just figured I should wait till I have have some hands on time before jumping on the band wagon... :)

lol... best part, still have to figure out how I'm going to grind all these T-nuts to fit...
 
The top of the tool pocket itself is not important, but the distance between the bottom of the tool pocket and the top of the QC tool holder is important - it determines the the minimum CH height.

That is all a tradeoff... a lower tool pocket floor will allow you to use taller tools and still be on center, but smaller tools (such as ½" boring bars) will still be below center with the adjusting nut all the way down. I've had to put a ¼" between the adjusting nut and the main body of the tool post to be able to center smaller bars.

It would be ideal to have tool holders with varying slot widths to be able to use different size tools.

-Bear
 
That is all a tradeoff... a lower tool pocket floor will allow you to use taller tools and still be on center, but smaller tools (such as ½" boring bars) will still be below center with the adjusting nut all the way down. I've had to put a ¼" between the adjusting nut and the main body of the tool post to be able to center smaller bars.

It would be ideal to have tool holders with varying slot widths to be able to use different size tools.

-Bear
The OP has a 1236T with a CH of 1.20" using a BXA QCTP, so his issue is going to be getting the tool low enough - this will restrict the maximum shank size he can handle without resorting to a QC tool holder with excessively low tool pocket.
 
...best part, still have to figure out how I'm going to grind all these T-nuts to fit...

I used an angle grinder with a cutoff disk to create my T-nut from the chunk of steel that my QCTP came with. Carefully lay out your cut lines, then cut to the lines. At the end, you'll have two rectangular pieces of steel cut out from the chunk. Dress up the new T-nut with a file if you want. "File to fit, paint to match!"
 
The OP has a 1236T with a CH of 1.20" using a BXA QCTP, so his issue is going to be getting the tool low enough - this will restrict the maximum shank size he can handle without resorting to a QC tool holder with excessively low tool pocket.
What is CH? Is that the distance over the compound to the center of the chuck? I measured my 1236T at 3.45".

Correction: The 3.45" is over the cross slide. I'll remeasure this morning.
 
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