Don't buy it until you have a job for it seems to be the mantra of the modern machinist. In normal times that is the best way to avoid tying up money in tooling you might never use. This thought process presupposes that the things we might buy will be avaliable.
As one of those crazy prepper types I believe a time may come when we might not have near instant access to any tool we can imagine. That is why I am willing to tie up some money in cutters and tooling I might not have a job for right now. No need to talk me out of it. It's pretty much done anyway. Lol! Humor me!
I only stock up on things that I can either get insanely cheap for great quality or it's worth paying full price because it is absolutely necessary. Most of the tooling I bought is USA, European, or quality Asian.
I've stocked up on basic tooling like carbide lathe and mill inserts and endmills and enough hss lathe toolbits to last a lifetime.
I bought lots of reamers surplus for $5 lb. Lots of to size, under, over, and odd sizes that snuck in my stock. I have complete sets of metric from 3 to 13 and 1/8 to 1/2 and a sae over under set. I'm looking to grow my larger reamers above 1/2".
I bought SD drills from 33/64" to 1". Mostly USA made but NOS on Ebay.
I bought a complete set of Woodruff key seat cutters from 202 to 1200's. These do come in handy for all sorts of crazy projects.
I bought annular cutters from 3/4 to 2" in 32nds increments. Almost all Chinese but they cut beautifully.
I bought keyway broaches from 1/8 to 3/4" and 3mm to 18mm.
I bought corner rounding endmills in several standard sizes.
I bought 60° dovetail cutters
I bought a T-slot set.
I bought a taper reamer set along with single reamers so I have 7/0 to 10. I also bought taper pins to go with it.
I have both metric and standard capscrew counterbores up to 5/8 and 14mm.
I know there is some stuff I'm missing that I have on hand.
I have a nearly complete set of MT2 shank drill bits from 1/2 to 7/8.
I need a few Shell mills but I'm just looking for deals.
I have lots of solid carbide boring bars and quality insert holders for the lathe.
What type of cutting tools am I missing?
As one of those crazy prepper types I believe a time may come when we might not have near instant access to any tool we can imagine. That is why I am willing to tie up some money in cutters and tooling I might not have a job for right now. No need to talk me out of it. It's pretty much done anyway. Lol! Humor me!
I only stock up on things that I can either get insanely cheap for great quality or it's worth paying full price because it is absolutely necessary. Most of the tooling I bought is USA, European, or quality Asian.
I've stocked up on basic tooling like carbide lathe and mill inserts and endmills and enough hss lathe toolbits to last a lifetime.
I bought lots of reamers surplus for $5 lb. Lots of to size, under, over, and odd sizes that snuck in my stock. I have complete sets of metric from 3 to 13 and 1/8 to 1/2 and a sae over under set. I'm looking to grow my larger reamers above 1/2".
I bought SD drills from 33/64" to 1". Mostly USA made but NOS on Ebay.
I bought a complete set of Woodruff key seat cutters from 202 to 1200's. These do come in handy for all sorts of crazy projects.
I bought annular cutters from 3/4 to 2" in 32nds increments. Almost all Chinese but they cut beautifully.
I bought keyway broaches from 1/8 to 3/4" and 3mm to 18mm.
I bought corner rounding endmills in several standard sizes.
I bought 60° dovetail cutters
I bought a T-slot set.
I bought a taper reamer set along with single reamers so I have 7/0 to 10. I also bought taper pins to go with it.
I have both metric and standard capscrew counterbores up to 5/8 and 14mm.
I know there is some stuff I'm missing that I have on hand.
I have a nearly complete set of MT2 shank drill bits from 1/2 to 7/8.
I need a few Shell mills but I'm just looking for deals.
I have lots of solid carbide boring bars and quality insert holders for the lathe.
What type of cutting tools am I missing?
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