Help me blow a bunch of $$$

[K30]

Now that I'm not working 80 hour weeks like I have for the last 3 months, I need to get back to the shop! I am woefully short on tooling, and could use some specific suggestions for things. Note: Not a chance of buying all this in one whack, but I do have a pretty large budget allocated. Any suggestions are seriously appreciated. Oh, the lathe is a PM 1660TL, so it's plenty stiff. It seems like either 1" or 3/4" shank tools are about right for it.

List of want/need:
-tooling for the lathe. Currently I have 1 WNMG 43X holder. I'm not married to WNMG. I'll take suggestions on that.
-specific inserts (what works well?) probably mostly working in steels, aluminum, stainless, and brass (is there an insert designed for brass?)
-a D1-6 3 jaw chuck that I can grab reasonably small diameter stuff with. The included chuck is kind of a POS. It takes two hands to turn it (after cleaning and deburring). I already have a pretty nice 4 jaw.

Boring bars: I'm leaning towards the buy once cry once theory. Might as well get carbide shanks, and a whole set. I don't see me using anything larger than a 1"
-inserts for these I'm at a loss.

Cutoff tooling: next to no experience with this. I usually used a bandsaw when I was a kid, so I could use some real direction here.

I need a bandsaw, badly... I need to be able to saw a 10" round. Could really deal with some small I-beam as well. It'd be cool if I could mitre. Point me at something!

A fullsize knee mill! I'm 100% cool with buying new here. I have 240v 3 phase service to the house. I hate R-8, would much rather deal with NMTB 30 or 40. Seems like 40 is a whole lot more ridgid than R-8 and NMTB 30, and CAT 40 is laying around everywhere.
-The mill will need stuff...

 

[ErichKeane]

I'd get a bunch of HSS and a tool grinder instead of carbide. Its a little slower of a cut, but the finish is great, and once you have a bunch of it, basically free.

You might consider a 6 jaw chuck! I love mine, all the advantages to a 3J, but holds 'more gently' than a 3 jaw. Since I got my 6 jaw, I've not even installed my 3 jaw.

Boring Bars: I have a cheap ebay set with HSS tooling that always looks nice...

Cutoff: Horizontal bandsaws are the 1st one everyone gets.

 

[markba633csi]

Wow you are treading where only the brave dare to go financially
Pratt-Burnerd makes some seriously nice chucks, as well as Bison

 

[Liljoebrshooter]

It will take quite a budget to get the carbide shank boring bars. You could drop $1500 right there in a few minutes.
Joe

 

[Chips O'Toole]

I got a Gator set-tru chuck for my lathe, and it has not been a problem. Also picked up a 10" 4-jaw.

I think any Taiwan mill ought to be fine. Looks like Bridgeports have nearly doubled in price, and they're no better. There must be someone out there who sells the taper you want.

How about a nice crane to save your back?

 

[mattthemuppet2]

I have a bunch of TNMG 1" turning tools and 1-1/2" boring bars I need to move on, plus a whole bunch of lathe and mill tooling and cutting tools. It won't help you blow a bunch of $$$ though, more like $

 

[GeneT45]

Insert tooling: don't sweat it! There are a dozen (or 14, or something) shapes and you need about two... Something stout and something for detail work. Stout means something like a Cxxx or a Wxxx - since you have a WNMG, I'd suggest going with that. Get the LH tool (maybe- if you'll ever use it) and a neutral tool for chamfering. Get a RH DCMT for detail work, maybe a LH - I don't know what you do. I'd suggest forgetting about inserts for aluminum and brass. They make them, but you're probably better off with HSS. You can get a decent grinder for the cost of a 10-pack of (good) inserts and learn to grind faster than they would come - it's not hard. I use inserts only for steel and alloy steel and I think that's the best approach for a hobby person.

Bison is pretty good bang-for-the-buck in chucks.

Boring bars: how much are you actually going to use them? Solid carbide is awesome, but dropping a mint on toolbox jewelry usually isn't the best investment. That said, if your work warrants it, nothing beats 'em. (For me, small solid carbide cutters are best, and I grind them on a single-lip cutter grinder. If your work is small-ish you might be able to pick up a grinder for less than the cost of a set of carbide bars.

Bandsaws are great. Much more versatile than cutoff tooling. I have, and am a big fan of, Ellis. US made, mostly a weldment so reasonably priced, and they miter so you can make your angle cuts without having to have enough space in the shop to swing a long piece of material. Mine is going on 25 years and still doing great. Verticals are a bit tougher. I found an old Rockwell/Delta that's great, but I don't have a recommendation you can count on.

I pretty much stick to HSS parting tools for cutoff tooling. I have an insert cutting tool, but it takes a wider cut than I'd like and I just really don't need it. HSS works for my purposes most of the time and I like the 1/32" parting tools. If you find yourself parting large diameters and/or harder materials, your choices may differ.

Finally, don't take my word for it, or anybody else's. You will always be better off figuring out what YOU need, for YOUR projects than just randomly buying what others have recommended. Start a project. Try to work with what you have. When what you have is insufficient or cumbersome, consider what you need and buy that. If what you need is (e.g.) a good hard turning insert, ask about that. Otherwise you'll end up with a bunch of expensive tooling for solving problems that other people had, but you don't... (Ask me how I know...)

I can be a lot more specific wrt inserts and insert tooling, but that'll just be the stuff that meets my needs, on my equipment. Happy to oblige, but leaving that alone for the moment.

GsT

 

[NCjeeper]

I have a bunch of TNMG 1" turning tools and 1-1/2" boring bars I need to move on, plus a whole bunch of lathe and mill tooling and cutting tools. It won't help you blow a bunch of $$$ though, more like $

We need pictures of said tooling.

 

[benmychree]

I have quite a few triangular 400 series inserts with molded chipbreakers that I would sell quite cheaply, but I do not have holders for them, for most work, you would need only 3 holders, LH, RH' and neutral, they would be 1" shank size. Personally, I use TPG 300 series and 400 series for nearly everything, but the negative inserts mentioned above are great for roughing and rougher work.

 

[T Bredehoft]

I have in the neighborhood of 40 unused ten-pacs of Valenite VC 4 coated TNG 334 B inserts. There are a few packs of what may be TNG 432 of the same thing.

You pay freight, they're yours. They were phased out where I worked, I dug them out of the scrap barrel. No, I dson't have any holders.