Lathe and mill on the way, now what

Many folks on here like HSS steel cutters to get started, but I have mixed feelings about that approach. Certainly, HSS is far cheaper than insert cutters, but before using HSS they need to be sharpened. This can be as easy as a quick touch-up with a diamond stone, or as involved as shaping the entire cutter to fit your needs. But, you need to learn how to do that first.
I rarely use HSS anymore. After reading David's (Best) book on insert cutters, I have a much better understanding of what cutter needs to be used for a specific material and operation.
I learned early on not to buy cheap tools (any tool!). Buy once, cry once. I have started purchasing some items from https://www.maritool.com/ and other local US sources. There are Chinese inserts that are good for far less money, but it takes some vetting to narrow down a seller.
When it comes to measuring equipment, I highly recommend Mitutoyo from a reliable source. https://www.mscdirect.com/ and https://www.msi-viking.com/ are two reliable sources. Mitutoyo instruments found on eBay are almost certainly counterfeit unless it is a used one that is being sold.
Cutting fluids are where David and I diverge. I recently discovered Boelube products and have been very happy with them. I used some of the liquid on my metal bandsaw over the weekend and I felt it made a huge difference. Boelube does not discolor metal nor give off noxious fumes during the cutting process. I purchase mine from MSC Direct.

Hope this helps a little.
 
Thanks for the replies. I do have a grinder. Would need to get a diamond stone and review some sharpening videos. Not sure if I should just get inserts. I think it might be good for me to learn about sharpening as a foundation skill. Maybe I'll just get both and see what I like.

I guess I'll hold off on the lathe collets for now.

The lathe comes with a 3 and 4 jaw and a big face plate.

What size HSS cutters would I need for a 1236 lathe? Is there a reason to get more than one size?
 
Something you might like to have is a quick change tool post, makes switching tools very fast and repeatable. I didn’t see that on your list and not sure if it comes with the lathe or not. I have an AXA sized tool post on my 1236T, but already had it otherwise I would have gone with a BXA size to take advantage of larger tool selection.

I buy most of my tooling from McMaster-Carr and Travers. McMaster is not usually the cheapest, but their shipping to me is usually better than other places, and I almost always get it the next day, so the price difference sometimes vanishes. They don’t list the brand they sell, but only sell top quality products, and most of the time I don’t care about the brand because I know it will be good from them. Maritool is a place with high quality products, but I haven’t bought from them yet since shipping is significantly higher than from other places closer to me. Another place is latheinserts.com, they have a good variety of tooling and inserts if you go with carbide.

I use mostly inserts since I suck at grinding a good tool, but for HSS I would start with a couple of each size, 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2”. You will find you want a different grind for different purposes, so instead of regrinding the same tool, it would be better to have another for that purpose. You can also get HSS inserts from AR Warner in standard carbide insert sizes. Www.arwarnco.com I have used those until I switched to carbide.

When I first started, I bought the two book series “Machine Shop Practice” by Karl Moltrecht. There is a ton of useful information in there and I still use them 20 years later.

Have fun with your tools, it’s a fun rabbit hole to fall into!
 
I had an ER40 collet set for my Grizzly 9 x 32, But the ACRA I have now has a power draw bar, and I'm liking the R8 collets now. This spline wrench was a must have for me on my mill if you don't have a quill lock. The wrench must not leave your hand until it is on the table when using it. If it is forgotten on the splines the results are dramatic. Have a catch pad to keep expensive tooling from dropping, and bouncing off of the table, or vise chipping teeth too.
www.grizzly.com

Spindle Spline Wrench

Manufactured from steel, this new spline wrench was designed especially for holding the spindle spline on many Chinese made round column, square column, and other like-sized mill/drill machines and the smaller X3 sized machines. This wrench has a 28mm spline on one end for the larger machines...
www.grizzly.com www.grizzly.com
 
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bigolbeast said:
Lathe:
-MT3 drill chuck
-live center

Mill:
4" vice
R8 Collet set
Clamping kit
R8 Drill chuck
Boring head

Do I need to get the lathe collet sets and chuck with the order? Should I have a separate set for the mill and lathe or find an adapter between 5C and R8. I see a lot of people using a 5C lever closer on their lathes but I think I could get by with a 4 jaw chuck for awhile and skip the collets.

For lathe HSS tooling and end mills I'm assuming theres a recommended place to get these?
Click to expand...

Welcome to HM!

You've ordered some decent sized machines and aside from a big learning curve, your budget is going to take a major hit buying accessories. I suggest you pare it down to the essentials for now and buy other things only as you need them.

For the lathe, you only NEED a simple 3 jaw scroll chuck and a 4 jaw independent chuck for work holding unless you are doing a lot of specialty work (tubing, production runs on nominal stock, etc). You do not need collets to work on a lathe. The same goes for 6 jaw chucks or adjust-tru chucks. All are nice to have but machinists have done without them for well over a hundred years so buy them when you understand what they do and why you want them. I have every kind of chuck you could have for a lathe and the vast majority of the time, a simple 3 jaw chuck is on the lathe.

I would buy a decent keyless drill chuck for the lathe. While Albrecht is the gold standard, I suggest you take a really good look at the Rohm Spiro. Same performance at half the price, the Spiro is a very, very good chuck. Arbors also make a difference and Albrecht, Rohm and Jacobs (made in the UK) make the best ones.

Live centers make a difference. The top of the line is a Royal but Rohm, Skoda and Ritten make good ones, too. Do some homework. Personally, I use Royals.

For lathe tools, you can use 3/8" or 1/2" tools. In HSS, there is literally no performance advantage to a 1/2" tool on a 12" lathe, and it costs more and takes much longer to grind vs 3/8". For inserted carbide tools, I would defer to @davidpbest but personally, I would go with 3/8" tools here as well.

For the mill, there are two things that I consider foundational tools - the vise and the tool holding system - and I would spend the bulk of my budget on these things first.

Kurt and Glacern make good vises. Orange does, too, but is priced in the ridiculous range. I think you could go with a 4 or 5" vise and be okay; 6" might be a bit big.

My personal choice for holding milling cutters is an ER chuck. While it is not the only choice, it is an industry standard for very good reasons. ER chucks are accurate, dampen vibration quite well and are relatively cheap. Good integral shanked ER chucks are made by ETM, Glacern, and many others. I would avoid the cheap Asian package deals with one exception. I suggest you look hard at the Tormach TTS system. I use it and can recommend it but it isn't for everyone.

Whichever collet chuck you get, buy good collets. The best bang for the buck is from Techniks. Use these only in your ER chuck on the mill and do NOT use them for work holding on the lathe; buy cheap collets for the lathe instead.

Hope this helps.
 
+1 to the Tormach TTS system. I managed to luck into a used set of TTS holders and am very happy with how they streamline the workflow. I keep my most used endmills in the TTS holders and just swap them in and out of the 1/2" ER30 collet as necessary.
 
7milesup said:
Cutting fluids are where David and I diverge. I recently discovered Boelube products and have been very happy with them. I used some of the liquid on my metal bandsaw over the weekend and I felt it made a huge difference. Boelube does not discolor metal nor give off noxious fumes during the cutting process. I purchase mine from MSC Direct.
Click to expand...
I wasn’t aware we’d ever discussed cutting fluids.
 
Dang, jumping into this hobby full bore.
 
Just so people know what the OP is getting, from the PM site the PEP "preferred package" includes the following:

  • 6″ 3 Jaw Chuck with Inside and Outside Jaws
  • 8″ 4 Jaw Chuck with Reversible Jaws
  • 10″ Face Plate
  • Steady Rest
  • Follow Rest
  • 4 Way Tool Post
  • Dead Centers
  • Wedge Type Quick Change Tool Post Set with 5 Holders, (BXA / 200 Size)
  • Clutch on Feed Rod, for use with Micrometer Carriage Stop
  • Micrometer Carriage Stop
 
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