Rear Tool Post Parting Tool Holder

Digitallad

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Jul 16, 2013
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Okay gents this will be long but bear with me. ...

Some time ago I bought a parting blade (Somta Dual 20x4 blade) for a steal , the price was about $3. Around here it goes for about $ 70 new.
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So I decided to make a rear tool post parting tool holder. I also must confess that until now I have only had dreadful luck with parting.
I wanted the blade to be as upright as possible and measured the top and bottom of the blade subtracted the two and divided by two to get the "angle" of the blade as shown here: (also the basic design ;) )20150621_121504.jpg
Next I had to Square some stock material:
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Then I had the Machinist vice (also one of my Earlier projects) to the correct "angle" I used my clock gauge for this purpose and a magnet to hold the blade here is some pictures of the setup:

The first pick is the setup before I changed the blade around ....
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The measurement with the clock gauge
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After that I located the edge of the stock:
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I did not take pictures of the cutting process , got caught up in the moment and forgot about the pictures.
But I did use a dove tail cutter and wood ruff cutter to cut the slots for the bottom of the blade :
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I made a dell to keep the top of the blade holder strait and are using the tool post clamp it self to clamp the blade.
Some pics of the holder in the tool post:
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And YES it is cutting like a charm !!!
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And the center line worked out well:
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While I was at it I decided to try my hand at Chemical Etching ( The salt water method) and it came out quite nicely...
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Just for fun here is my notes while I am working :

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Hope you enjoyed it !!

Regards

Paul 20150618_163419.jpg
 
Looks pretty good, not much nubby left on the center.

Sent from somewhere in East Texas Jake Parker
 
That is really nice. I have a question. Why did you choose a rear mount over the front mount? Is there any particular reason?
 
That is really nice. I have a question. Why did you choose a rear mount over the front mount? Is there any particular reason?

A couple of reasons:

1) As the rear post is one chunk of metal and the parting blade will be a lot more sturdier than would be mounted on the tool post
2) A lot of people has the theory that if parting from the rear the cutter will have the tenancy of being thrown away rather been dragged into the work piece.
3) The steel shavings will naturally fall away from the work piece and chances of metal build up is a lot less
4) Adding oil/ lubricant is also a lot better as you can add the oil directly to the blades tip ( as shown on the one picture)
and then there is also the matter of having the parting permanently mounted and is always available if you are going to do repeated work.

Most importantly for me is , THIS IS THE FIRST TIME that I have managed to part anything properly without my tool been dragged into the work piece :eagerness::):eagerness:
 
Hey Digitallad,

Nicely done! :applause 2:
Good clean build and beautiful functional result.
Thanks for sharing it!!

Can you provide some more info (basic method, cost of setup, etc.) for your saltwater etching method?
Even link to where you learned it would be great.
Perhaps a new thread with an appropriate title would be easier to look-up.

Thanks
-brino
 
Im having trouble visualizing what you mean by the rear post. What do you mean by rear post?
 
A rear mounted parting tool mounts at the rear of the cross slide. It is solidly bolted to the slide and the parting tool is used upside down. The work turns in the normal direction. The tip of the upside down tool should be on the exact centerline of the lathe spindle.
 
Hey Digitallad,

Can you provide some more info (basic method, cost of setup, etc.) for your saltwater etching method?
Even link to where you learned it would be great.
Perhaps a new thread with an appropriate title would be easier to look-up.

Thanks
-brino
Hi Brino

The method is super simple you use a power supply , in my case and old pc power supply by seen guys using a 9V battery as well, connect the Positive to your object that you want to etch and then use a cotton swab covered with saltwater connected to the Negative to "burn" into the metal. What took some time is to transfer the letter onto the metal first , I use toner printed on some glossy paper and then Ironed onto the work piece but it took some 4 or 5 tries before I got a nice transfer.
Try this link for the toner transfer :
http://www.instructables.com/id/Cheap-and-Easy-Toner-Transfer-for-PCB-Making/

and this will give an god idea of the etching proses
http://www.instructables.com/id/Salt-Water-Metal-Etching/

I will recommend that you play on some scraps first before you start marking your beloved tools ;)

When I do the next one I will post some pictures on a new post.

Regards

Paul
 
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