Shars Tri-lock tool holders

[Lucky Liverider]

Does anyone have experience with the holders? quality, fit & finish verses Dorian, Kennametal, etc.

 

[Mitch Alsup]

My story::

Kennametal wanted $65 for a <single> tool holder and $10 per insert.

Chinese company via ebay sold 5 holder set and 10 inserts for $35.
I have used these for 1.5 years without complaint.
The fit and finish is "nothing to write home about" nor is it so crummy as to degrade for the holders ability to hold the insert correctly.
The inserts themselves have worn well, and stayed sharp--except for the time I ran a threading insert into a star nut inside a thin walled pole.

 

[MrWhoopee]

I am a retried job-shop owner. Tooling a hobby shop out of my own pocket made it impossible to buy the name brand tooling we bought when I was in the business. I have purchased all of my turning, threading & boring tools from Aliexpress. I have always shopped for the most economical packages. None of them have disappointed me. The holders have been of decent to good quality. The ones I have milled or turned have been as hard as one would expect, somewhere in the Rc 35-45 range. The inserts have been up to the job, tough and durable.

Here's a 20mm boring bar (turned to 3/4 in.) with a CNMG 432 insert boring out a 6 in. pipe coupling on my SB Heavy 10L.

Take a chance, spend $20. You'll be surprised.

 

[Lucky Liverider]

Thanks for the feedback MrWhoopee, I pulled the trigger...

 

[MrWhoopee]

Thanks for the feedback MrWhoopee, I pulled the trigger...

So tell us what you ordered.

 

[macardoso]

I have purchased maybe 2 dozen import (mostly Shars) indexable tool holders and two expensive name brand tools. The Shars holders are usually very well finished (even more so today than 5 years ago) and I haven't had any issues with insert pockets or quality. My name brand tools have crisper edges and better general fit and finish, but the imports seem to work just as well. I buy most of my inserts from Shars too, mostly their aluminum specific ones like the CCGX.

I have no reservations about buying their tools, especially for hobby work or light machines. I probably would buy something better for a CNC lathe with 60 HP at the spindle though.

 

[Lucky Liverider]

So I decided on purchasing through Shars.com the below holders

Turning Toolholders - MDJN R-12-4B

Shop Shars Tool today and experience our high quality turning toolholders at a great value, same-day shipping and devoted customer support.

www.shars.com

Turning Toolholders - MDJN L-12-4B

Shop Shars Tool today and experience our high quality turning toolholders at a great value, same-day shipping and devoted customer support.

www.shars.com

 

[macardoso]

Post your thoughts on them when they arrive!

 

[jdedmon91]

I use import holders also, especially on my last project where I wanted to make an off corner CNMG insert chamfering tool. They work well especially with first quality inserts. I usually try to find deals on eBay. Most times the inserts are surplus items, maybe one or two generations back. More than good enough for our home shop use. Since I know what SFM ranges we ran on alloy steel at the last job on CNC lathes if the photo included the rear of the package with that information I can tell if the inserts will perform for my application.

By the way here is a photo of my tool holder. I will be doing a video on it soon

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Lucky Liverider]

Good stuff...