Tips Of Lathe Tool Bits Rolling Up.

[mikey]

Well, the problem was never solved. I got so frustrated with the lathe I quit trying. It's been sitting in my garage gathering dust ever since. I've been considering kicking the whole thing to the curb.

I know the HF stuff isn't great but it was all I could lay my hands on at the time. I had no clue about grinding tool bits and all I could find on the subject was "you gotta try different angles and feeds and speeds until you find out what works for you." When you don't even have a good starting point, such advice is WORTHLESS, hence my frustration.

The best luck I had was after watching a This Old Tony video on grinding tool bits. I was able to have a modicum of success with a crude bit I ground from a chunk of HSS that came with the lathe. But my enthusiasm was already beaten down pretty badly.

Hey BE, why not join us on the model tools thread: http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/models-for-grinding-hss-lathe-tools.62111/

It makes me sad to think that you quit trying just because of tooling. If you're willing to try your hand at tool grinding I bet we can turn this around.

 

[tweinke]

Give Mikey's offer a try, I'll bet you will be surprised how well your lathe can work. Actually having a sample tool in hand gave me the ah ha moment I needed to succeed.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

If it's any consolation I am having an absolute blast with my too-small round-column mill.

I'll check out the model tool thread. I wouldn't even need the models in hand, just measured drawings. I can work off drawings. I am an engineer after all.

 

[mikey]

Nothing so complicated that we need drawings. If you can grind to a line then you can grind a tool. Oh yeah, you have to be able to move your hand in a straight line so you can hone the tool. Now that I think about it, you might be over-qualified.

 

[SemoBill]

Well, the problem was never solved. I got so frustrated with the lathe I quit trying. It's been sitting in my garage gathering dust ever since. I've been considering kicking the whole thing to the curb.

I know the HF stuff isn't great but it was all I could lay my hands on at the time. I had no clue about grinding tool bits and all I could find on the subject was "you gotta try different angles and feeds and speeds until you find out what works for you." When you don't even have a good starting point, such advice is WORTHLESS, hence my frustration.

The best luck I had was after watching a This Old Tony video on grinding tool bits. I was able to have a modicum of success with a crude bit I ground from a chunk of HSS that came with the lathe. But my enthusiasm was already beaten down pretty badly.

O

 

[SemoBill]

Please order a 12“ piece of 12L14 free machining steel rod (1/2 ", 5/8" or 3/4 ", doesn't matter). Play with it. Turn it, face it, drill it, bore it. Try light cuts and heavier ones. Experiment with your slowest spindle speeds, fast speeds and those in the between. Grind a few cutting tools. Regrind and try again.
I have walked away from my lathe many times. Sometimes, it is the right thing to do. I I have learned a great deal more from "playing with" the lathe than I ever did making It a part for a project.
Hang in there. We all struggle to get it right.

 

[earthbound]

Barnyard, don't give up on this. I've been in your boat and wanted so badly to just throw in the towel. When you get past that point it's the greatest feeling. I've seen this mentioned already in the thread, but I'll rehash the point that carbide does not bend. It just doesn't. It will crack before it bends. You've mentioned using HSS bits and having bad luck with those too. I've thrown out more HSS tools than I've actually ground properly and that's ok! I just have two questions for you about turning your aluminum because I believe your setup is fine and with aluminum, the tool doesn't have to be perfect.
1) are you turning and facing with the power feed or by hand?
2) are you taking a substantial cut such that a chip is coming off, or are you taking light skimming cuts?