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5th Mar 2019, 02:56 PM #1Intermediate Member
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Hafco AL50G 9 x 19 lathe carbide tool advice wanted
hello, I have a Chinese made Hafco AL50G lathe, very much the same as many marketed under different brands.
I am not a machinist, my passion is restoring classic and vintage motorcycles. So I do not have the experience or training but am learning slowly to be at least passable at simple turning tasks to make spacers, shafts and components that are not available at your local shops!
My question is this: as I don't have the skills or time/inclination to grind my own tools, I have decided to invest in indexable tool holders with replaceable carbide inserts. For general all round use at a reasonable price/reasonable quality any recommendations? I am not looking for the cheapest, but one that will do most jobs, work well with my fairly small lathe. I have been looking on the net and am deluged by all the different letter codes and styles in the more specialist sites which just assume you have an encyclopedic knowledge of all the acronyms and on the other end of scale cheap as chips ebay sellers give no pertinent info whatsoever.
This is what I have gleaned so far:
Shank height 1/4 (6mm) 5/16(8mm) is ideal, or at max 3/8(10mm) at a pinch
CCMT (diamond shape) or TCMT (triangle shape) inserts with a medium tip radius around .4mm.
So any advice gratefully received on the above, brand , source, price or other relevant positive/negative experiences.
generally to machine mild steel, aluminium, stainless steel and occasionally brass.
Also any thoughts on a suitable quick change tool post (QCTP, see I know that acronym!) to suit.
Thanks
Johnny, Perth, West Australia
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5th Mar 2019, 03:05 PM #2Most Valued Member
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Get the biggest shank you can fit. Rigidity is everything! No advice in inserts unfortunately as I don't use any ccmt or tct.
Totally understand the bewilderment.
Sent from my Nokia 8 Sirocco using Tapatalk
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5th Mar 2019, 04:46 PM #3Most Valued Member
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My lathe is a bit bigger, so likely what I use won't work for you.
Might be worth a watch of this video from Rob (Xynudu channel on Youtube). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdiQT6lfwm4
One of the positive comments below that video is from a guy using the Banggood tools on a 9" Hercus.
Pick up a left and right tool CCMT holder, some general inserts for steel and some sharp uncoated ones for aluminium.
Also get the smallest boring bar that will take the same insert. That will get you started with turning/facing and boring.
From there, you'll soon get a feel for what other styles you need, but probably the next thing will be something for threading
Even though you don't want to be messing around grinding your own tools, I'd still say you want to have a holder and a couple of pieces of high speed steel around for the odd tasks that you don't have the appropriate insert for.
Tasks like making a form tool for a radius, or for groove that's thinner than your parting off tool. They don't have to be ground perfectly - just enough to work "OK".
Something that might be worth considering are the diamond tool holders from Eccentric Engineering. Still HSS, but VERY simple to grind.
Steve
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5th Mar 2019, 04:56 PM #4Most Valued Member
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For a lathe your size you would be better suited to look for carbide tips with .2 nose radius rather than .4.
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5th Mar 2019, 07:52 PM #5Most Valued Member
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Agree with all of that. 90% of my machining is with CCMT tipped tools, the other 10% HSS. Just today I had to make a long reach grooving tool to put a runout groove right next to a shoulder, then make another 60 deg threading tool to reach in & actually cut the thread. But mostly I use the tipped tooling.
IMO the triangular insert tools are crap, I hate those shapes.
PDW
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5th Mar 2019, 09:01 PM #6Diamond Member
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- Feb 2013
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- Laidley, SE Qld
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Pocketed insert holders
AVOID the super cheap insert holders that don't have a machined pocket to locate the insert, i.e. the insert just hangs off the screw.
eg https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/5pcs-12m...fGj:rk:13:pf:0
BUY insert holders with machined pockets.
eg https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...22ea7891Nm9CC1
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5th Mar 2019, 10:35 PM #7Senior Member
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- Apr 2013
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- Toowoomba Qld
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if your going carbide try avoid shims
This should be your lathe but double check
https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/L157
Tool Height To Suit 10mm (double check this in your manual or on your machine, all information below assumes it's 10mm)
External turning tools you want will be 10mm height ones
Boring bars you will find the cutting tip is always on centre, measure how tall the slot in the tool holder is and work out what is the biggest boring bar you can use, eg if the slot in 16mm tall, there is 6mm above the 10mm mark so you can use a 12mm boring bar with a 4mm shim underneath as 4+6=10 to have the tip on centre line (a QCTP changes things) or if your really keen you can machine down the top of the boring bar but the lathe is not going to be overly rigid so hopefully won't be an issue.
If your just getting started instead of collecting different types of inserts pick one
my recommendation would be CC**0602** (CCMT060204 are a dime a dozen, good for all steels ect, CCGT060204 is normally for aluminium and tends to be a bit sharper so good for most plastics but you can get away with a CCMT060204 in a pinch)
External tool holder get a SCLCR1010E06 also try searching just SCLCR1010 (SCLC is the holder type R indicates it's right handed 1010 means it's a 10mmx10mm shaft, E I have not idea and have seen some as H instead, 06 means it uses a 06 size insert)
Can also get a SCMCN1010H06 if it floats your boat, but the SCLC style will be your go to 95% of the time
Boring bars look at the SCLCR series as they use the same inserts and you can get them pretty small
S06K-SCLCR06
S08K-SCLCR06
S10K-SCLCR06
S12M-SCLCR06
Can also get these in a H instead of an S, made from HSS I believe so better quality but cost a little more
https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...651686051.html
Where to get them is just Ebay, Aliexpress, banggood, ect. If your getting a few I have always had good luck with this shop https://www.aliexpress.com/store/225394 on combined orders but they have also had some minor errors and are not the cheapest for inserts.
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5th Mar 2019, 11:00 PM #8Senior Member
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- blackburn vic
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AL50 Lathe
Have a look at the clamp that holds the toolpost to the cross slide.
If it has 2 bolts holding it on then the FIRST thing to do is make a 4 bolt clamp for it.
Makes it Much better.
Roger
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6th Mar 2019, 04:52 AM #9Intermediate Member
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6th Mar 2019, 06:45 PM #10Banned
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- Jan 2019
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- Adelaide
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- 78
You can also bodge up a reverse tumbler for cutting LH threads. Info on just about all the 9X20 sites.
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7th Mar 2019, 08:34 AM #11Most Valued Member
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7th Mar 2019, 05:05 PM #12Senior Member
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