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View Full Version : QCTP to suit Hercus 9"



Pete F
9th Dec 2008, 08:42 PM
Hey Guys, following a failure to spark any interest in getting "Eccentric Engineering" to sell me their tangential tool holder, I am thinking of instead replacing the original tool post with a QCTP. Maybe some here could suggest a QCTP for the Hercus? I'm not necessarily after the "top shelf", rather something that will do the job and represents good value. Something on ebay?

The other thing that would be important to me would be to be able to fit the tool post with minimum fuss and modification.

Cheers,
Pete

blackfrancis
9th Dec 2008, 09:39 PM
This one will do the job
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/MINI-QUICK-CHANGE-TOOLPOST-SYSTEM-suit-LATHES_W0QQitemZ400014648311QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_BnI_Woodworking_Metalworking?hash=item400014648311&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A1|39%3A1|240%3A1318 (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/MINI-QUICK-CHANGE-TOOLPOST-SYSTEM-suit-LATHES_W0QQitemZ400014648311QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_BnI_Woodworking_Metalworking?hash=item400014648311&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A1%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318)

You'll need to make a tee nut to go in the topslide and find a bolt to suit, then you'll be right to go.

Cheers
Steve

Pete F
10th Dec 2008, 06:00 AM
Thanks Steve, appreciate it. It does look a bit flimsy however, are you using it successfully? I was thinking more along the lines of an AXA design maybe something like this http://www.littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=2280&category=

Big Shed
10th Dec 2008, 07:54 AM
Pete, whilst I don't have a Hercus, I do have a QCTP and had to adapt my 9x20 lathe to suit. I did a bit of a thread on it here (http://woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?t=79839&highlight=qctp).

There are other ways of adapting the lathe to take these but most involve changes to the compund, which I wasn't prepared to do at this stage.

I bought mine, together with a fair bit of other lathe tooling, from CDCO (http://www.cdcotools.com/index.php) in the US, fortunately when the dollar was still $0.95:2tsup:. At the time CDCO was cheaper ($US82 for the set) for essentially the same item as LMS sells.

I had a look at the one on Ebay, the guy had a stand at the recent Bendigo Swapmeet, and I was glad I bought the AXA type QCTP. I think his is essentially the same as the one Carbatec has in their catalogue and more suited to the 7x Mini lathes.

blackfrancis
10th Dec 2008, 08:26 AM
The toolpost looks small, and I have never used one, but for a number of reasons I think you would probably find it would be good. I've used many different lathes, especially when I was an apprentice, and one thing this has convinced me of is that it's rare that QC toolposts aren't too big for the lathe they are on. They usually have the tool hanging too far to the left of the topslide. This can become a real pain when you want to turn something with the tailstock centre supporting it. The design of the Hercus could make this acute, it has a small tailstock barrel that is compensated by a design that lets the topslide come in very close such that with a good toolpost you don't need to have the tailstock barrel extended when turning between centres.

Despite the toolpost being small I think you'll find it will be rigid enough. The toolpost I built for my lathe is that small, of a design that is less robust, and I've never had any rigidity troubles. Have a look at the size of the toolpost on the Hardinge lathe here

http://www.lathes.co.uk/hardinge/index.html

it's tiny and thats a top shelf machine tool that is much heavyier than the Hercus despite having only a slightly increased centre height.

I can't vouch for the quality of that toolpost and have never used or seen one. However the design looks robust. You won't have to modify your lathe, just make a tee nut of some sort. I'd recomend drilling the hole in the tee nut off centre to bring the toolpost back toward the tailstock a bit. You may also have to turn up a thick washer if it is not quite high enough.

Cheers
Steve