Thread: Tool Holders

Hi all
Been using a tool holder that I had laying around, it takes a 1/4" HSS piece. The hercus I bought never had any (dammit). I bought one of them cheap indexable carbide tool sets, but I want to use HSS.
So was there a certain size tool holder I should chase up to use HSS and what size. I will ring mick moyles today and ask him if he has any. I guess there would have been genuine tool holders from hercus?
For mounting the tool holder I have a 4-ways tool post.

The original Hercus type tool holders are 7/8" high by 3/8" thick designed to fit in a Lantern type tool post,not really suitable for use in a 4 way tool post unless the opening of your tool post is really big.
I would suggest you just use the HSS tooling in the tool post by putting packing under it to bring it to the correct centre height,also use 3/8" or 1/2" HSS bits as well.
The centre height you should be looking for is 4 5/8" measured from the bed of the lathe to the top of your tool (the top of the cutting edge).
You can check centre heights in many different ways I just find this way easier I just hold my rule on the bed and check.

Ahh I thought you had to use tool holders pipeclay. will just buy some HSS material then in the sizes you mention and go from there.
Another question why do they have tool holders then?

The tool holders that work with the Lantern type holder have a built in front clearance,the tool sits at an angle to the job ,you still need to grind the tool correctly for clearances but these type of holders are really only suitable for this type of tool post.

Other tool bit holders would more than likely be specials or custom made,to hold a particular shaped tool or a tool bit that might be to small to hold in a conventional 4 way tool post.

When boring with HSS a tool holder is usually used not in all cases but very often.
The tool holders for these are usually a round bar with a couple of square holes through the ends 1 at 90 degrees and the other 45 degrees,they come in different sizes to suit different sized HSS, the round bar is usually held in a square block with some type of clamping system to hold the bar,the bars are usually 2 to 3 times the lentg of the square holder to allow adjustment of the boring bar for different jobs.
This type of HSS tool holder is held in a typical 4 way tool post.

We have at times just clamped a piece of HSS in a tool holder to hold it so we could machine with it.

Toolholders especially the quick change ones are really valuable. You can have a roughing tool all set up, a boring bar, a thread cutting tool, a finishing tool. You can save a lot of time this way. Importantly they give you a more rigid set up. With a Hercus you need all the rigidity you can get.

Studley

Hey studley I see you a adeladian cool

Now on HSS is all HSS the same quality or is cheap ebay stuff junk as well. I am getting turned off by the ebay stuff out there but I was hoping HSS is HSS or do they do a cheap form of that as well ??

In regards toHSS there are several different grades probably the most common for small lathe uses would be M2,they are all HSS but the material make up of the HSS differs depending on the type of application. (Greater wear resistance,improved heat dissapation,better rigidity).

Regarding the standard of steel you do get dodgy makers that sell you something that isn't what it says. Stick with the good name sellers and I don't think there is much point going to ebay for tool steel.

On the superficial level you get HSS and Super HSS. Super HSS has never really made much impact you won't see much of that anywhere It featured a high hardness of Rc70.

HSS comes in two families the M molybdenum series and the T tungsten series. Typical M grades M1 M2 M3 m4 m6 m7 M10 M30 M33 M34 M36 M41 M42 M42 M44 M46 AND M47.

The T series seems to have been a bit too expensive and gave no real gains after the time the M series was developed. In the M family they all come out on paper pretty much the same though there will be some use where people found particular grades were just the bees knees for what they were doing.

Most of this is not really useful to you unless you start manufacturing stuff like dies punches drills reamers and so on.

Get a good brand HSS chances are it will be M2. *L* but it was a good excuse to go and read Machinery's Handbook and see what it had to say.

Studley

Thanx all
I bought 4" x 3/8" stick of Suttons Tools SUPER COBALT T M42
That should last me a long time

Thanx again

Some HSS thoughts:

I have a bud who swears by the use of tangential tool holders with 1/4" bits. Here's the site for the diamond tool holder, made right here in Melbourne:

http://www.eccentricengineering.com.au/

A brand of HSS that you might find very good is "Cleveland Mo-Max", made by the Cleveland twist drill company. An eBay search will get you some hits.

I bought several (too many) sticks of this stuff from U.S. sellers some time ago and can report that it is a finely ground, high hardness product. It is a favourite of American machinists who use HSS. You can still get it new, but is is very expensive (US $16 for a 1/2" X 4" stick).

I have nothing against Sutton, but I have noticed that here in Australian eBay people will pay silly prices for tool bits, measuring instruments, etc. The same thing on U.S. eBay* fetches a fraction of our local bids, and shipping on 20 tool bits is often only $11.00 or so. (I bought 20 sticks of Mo Max Cobalt for $31.00 shipping included last month for example)

Another good brand of HSS tooling is "Rex"

*metric instruments on US eBay go for 1/4 of our prices. I bought a Mitutoyo dial height gauge like new for $54.00 including shipping. The same thing here sold for almost $200. Same with mics and other gauges.

I'm not pushing any particular barrow here, just offering some bargain hunter advice. I am lucky enough to have a great shop, but that's because I never ever pay retail.