Unusual Machine Shop Tooling

[KeithB]

Josh away @smokeywolf, no problem here. I always wanted a radius cutter but never got one. And you're right, with CNC you don't need one, just like you don't need a compound or a taper attachment. But in the pre-NC age those features or accessories were the only practical way for a machinist to generate balls and sockets and tapers and cones.

I do have experience with right angle heads for a vertical mill. The only problem we ran into was that the spindle speed range was too high for a lot of cutters, especially when cutting steel.. The speed range of most horizontal mills is much lower. But still handy to have, and since we mostly used it to cut aluminum and plastic it wasn't that big a deal.

 

[Bret4207]

Thanks, Rick, for doing your part in keeping the F-4 in the air. Those J-79 engines, smoky as they were, allowed them set some records, at least one of which still stands. They contributed to my lack of hearing, but that's okay.

Ha! Yeah, you wore your "ears", but standing next to an F4, A4, A6, A7, etc as it powered up it was all for show I think. Some weren't quite as bad as others, but they were all LOUD! And if your timing was perfect, as my sometimes was, you'd be out in your truck delivering airplane parts and wind up near the engine test area just as they pushed something into afterburner and there you were with no ears at all! Pick up windows ain't much for sound deadening.

 

[Bret4207]

Looked for a radii cutter for my 6 inch Atlas for a few years. They are worth more than the lathe.

Theres a lot of stuff for the little Atlas that has skyrocketed in price. I have 2 milling attachments, ones a Palmgren. I should sell at least one to finance some tooling like OXA and AXA tool posts. I could probably get some indexable carbide tooling too. Times change!

I need a steady rest for my Logan. They cost more than I gave for the machine!

 

[smokeywolf]

I need a steady rest for my Logan.

That just triggered a memory. I remember single pointing a length (14 inches g/t) of 1/4" dia. titanium round stock on a 1898 Hardinge Cataract toolroom lathe and using a "follow rest". Don't use follow rests very often, but like many machine shop tools, they're like a fire extinguisher; not worth a damn 'til you have a fire, but then, nothing else will do.

 

[KeithB]

Nothing works better than a follow rest for cutting long, slender shafts.

 

[Bret4207]

That just triggered a memory. I remember single pointing a length (14 inches g/t) of 1/4" dia. titanium round stock on a 1898 Hardinge Cataract toolroom lathe and using a "follow rest". Don't use follow rests very often, but like many machine shop tools, they're like a fire extinguisher; not worth a damn 'til you have a fire, but then, nothing else will do.

On a little Atlas, with a tool post/cross slide that isn't exactly the epitome of "rigid", a follower rest can make the difference between a usable piece of metal and a chewed up, gouged, hunka scrap. That's where SHARP HSS tooling pays for itself too.

 

[smokeywolf]

Bret, you can influence that a little more toward your favor by using Stellite (a high cobalt-high chromium HSS) or Tantalum-tungsten (aka Tantung, aka Tantaloy) toolbits. Both of those can be brought to a sharpness equal to that of HSS. The Stellite has a greater abrasion and heat resistance, the Tantalum tungsten has a much, much higher heat resistance.
A note: Stellite and Tantung cutting tools are a bit harder to source.

 

[Bret4207]

Thanks Smokey, but since I got the 10" Logan the Atlas is pretty much at rest! The Logan is stiff enough to make good use of carbide. I just need to get around to figuring out what I want/will work best for me.