On Feb 2, 10:53*am, Ignoramus14738 ignoramus14...@NOSPAM.
14738.invalid wrote:
I was just wondering if anyone who has a lathe capable of using a
quick change toolpost like Aloris, would still have any reason to ever
need a lantern toolpost.

My feeling on this matter, without knowing too much, is that lantern
toolposts are obsolete and quick change is the way to go, and there is
never a reason to use these old style tools.

Would there be anyone who disagrees with this.

i

I've encountered a very few setups where the small size of the lantern
post helped.

I use a Multifix toolpost
http://picasaweb.google.com/KB1DAL/H...33382447691698
that allows the tool to rotate in 9 degree steps, almost as freely as
a lantern post. It lets me position a hand-ground HSS bit to both turn
a diameter and face a shoulder, using either a straight or an angled
Armstrong holder or directly in the QC block.

On my lathe there is a range of workpiece lengths where the carriage
doesn't have much travel between the head and tailstocks when the work
is held by both a collet and the tailstock center. The tailstock
spindle is a replacement and wobbles if extended out very far.

Typically on these small parts I need to lean in close with a
magnifier and don't want spinning chuck jaws nearby. I have 3" and 4"
Enco/HF/Sherline chucks but they aren't as precise or rigid as collets
and often don't let me move the work back and forth between the lathe
and an indexer in the mill. In these cases a lantern post would be
useful if I didn't have the Multifix.

I didn't show turning tool examples when Bob Lalonde asked because the
way I grind them doesn't work so well in a non-rotating Aloris type
tool post. They look like threading bits but blunter, 70 - 80 degrees
included angle. This shape doesn't requires much grinding from the
original square end, and is easy to resharpen. It's about the right
shape for a bent toolholder if you watch the angles.

Original Swiss Multifix tool posts are very expensive and Enco seems
to have discontinued them. I bought some extra Chinese (?) tool
holders from Tools4cheap
http://www.tools4cheap.net/proddetail.php?prod=40posa1
that fit fine and are well made. If they were priced more
competitively I think they would be popular.

I've wished I had the versatility of my home setup a few times when
running a CNC lathe with a Dorian toolpost and indexable carbide, but
always could do the job.

jsw