Ignoramus14738 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 disagree.

Mostly, I use the Aloris BX style quick-change post for probably 98% of
my work. I sure would NOT want to go back to the lanturn post for most work.

However, I sometimes find myself having to work into odd corners or
recesses that cannot be easily reached with standard quick change
tooling. I've made special quick-change tool-holders for some of these
situations, but even then, the problem arises. It's often quicker to
switch to the lantern toolpost than make a new toolholder, or custom
grind a special tool bit for some oddball one-off application.

Note that I already have a HUGE collection of odd custom toolbits and
"Armstrong" style tool holders with various angles to choose from. Thus
some one of these is probably very close to what I need for any application.

And, sure, you can set a quick-change post at odd angles, but then
you've lost one of the advantages of even having a quick-chage post ...
repeatability after changing tools. After such a change you have to
reset the post, which wastes time.

You create the same problem when switching to the lantern post. So, it
becomes a question of whether it takes more time to realign the
toolpost, or custom grind some really odd toolbit.

I realize that there are some other more elaborate quick-change posts
that allow intermediate settings, and might solve some of this problem,
but that's not what I have.

Daniel Mitchell
Shop Supervisor
Physics & Engineering
Univ. of Michigan - Flint

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