On 2010-05-10, Searcher7 wrote:
On May 10, 8:30*am, "Wild_Bill" wrote:
As DoN suggests, there are several small tool posts specifically suited for
mini lathe use (Phase II, A2Z and other brands are available in quick-change
models).

[ ... ]

The convenience of quick-change tool holders is attractive, but adding a
tool post with better features doesn't improve the overall performance of a
poorly designed machine.

[ ... ]

I wouldn't say the mini lathes are "poorly designed". They just have a
lower capacity than the larger lathes.

But many of them *are* "poorly manufactured", so that the
general advice is to disassemble a new one, clean sand out, debur the
slides and other such parts, relubricate and re-assemble it. They are
often referred to as "pre-assembled kits". :-)

When Don and I discussed this years ago, he is the one who mentioned
my need for the modified compound to use my AXA tool post with.

My lathe is the Microlux 7" x 14". And it is common in the mini lathe
community to replace the OEM tool posts with AXA tool post on these
type of lathes. And the consensus is that it improves the overall
performance of the machines.

It should certainly improve the rigidity -- as long as the
slides are cleaned and deburred.

Whether it is rigid enough to realistically use carbide inserts
remains to be seen.

I was probably thinking of larger machines when I brought up the
16N toolholders. (BXA16N is what I use on the Clausing, FWIW.)

And since you did not yet have a lathe at that time (IIRC) I
would sometimes lose track of the size of lathe which you expected to
get.

http://littlemachineshop.com/product...ProductID=2280
http://littlemachineshop.com/product...ProductID=1777

O.K. *This* is what makes it possible -- lowering the total
compound height so it will accommodate the range of the AXA toolpost
(and clones).

Again, HHS would be the norm, but I there are advantages to insert
tooling.

In particular, when doing production work, you can turn (or
replace) an insert and continue working with the same settings, while
with HSS, you always have to re-establish the zero locations on the
dials.

MSC is now offering another special. "Save up to 35% off all orders
over $199".

O.K. I could have benefited from that with last Friday's
order. But I at least got the 30% savings, and hadn't even known about
it until I called in my order. :-)

So I have to make a decision quickly. :-)

Good Luck,
DoN.

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