Why don't people always use the thinnest parting tool blades made?
On my little lathe I have found that I simply can not use 1/8" HSS
blades but the 1/16" ones work OK. I'm getting ready to tool up my
16" lathe and I'm wondering ..

Grant Erwin
Kirkland, Washington

On Sun, 07 Sep 2003 09:42:39 -0700, Grant Erwin
wrote:

Why don't people always use the thinnest parting tool blades made?
On my little lathe I have found that I simply can not use 1/8" HSS
blades but the 1/16" ones work OK. I'm getting ready to tool up my
16" lathe and I'm wondering ..

Grant Erwin
Kirkland, Washington

I use both, and even some bigger ones, depending on the material, the
rigidity of the lathe and the power it can develop.

You saw my big Clausing. I can run a 3/16 parting tool with it, no
problems. I sometimes use a big parting tool as its easier for me to
grind in features such as chip breakers, tit cutters and other forms,
in a bigger tool. The Hardinge you saw, usually gets a 1/8" or smaller
tool, as it tends to slip the belts if I try to get burly with it,
making customized cutoff features more problematic.

Plus, I have been known to break 1/16" cutoff tools fairly regularly
when trying to push a cut in stainless steel, even with flood coolant.

Shrug. YMMV

Gunner

"At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child -
miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied,
demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless.
Liberalism is a philosphy of sniveling brats." -- P.J. O'Rourke

Grant,
Large cutoff tools work better than thin ones, but they waste more material
and require a stiff, heavy machine. All light lathes have difficulty with
that operation. Your 16" should have no trouble with the larger blade.
Steve
"Grant Erwin" wrote in message
...
Why don't people always use the thinnest parting tool blades made?
On my little lathe I have found that I simply can not use 1/8" HSS
blades but the 1/16" ones work OK. I'm getting ready to tool up my
16" lathe and I'm wondering ..

Grant Erwin
Kirkland, Washington

In article , Grant Erwin says...

Why don't people always use the thinnest parting tool blades made?
On my little lathe I have found that I simply can not use 1/8" HSS
blades but the 1/16" ones work OK. I'm getting ready to tool up my
16" lathe and I'm wondering ..

Rigidity counts.

The larger machine will be able to handle a wider
tool without chatter or breaking simply because
of its mass and solidity.

Really lathes should not be rated in their
swing or length, but rather, 'how much linear
length of tool can you engage in the workpiece
before it all comes unglued.'

Jim

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jim rozen scribed in
:

Rigidity counts.

The larger machine will be able to handle a wider
tool without chatter or breaking simply because
of its mass and solidity.

Really lathes should not be rated in their
swing or length, but rather, 'how much linear
length of tool can you engage in the workpiece
before it all comes unglued.'

hah, by the time the marketing droids get done with that it'll also
be useless

swarf, steam and wind

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jim rozen scribed in
:

Rigidity counts.

The larger machine will be able to handle a wider
tool without chatter or breaking simply because
of its mass and solidity.

While this is certainly true, a retired machinist friend told me the
following trick: I have one of those blade sliding in a holder cutoff
tools. The blade is 3/32" wide and was giving me a terrible time with
chatter on my Smithy 3-in-1. My friend suggested that I grind the front
of the tool less steep - i.e. smaller clearance angle. A little
experimenting to get it just right and no more chatter.

Ted

I think it is a matter of the diameter of the part being cut off. A
1/16 blade is good for things less than a 1/2 inch in diameter, but
not so good for 4 inch dia stock. So if you are going to part 4 inch
stock, you have a thicker tool and then just use it for all parting.

Dan


Grant Erwin wrote in message ...
Why don't people always use the thinnest parting tool blades made?
On my little lathe I have found that I simply can not use 1/8" HSS
blades but the 1/16" ones work OK. I'm getting ready to tool up my
16" lathe and I'm wondering ..

Grant Erwin
Kirkland, Washington