Guys,
I have a small project on that will me to turn some simple bushes, not with minute accuracy, cut them to the correct length, maybe turn down the outside of some round stock to fit inside the bushes, and chamfer the end of some tube/stock to remove sharp edges.

no mirror finish is required or fancy complicated angles cutting.

I have an old lathe which whilst not the prettiest thing in the word, I am sure it is more then capable of the tasks above.

The problem I have is that I do not have any tools for it, I'm not of the old school where I know how to sharpen or make my own cutting bits from the lengths of tool steel, I am looking to buy a set of tools that will cover my basic needs.

I have attached a couple of photos of the lathe and the tool holder arrangement that I have at the moment.

Can anyone suggest a suitable selection of cutting tools for me?

Budges is probably about £60.00


[img]
lathe 1 [/img]


lathe 2

This might be a daft response, but have you looked on Ebay? I've seen umpteen manufacturing companies clearing out and closing up, they sell drawer fulls of cutting tools for a bargain price just to recover some cash.

Something like this;

MYFORD LATHE BOXFORD LITTLE JOHN HARRISON CUTTERS JOB LOT | eBay

http://www.glanze.com/indexable-tool-holders/turning-tool-set.html


A set of these are the best bang for your buck.
http://www.glanze.com/indexable-tool-holders/mc-ccmt-set-of-7-tools.html

http://www.glanze.com/indexable-tool-holders/tth-parting-tool-holders-with-blades.html

one of these as well for back cut parting

Slimy,
Those are the kinds of tools that need sharpening/honing by yourself which I'm not skilled enough in doing I'm afraid.

Pat, I will investigate them, thanks

If you are going to invest in some indexable tooling it would be a good idea to find out the height from the tool post to the centre of the chuck, that way you can buy tools which don't need to packed up to get the right tool height.

To get started I would be looking for a RH tool, a boring bar and maybe a parting tool.

You will find it's much more expensive to use indexable tools than HSS especially if you are learning.

Sharpening HSS bits is really quite straight forward, don't be intimidated by all the rake and clearance angles listed for different materials, it doesn't really matter too much. As long as the tool is the correct shape it will cut OK.

Have a look HERE

Basically the cutting tip needs to be the highest and furthest forward point on the tool, kind of the same shape as the prow of a boat. Once you grind it to shape and you have nice pointy tool then you grind a very small/radius on the front edge, if you leave it pointed it will overheat the tip and blunt very quickly.


Other things to watch

1. Speed - easiest way to blunt tools is running too fast
   
2. Tool height - should be absolutley centre of chuck, too high it won't cut, too low it'll dig in and break the tool
   
3. Work support - as a rule of thumb no more than 3x the diameter should stick out the chuck
   
4. Parting off - If the machne is sloppy then don't bother trying
   

Thanks for the info Davie, I think you may have missed a link off!
Cheers
Colin

Thanks Davie