[biohazardbill]

So I have jumped right into the whole machining world.... head first....

I bought a couple benchtop machines, Lathe I just picked up is a new G0602 and I picked up a used G0619 that has been fully CNCd already.

Being that I got the mill used it has come with a bunch of stuff to get me started however not so much on the lathe.

My main purpose of getting these machines was to fab up cross shafts for automobile a-arms.

That being said what tooling would you guys suggest to get me jump started in the right direction on the lathe. The arms are about 15" long and about an inch and a half diameter with about 3" on each end cut down into 3/4" threads. I know the lathe with do ALOT more than this but would be a great starting point in the learning process.

Thanks in advance.

[CS900]

I'm of the opinion that the very first thing you should get for a lathe is a quick change tool post and a bunch of tool holders. I would also suggest that before you buy any cutting tools plan out what you're going to need and buy the appropriate indexable tools. I would also suggest that you try and share the same inserts between as many tools as possible. Nothing worse than having to keep track of 10 different tools and 10 different inserts to go with them.

[analogman]

For lathe:
(1) as above: QCTP and holders. (I like this guy: CDCO Machinery Corp.)
(2) Decide between HSS or carbide tooling. I have a 12x36 and (after a lot of experimentation) use carbide, and I am very happy with the results.
If you go carbide, do *not* by brazed carbide. I find the inconsistency between tools is terrible. I use somewhat quality tooling and get very nice repeatable results. Good indexable carbide you can get consistent results and then throw away when sharp. You do have to run it faster, and cannot sneak up on things. HSS you have to grind yourself but you can run slower and sneak up on a finish.

- I have a TMEX indexable carbide boring bar set I am very happy with.
- The Grizzly indexable carbide set for turning works well for me. I also bought their aluminum inserts
- For threading I use vardex and their holder
- for finishing mild steel I use a HSS vertical sheer tool
- rapid tap cutting fluid
- Watch all of the tubalcain videos.

(3) consider a DRO

Here are a bunch of my posts on the lathe: https://donstechnologyblog.wordpress...-lathe/page/2/
- practise on a lot on scrap metal to get your feeds and speeds

As for the mill, you are in the same HSS/carbide boat. However with HSS, you generally send your stuff out to be sharpened. I use

(1) HSS TiN coated end mills. 2 flute for aluminum, 4 for steel.
(2) brazed carbide, 4 cutter fly cutter (I lucked out with this one)
(3) boring head (I am still strugging with getting the "right" boring bar with this.)
(4) a nice big milling vise
(5) something to tram the mill and vise
(6) a fixture set

I also highly recommend a DRO.


So if you are doing tubular A arms, I also suggest the following:
- horizontal bandsaw
- birds mouth tubing cutter