[Tom488]

I got tired of swapping around tool holders on the stock turret toolpost that comes with the Patriot, and wanted a true Quick Change toolpost. I picked up a BXA sized toolpost from Littlemachineshop.com. Here it is mounted on the base of the stock turret post:

Attachment 247956

To mount it, I cut out a 4" disc from some 3/8" plate I had laying around with a plasma cutter, using an oil filter wrench I had that was approximately 4" in diameter as a template. Once that was cut, I mounted the disc in the lathe chuck using the outside jaws, and drilled a 1/4" center hole. I then took a piece of round aluminum stock I had, and center-drilled the end of it and tapped the hole 1/4-20. I bolted the disc to the bar, chucked it back in the lathe, and turned the OD of the disc down to 4", to match the base of the turret post. I then cut a 2" hole in the center of the disc with a hole saw on the drill press, to fit over the center of the tool post base. Finally, I marked and drilled two 5/16" clearance holes on the disc, to accept the mounting bolts.

From there, I took the 5/8" square block that came with the new QCTP, and milled off about .200" from each side, to clear the two mounting nuts. After centering the block on the disc, I welded them together. The 5/8" block was already tapped for the QCTP mounting stud (the block comes with the QCTP, and you are supposed to mill a T nut from the block).

This combination of tool post base, disc, and block gives me just enough height to get the tools on-center. You can see the tool holder in the picture is close to it's maximum height. I may add another 1/2" - 5/8" block at some point - but for now, it's workable.

[jlmccuan]

Glad to see you do this. I'm getting ready to do the same to mine. Anything you'd do differently?

[Tom488]

Anything you'd do differently?

Not really... at first, I tried to reuse the compound - but that didn't work out, because the QCTP sat way too high. And, with CNC, I don't really see much of a need for a compound, anyway. As I said, I might still add another 1/2" spacer below the tool post, just to give me a little more room to adjust the tools. But, as they are now, they're all on center, and can still go just a little bit lower, do I don't think that's really a necessity - not at this point, anyway.

My whole goal was to not permanently modify any of the stock gear, so I can always put it back - and that's been accomplished.

[julian wilson]

I like it.
What type of tool holder did you go for?

Piston or wedge type?

[Tom488]

I like it.
What type of tool holder did you go for?

Piston or wedge type?

It's a wedge... got it from here:
Quick Change Tool Post Set, BXA - LittleMachineShop.com

[julian wilson]

I just can't seems to find the wedge type over here in Europe- only the piston type.

And the Yanks who have compared both seem to favour the wedge type.

I could import one, a little more expensive- but I'm most concerned about not being able to get additional holders in the future.
Perhaps I should just get on with it and spend the money.

There is a bit of a list of stuff I'd like from Tormach -like their quick change milling tool holders and perhaps a fly cutter. Perhaps I could get the lathe tool holder from them too.

You can see my budget has just gone through the roof- that's the problem with looking- you always end up finding something.

[Tom488]

One of the best upgrades I did was an idea taken from Tormach, with their jog controller. I bought the generic ShuttleXpress off of Amazon, for around $40. It works perfectly with Mach3, and makes indexing and zeroing the machine so much easier. For many operations, I just operate the machine manually through the controller.

[julian wilson]

Unfortunately, because those shuttleXpress gadgets are not imported into Europe, there is very little difference in price between that and a HXC USB Mach3 Pendant.

I think that would be the better option for pretty much the same money- unfortunately more than $40 ....more like $100 over here.
Another thing on my wish list.