Lathe Tools?

[Uzzy]

Santa sent me the Hemingway's Pipe Bending Kit which requires me to grind a couple of lathe tools for cutting the grooves which the pipe sits in prior to bending.
1. Can anyone recommend either a website or book to assist me.
2. I assume I need tool steel? anyone know a cheap source is it worth trying ebay?

[chris vine]

Hi Uzzy,

This may not be the recommended way, but you could grind a little bit of a radius on the nose of a parting tool and then form the radii you need with a little bit of handle jiggling and a little radius gauge cut from a piece of brass or whatever.

It may take a bit longer to cut the groove, but you won't have to grind several tools and you won't have trouble with chatter which a form tool will probably create when cutting a groove like this.

Also the exact shape of the groove is not too critical, it is not as though you are machining the inner race of a ball bearing to be used in a jet engine!

Happy Christmas
Chris.

[SteveW]

Uzzy,

Find a way of mounting a correctly sized HSS drill shank in a bit of stiff steel so that it's held vertical from below centre height. Then, with the top ground to a suitable rake set at centre height and the bottom supported in the 'made' bit away you go (carefully because you'll be cutting long a relatively wide line). You could also simple drive the new tool straight over the top of the groove.

It may also be good to pre-cut a groove (as above) to reduce the heavy cutting loads.

[Uzzy]

Thanks for these two ideas but I still need a book to learn how to grind the tools? I assume by rake "SteveW" means clearance?

[chris vine]

Hi Uzzy,

There are several books around but if you type lathe tool grinding angles into google you will find plenty O' gen. The first one had a diagram showing the difference between clearance and rake angles.

Chris.

[SteveW]

Uzzy,

(Yea, back again, nothing on TV). The web is great for looking up stuff but I recommend investing just over a tenner in "The MODEL ENGINEER'S HANDBOOK" by Tubal Cain. It's money well spent for looking up stuff like rake angles (and where to put them) and all sorts of other very useful model engineering stuff.

It requires zero power and boots up in an instant. You just have to remember where you last left it.

If you're going to an MEX (late January 2007??) add it to your list(s) and check out the book stands for a copy.

[Uzzy]

Thanks for this I shall have a "Google" I think I may have a copy of said book but as said where I left it ? not on the bookshelf as I don't have one. Another job!!

[chris vine]

My copy of the Model Engineer's Handbook even has a programmable "Favourites" feature.

It seems to fall open at the places I most often refer to....

Chris

[starspider]

Uzzy if you fancy a trip over the river one evening or weekend be glad to show how to go about tool grinding drop us an email if you want phone number,we are in Chadwell st mary rm16
regards colin