I am at quite a cross roads with our lathe work on our Mori slant bed. We are still way under tooled. Mostly because I don't have 6 months to learn it all or have the desire to spend 10K on a tool rep to tell me "what I need". We have a few VMCs and though many say lathe work is easy, I agree the "work" may be easy, but the tooling is anything but...
We use WNMG inserts in 432 right now, and basic GTR/GTL -2/-3 inserts and blades for part off. The WNMG works great. I am using high polished TMX inserts for Al and TMX coated inserts for stainless. The 432 is probably not the right radius for finishing but has been reasonably durable.
Part off is our number 1 problem right now. It has been unpredictable, finish sucks, sounds bad, eats inserts, you name it. Al or SS. Some say the inserts and blades suck but without knowing why, I am not excited to throw bucks in a hole hoping it will fill in. I was originally looking for a parting insert, with inch clamp, that could part and turn a bit. I was told before that due to the expense of those suckers, you want a go-to for parting and use it only for that.
I was told the center is off, blade not straight, you name it, the GT2 and GT3 blades just will not cut right. They make really nice watch springs but the finish is bad on the part, tolerance is out, and tends to make a taper or radius sometimes on a flat cutoff.
Moving to threading, it seems there are a couple main designs out there. The triangle insert, and the long skinny. Not real sure which is really better but I do like how the long/skinny also comes in other geometries.
All in all, I am trying to get a handle on OD/ID tooling, thread tooling, and find a solution to my parting problems. Probably too much for one post but I will try. I am trying to stay more with ISO or standardized tooling so I can buy one guy's holder and another's inserts. I probably need a smaller and finer OD tool and I have even resorted to sticking an old endmill in the lathe to get some ID work done!! Friggin worked great and held .0002 but not ideal.
Machine is 1.625 bar cap and we rarely do chuck work with it. Most parts will be intricate and small. Oring lands, back cuts, conular face cuts, etc. The only thing I don't like about solid carbs is the cost to retool on breakage but I suppose some of this stuff must be done that way.
We use WNMG inserts in 432 right now, and basic GTR/GTL -2/-3 inserts and blades for part off. The WNMG works great. I am using high polished TMX inserts for Al and TMX coated inserts for stainless. The 432 is probably not the right radius for finishing but has been reasonably durable.
Part off is our number 1 problem right now. It has been unpredictable, finish sucks, sounds bad, eats inserts, you name it. Al or SS. Some say the inserts and blades suck but without knowing why, I am not excited to throw bucks in a hole hoping it will fill in. I was originally looking for a parting insert, with inch clamp, that could part and turn a bit. I was told before that due to the expense of those suckers, you want a go-to for parting and use it only for that.
I was told the center is off, blade not straight, you name it, the GT2 and GT3 blades just will not cut right. They make really nice watch springs but the finish is bad on the part, tolerance is out, and tends to make a taper or radius sometimes on a flat cutoff.
Moving to threading, it seems there are a couple main designs out there. The triangle insert, and the long skinny. Not real sure which is really better but I do like how the long/skinny also comes in other geometries.
All in all, I am trying to get a handle on OD/ID tooling, thread tooling, and find a solution to my parting problems. Probably too much for one post but I will try. I am trying to stay more with ISO or standardized tooling so I can buy one guy's holder and another's inserts. I probably need a smaller and finer OD tool and I have even resorted to sticking an old endmill in the lathe to get some ID work done!! Friggin worked great and held .0002 but not ideal.
Machine is 1.625 bar cap and we rarely do chuck work with it. Most parts will be intricate and small. Oring lands, back cuts, conular face cuts, etc. The only thing I don't like about solid carbs is the cost to retool on breakage but I suppose some of this stuff must be done that way.