Tangential tool holder

[Firebird]

Hi

I have always used TCT tooling of one sort or another, brazed tip, indexable etc and have for the most part got on very well with it. A chance opportunity to buy about 40 tips (triangular) for very little money has kept me going for years. I have in the past tried my hand at grinding my own tools but have not been too successful, a little more practice and patience required. Just lately I have had to turn some quite small stuff and have noticed that the TCT are not quite sharp enough, they seem to have a small radius on their points. I have seen these tangential cutters advertised in magazines and have read some glowing reviews but the price is quite high which puts them well down the wish list. Having researched the subject a bit and found a few people that have successfully made their own I decided to have a go myself. The main thing that I like is the use of a jig to hold the cutter at the correct angle for sharpening which makes the operation quick and easy and should be foolproof  even for an inexperienced tool sharpener like me. This is experimental but I thought you might like to follow along and see how it works out. The jig I thought would be the best place to start. If I can get the tool sharpening jig to work then the rest should follow.

As far as I can tell all angles used are 12? so to start with I set my digital angle guage (great little tool) on the mill bed and set zero.



Then I set a piece of steel on a tilting table at 12?. The 12? angle guage I made from card using a protractor. I figured that I don't have to be spot on accurate as the tool can be adjusted in the tool post, but near enough should be good enough.



Then the 12? angle is set using the angle guage.



A 1/4" cutter was used to cut a slot.

 

A piece of tool steel fits well



I have cut a second slot with the same cutter then opened it out to 5/16". I might as well make the jig to hold 2 different sizes of tool steel while I'm at it.



I have cut the steel jig down to a more useful size



At the grinder. Its only a cheap grinder but I do have a decent green wheel on it. I intend to make a better rest for it.



Thats where I am to date. I'll post again when I get some more done.

Cheers

Rich

[weldersmate]

Hi Firebird, If you make it right you'll never use anything else. I made one that was in MEW a while back. It does 90% of the cutting on my lathe and leaves steel shiny smooth without lube. Its brilliant for cutting the small stuff and takes seconds to resharpen, you'll wonder how you managed without one. Regards Keith.

[Arbalest]

I use a belt sander for all tool sharpening so I copied Chucks sharpening jig. Bought and home made toolholders also shown:

[Firebird]

Hi

Thats very encouraging, thanks guys.

cheers

Rich

[rhitee93]

Please keep us up to date on progress.  This is on my short list of things to build for all the same reasons you are building it.

[Arbalest]

I use mine for 95% of my work and wouldn't be without one now.

I even have a Tangential Fly Cutter ...     

[Stuart]

I must concur with the above posts its a tool that does the job takes off a lot of metal and when finely honed with the leading conner just rounded over produces near mirror finish


they are a old design ( mine is a bought one ) , as I see them they are a take one the good old knife tool so much admired in the past , but are much more economical on the tool steel ( you only have to regrind the end not reshape the profile )

the grinding is easy with a jig and therefore give repeatable results


On my Myford using the feeds crew hand wheel ( not power feed ) I can take a 4 mm cut in EN1A  with ease

my conclusion its a very good tool and beats 95 % of my tipped tool for finish and metal removal


Stuart

[Firebird]

Hi

Stuart, my lathe is a Myford as well.

Nice fly cutter too.

Drilled and tapped a couple of holes 6mm.



Made a thick steel washer drilled 6.1mm to give a little clearance.



How it looks against the grinder. (the grinder is switched off to pose this shot)



Less than a minute of grinding





It looks good, I'm happy with the result and as Stuart has stated its easy and repeatable and sharpening will be quick. A tool holder is the next job.

Cheers

Rich

[Don1966]

Hi Rich, that turned out very well and I need to try it myself.
I also have a diamond tool holder and was wondering if someone could tell me how to sharper it. The cutter has a dimple in the center like it was done with a special grinding tool. The tip is sharpen to look like a triangle. I recieved this tool when I bought the lathe and cuts very well. Any help would be appreciated. below are some photos.

Don

[rhitee93]

Don,

You sharpen that tool by mailing it to me and forgetting you ever had it

[Don1966]

Thanks Brian, but not quiet what i had in mind. But I did some searching and found these jigs.
If hope I am not stepping on toes by posting these pictures.

Don

[Pete49]

I was given the tang tool for christmas 2 years ago and been using it a heck of a lot. Prior to this I had been using carbide tipped tools only as I wasn't game to try HSS grinding. Now I use HSS tooling all the time and even grind my own special shapes when needed.
Best present ever
Pete

[Arbalest]

Thats mine in the first pic Don. It works very well and you can sharpen lots of different size HSS stock including round in the one jig. The bought tool holder came with a jig similar to the one Rich is making but I couldn't get on with it so I copied Chucks design which I use on a Belt Sander. If you want pics of it in use let me know.

[b.lindsey]

Can someone describe the difference in the final ground results between the 30 degree straight holder and the 12 degree compound one? The 30 degree would seem easier to make but there must be a good reason for the 12 degree compound one too 

Bill

[Arbalest]

I expect the reason the compound version is supplied with the toolholder is because it's smaller and cheaper to make? Bear in mind though that I use my jig on a belt sander not a grinding wheel. The grind I get is flat whereas using a grinding wheel will give a slightly concave grind to the toolbit. Having used both I'll not use the compound jig again but that's personal preference. 

Update: Here's a pic of the two jigs I have.



As you can see the clamping is better on the home built one and I expect it would dissipate the heat during grinding a little better.