seeking advice on tips for lathing very hard steel

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tho...@kokopedli.com

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Aug 26, 2025, 3:58:47 PMAug 26
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Once more seeking hive-mind advice:
    I have a steel piece I want to do a simple cut-off on, it is steel and above 50 hardness and so I suspect I ought to get a strong/durable point for the lathe...
Any suggestions/recommendations ??     Carbide?    or ceramic?     or ...   ??
 
noMadic  Thomas

Alex Meade

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Aug 26, 2025, 5:13:37 PMAug 26
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Carbide. Insert tooling if you can. If you're using a cutoff (aka "parting") tool, pay attention to speeds (slow) and feed (not jerky at all) and use cutting fluid liberally.  Make sure the tool height is at or very slightly below centerline of the work. Parting tools are persnickety on a manual lathe, and love to catch and snap, destroying the tool and your workpiece in the process.   Remember, the closer the tool gets to the center of the part, the slower the surface speed gets to zero, so dial your feed speed down accordingly as you approach center.  I hate cutoff tools, but sometimes you have no choice . . .

Alex

tho...@kokopedli.com

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Sep 9, 2025, 1:55:40 PMSep 9
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Now looking for a recommended source for tips that screw onto the 1/4" holder on the lathe I have access to...

looking for a round nosed (  .1" ) insert, and also for a cut-off...    any suggested successful sources ?

Thanks AGAIN !

noMadic   Thomas


Alex Meade

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Sep 9, 2025, 5:32:56 PMSep 9
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The screws that hold the insert in place on the holder vary based on who made the holder.  Google "screws for holding carbide inserts in place" and see if you figure out what matches your inserts and tool holder. This can be a vexing problem to solve if you don't have a screw you can measure and don't know who made the holder.

Alex

tho...@kokopedli.com

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Sep 10, 2025, 12:23:11 PMSep 10
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thank you Alex ! !     This is very important info. you gave me! (Obvious after pointed out)
   I really appreciate your help a lot.
I still hope to hear any thoughts on good sources of carbide tips, AND, 
It appears that I might be looking for insert AND holder ...
I am not now near (to look at) the lathe I can borrow, it is at least 70 years old, and my friend who inherited it is not answering his phone ...  maybe lathes are standardized enough that this one uses current tips, maybe not...
 
So, any thoughts on finding, where to find, a 1/4" by 1/4" holder with carbide ?
  (Cut-off and round-nose to make spring-clip groove ala sturmey/etc.)
I have used this lathe a dozen times but do not remember ...
 
noMadic   thomas
 
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Jim

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Sep 10, 2025, 1:32:35 PMSep 10
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Thomas,

Manhatten Supply - mscdirect.com: they have a location in Nevada

Reidsupply.com

aliexpress - if you're not in a hurry and possible tariff problems!

Jim Allen

the Cyclesmiths

Ranchita, CA, USA


Jim Allen

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Sep 10, 2025, 2:47:12 PMSep 10
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Thomas, 

Manhatten Supply - mscdirect.com: they have a location in Nevada

Reidsupply.com

Jim Allen

the Cyclesmiths

Ranchita, CA, USA

jad...@vwtype3.org

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Sep 11, 2025, 12:07:50 AMSep 11
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For all machine tools and accessories: shars.com
> On Tuesday, September 9, 2025 at 1:55:40PM UTC-4 tho...@kokopedli.com
> wrote:
>
> Now looking for a recommended source for tips that screw onto the 1/4"
> holder on the lathe I have access to...
>
> looking for a round nosed ( .1" ) insert, and also for a cut-off... any
> suggested successful sources ?
>
> Thanks AGAIN !
>
> noMadic Thomas
>
>
> On 08/26/2025 2:13 PM PDT Alex Meade <alexd...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Carbide. Insert tooling if you can. If you're using a cutoff (aka
> "parting") tool, pay attention to speeds (slow) and feed (not jerky at all)
> and use cutting fluid liberally. Make sure the tool height is at or very
> slightly below centerline of the work. Parting tools are persnickety on a
> manual lathe, and love to catch and snap, destroying the tool and your
> workpiece in the process. Remember, the closer the tool gets to the
> center of the part, the slower the surface speed gets to zero, so dial your
> feed speed down accordingly as you approach center. I hate cutoff tools,
> but sometimes you have no choice . . .
>
> Alex
> www.alexmeadetools.com
>
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/framebuilders/3a55e862-b0ea-480f-8bb6-87fe501f8a42n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.
>
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Jim Adney, jad...@vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
*******************************

Duane Draper

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Sep 11, 2025, 3:17:15 AMSep 11
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+1 Shars if you are in the US. Not sure about outside the US. If it has an old lantern style tool post, you should upgrade to a quick change style. They are more rigid which carbide bits like. If sticking with the lantern style, just get good at grinding and honing HSS bits. They worked just fine for a long time.  

From: frameb...@googlegroups.com <frameb...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of jad...@vwtype3.org <jad...@vwtype3.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2025 7:07:42 AM
To: frameb...@googlegroups.com <frameb...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [Frame] Re: ? Carbide insert lathe-tooling source suggestion/recommendations ?
 

>
> On Tuesday, September 9, 2025 at 1:55:40PM UTC-4 tho...@kokopedli.com
> wrote:
>
> Now looking for a recommended source for tips that screw onto the 1/4"
> holder on the lathe I have access to...
>
> looking for a round nosed (  .1" ) insert, and also for a cut-off...    any
> suggested successful sources ?
>
> Thanks AGAIN !
>
> noMadic   Thomas
>
>
> On 08/26/2025 2:13 PM PDT Alex Meade <alexd...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Carbide. Insert tooling if you can. If you're using a cutoff (aka
> "parting") tool, pay attention to speeds (slow) and feed (not jerky at all)
> and use cutting fluid liberally.  Make sure the tool height is at or very
> slightly below centerline of the work. Parting tools are persnickety on a
> manual lathe, and love to catch and snap, destroying the tool and your
> workpiece in the process.   Remember, the closer the tool gets to the
> center of the part, the slower the surface speed gets to zero, so dial your
> feed speed down accordingly as you approach center.  I hate cutoff tools,
> but sometimes you have no choice . . .
>
> Alex

>
> On Tuesday, August 26, 2025 at 3:58:47PM UTC-4 tho...@kokopedli.com wrote:
>
> Once more seeking hive-mind advice:
>     I have a steel piece I want to do a simple cut-off on, it is steel and
> above 50 hardness and so I suspect I ought to get a strong/durable point
> for the lathe...
> Any suggestions/recommendations ??     Carbide?    or ceramic?     or ...
>  ??
>
> noMadic  Thomas
>
>
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Jim Adney, jad...@vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
*******************************

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Alex Meade

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Sep 12, 2025, 9:45:07 AMSep 12
to Framebuilders

Thomas,

Inserts and holders are a real anthill of confusion.  Nothing is standard, other than a few basic shapes.  Many inserts require specific holders and vise-versa, and are proprietary, while others are more universal and made my multiple manufacturers. Expect to do a lot of reading to understand the various code systems used to designate inserts.  Material, rake angle, radius, thickness, etc are all embedded in the code.

You can find all manner of inserts and tool holders made by "name" companies like Sandvik, Kennametal, etc, but you’ll probably find them to be far too expensive for one quick job.

These days, when I need a special insert and holder for a single job, my go-to is eBay. For one-off jobs, I generally try to find a seller offering the insert and the holder together.  For example (and I'm not affiliated with this seller, nor am I making a recommendation; I'm just using this as an example):


The quality of no-name carbide inserts is sometimes not the best, but often just fine for one job.

Finding a round-nosed grooving tool of the correct radius in carbide, might be more difficult.  "Back in the day" of HSS lathe tools, it was common to grind or machine our own tools, but of course that's not easy with carbide.  McMaster-Carr has a few inserts of various radii:


You'll need to figure out the correct holder.  Sometimes I end up making my own holder for oddball inserts, or altering existing holders, to work with my lathe.

Hope this is helpful, and as you can see it's not a quick answer!

Alex
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