What material for lathe tooling?

[BrokenBiker]

I want to make a few bits...tail stock tap follower, possibly a die follower too, a little expanding mandrel to fit in the bore of the headstock to allow reversing the spindle, maybe a few other bits.

What's a good all round material?

The tailstock stuff will have a number 2 morse taper cut onto them so would like a good hard wearing material thay doesn't necessarily need to be heat treat treated.

I'd like to be able to hold fairly tight tolerances so something that isn't likely to watp if I take too much material away would be nice too

 

[iNf]

Mild steel should be OK for any of that. You can get blank arbours to make life easier for not much money.
https://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Blank-End-Arbors/MT2-and-MT3-Blank-End-Arbors

 

[Kram]

Mild steel is awful to machine unless you go a weak free machining type. Easily dinged, I dont like using it.

Carbon steel or alloy steel will hold up much better to abuse and can be heat treated. En16T or EN19T are already treated and hold up well. 19T has chrome so harder to machine, prefers carbide and bigger cuts.

The tailstock stuff I suggest just making one MT2 taper adaptor for everything to slot into.
A lazy approach to this is to buy an ER40 MT2 collet holder, the you can fit any straight shank tooling. For a die/tap holder you can just leave the collet slightly loose for it to slide in and out.

 

[BrokenBiker]

Mild steel is awful to machine unless you go a weak free machining type. Easily dinged, I dont like using it.

Carbon steel or alloy steel will hold up much better to abuse and can be heat treated. En16T or EN19T are already treated and hold up well. 19T has chrome so harder to machine, prefers carbide and bigger cuts.

The tailstock stuff I suggest just making one MT2 taper adaptor for everything to slot into.
A lazy approach to this is to buy an ER40 MT2 collet holder, the you can fit any straight shank tooling. For a die/tap holder you can just leave the collet slightly loose for it to slide in and out.

Can en16t be machined as it is or does it need annealing?

 

[dave h 2]

I'd like to be able to hold fairly tight tolerances so something that isn't likely to watp if I take too much material away would be nice too

That would be milling flat surfaces on bright steel - use hot finished black steel to help avoid that.
Free machining EN1 also rusts freely as well.
If you use inserts for alloy (normally designated **GT) you can get a nice finish without the tearing on EN3.
Unless you have a brake on your lathe you need something to allow the tap to spin or go right through. You can get floating tap and die holders sets for tailstock for £60, you garb them to drive and let go spin. Use spiral taps for power.

 

[BrokenBiker]

I'd like to be able to hold fairly tight tolerances so something that isn't likely to watp if I take too much material away would be nice too

That would be milling flat surfaces on bright steel - use hot finished black steel to help avoid that.
Free machining EN1 also rusts freely as well.
If you use inserts for alloy (normally designated **GT) you can get a nice finish without the tearing on EN3.
Unless you have a brake on your lathe you need something to allow the tap to spin or go right through. You can get floating tap and die holders sets for tailstock for £60, you garb them to drive and let go spin. Use spiral taps for power.

There may have been some confusion in what I am making.

It is effectively a spring loaded tap follower, a pointed plunger in essence that sits in the tailstock to simply apply pressure to the tap and hold it straight, so you can lock the spindle and then use a normal tapping wrench to turn the tap, meaning you focus less on whether the tap is square and more on the feel of the tap going in.

I won't be tapping under power

Inheritance machining has a video on making one

 

[Kram]

If you use inserts for alloy (normally designated **GT) you can get a nice finish without the tearing on EN3.

Which will neither give a good finish or give many cuts before the tips are ruined. It is the same as using a sharp wood chisel for masonary work.

Proper tooling with the correct depth and feed will give a great finish, as would a better grade if steel.

Can en16t be machined as it is or does it need annealing?

It machines very nicely as is, its intended to be good for machining.

Theres also a grade 606M36T / EN16M which is very nice to machine, chips easily like brass, yet still has the full strength of en16 steel. I have only found one place to buy it in 16mm, without getting long lengths from stockholders

Pardon our interruption...

That is annealed but easily heat treated, I often use it as is

 

[BrokenBiker]

Which will neither give a good finish or give many cuts before the tips are ruined. It is the same as using a sharp wood chisel for masonary work.

Proper tooling with the correct depth and feed will give a great finish, as would a better grade if steel.


It machines very nicely.
Theres also a grade 606M36T / EN16M which is very nice to machine like brass, yet still has the full strength of en16 steel. I have only found one place to buy it in 16mm, without getting long lengths from stockholders

Pardon our interruption...

That is annealed but easily heat treated, I dont usually bother.

Cheers, looks like it might be what I want. Don't need hardness as much as toughness/wear resistance so en16 looks like a good choice

 

[RichardM]

En16, en24.
If you have some old reamers look at the end, usually it is only the flutes which are hardened, the ends are soft and can be utilised for other projects then hardened. Old drill bits are the same.

 

[E T]

I've made several morse taper holders for the lathe and mill from old LandRover half shafts. Don't know what grade those are, but lovely to work with.

 

[BrokenBiker]

I've made several morse taper holders for the lathe and mill from old LandRover half shafts. Don't know what grade those are, but lovely to work with.View attachment 496383View attachment 496384View attachment 496385View attachment 496386View attachment 496387

Oohhh I wonder if I still have any of the broken shafts from my td5...

 

[Gritineye]

Old halfshafts, bits of gearbox, old motor shafts and that sort of free stuff is the thing I try first, if it doesn't turn out too well at least I've had some practice making the thing before I have to pay out on summat more suitable.

 

[Kram]

Those will all be a carbon or alloy steel and will turn lovely. Just be aware that the better it turns, the more lethal the stringer chips! Keep fingers well away and use pliers or something else to detangle the chuck/work/tool, which you should anyway!

The only time mild is used on automotive parts is the bolts holding it all together !

 

[E T]

Those will all be a carbon or alloy steel and will turn lovely. Just be aware that the better it turns, the more lethal the stringer chips! Keep fingers well away and use pliers or something else to detangle the chuck/work/tool, which you should anyway!

The only time mild is used on automotive parts is the bolts holding it all together !

The hardened surface can give very stringy chips. You have to experiment with speeds and feeds. I find slow rpm and high feedrate helps.
Once you get through the surface hardening up the rpm and you get perfect chips.
For roughing I use the 100° corner of a CCMT insert. They can take a bit more abuse.

 

[sako243]

Oohhh I wonder if I still have any of the broken shafts from my td5...

I've got some worn out ones from my old Salisbury axle in the shed. Driving past tomorrow if you want me to drop one off?

 

[BrokenBiker]

I've got some worn out ones from my old Salisbury axle in the shed. Driving past tomorrow if you want me to drop one off?

thanks for the offer but have just ordered some en16 and some en19.

i doubt there would be anyone home tomorrow and youd struggle to get through the hoard of builders in my area...council decided to kick everyone out of the council houses to 'rebuild them' when in reality they have slapped a party wall in to make a decent 2 bed into a tiny 3 bed and given them out to other people, which hasnt helped matters as now everyone parks like an idiot to stop the builders parking near the house they are working in

 

[E T]

The hardened surface can give very stringy chips. You have to experiment with speeds and feeds. I find slow rpm and high feedrate helps.
Once you get through the surface hardening up the rpm and you get perfect chips.
For roughing I use the 100° corner of a CCMT insert. They can take a bit more abuse.

Here's a video I made yesterday turning a piece of half shaft which is going to be my new cross slide leadscrew.
Perfect chips from the hardened surface when you get the feed and speed right.