Quick Change Tool Post for Lathe

[Paul Alciatore]

Quick Change Tool Post Plans for Sale - $10.00



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If you purchase these plans and are not 100% satisfied, we'll refund your purchase price.

Tool Post Features:

• Designed for the utmost rigidity: Unlike dovetail designs, the post and tool holder lock together like a single, solid piece of steel
• Tools can be removed and remounted with better than 0.001" accuracy
• Independent tool position adjustments
• Tool height is easily adjusted and held constant without use of a lock nut
• Tools can be removed and remounted with a single hand, no tools required: This provides the fastest tool change of any known design
• Tool holders feature two tool mounting positions at 90 degree orientations: This facilitates turning and facing cuts without rotating the post
• Simple design with a minimum number of parts
• Parts are easy to make: No dovetails
• Sized for a 9" lathe and 1/4" to 3/8" tool bits
• Can be easily scaled for other lathe/tool sizes

These plans include:

• A 25-page PDF instruction manual including:
• Full, detailed, step-by-step construction procedure
• 11 technical drawings.
• 7 photos.
• BOM (Bill Of Materials) for the post and for the tool holders

Feel free to post any questions you may have in this discussion, either before you purchase or during construction. I DO monitor this thread. Or, post pictures of your finished QCTP.

Questions about buying tool plans? See: http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/f...6068#post65876

$10.00 - Click here to buy now via PayPal and download instantly

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[Jon]

I just sent out the email notice that these plans had been added, and we already had several orders placed immediately.

Got any questions about these plans? Post them here. This is a seriously detailed set of plans for a very well thought-out QCTP, and a steal at only $10.

[EdSlc]

Jon, Is this a set of paper plans in a binder for the QCTP or is it sent at pdf files to be printed from my computer?

[Jon]

It's a PDF file that you can view, save, or print. I've actually printed this one out myself, and it prints out nicely.

[Paul Alciatore]

I am Paul, the author of these plans. I have tried to make them as complete and clear as possible but I like to fully support what I sell. I have included my e-mail address at the end of the plans and any purchaser can contact me with any questions they may have.

I also like to see photos of the post as built by others. So, when you build one, please post some pictures here.

[WindJunkie]

Hi Jon,

Your QCTP sounds nice, but it looks like most of the work is in the holder...which would mean quite a lot of work to make multiple tool holders, or removing the three cap screws and replacing the tool every time you want to change tools.

Do I have that wrong?

I'd also like to see a list of materials that would be needed (including what would be needed to make additional holders), their dimensions, a list of machining operations required (like you mentioned...no dovetails necessary...but what operations ARE necessary), and the approximate time that might be expected to make the parts.

Sounds nice, price is great, but my limiting factor is the time it might take and cost of materials.
- J

[Paul Alciatore]

Here is the BOM from the plans:

Bill of Materials:

Post:

1 Post 1018 Carbon Steel Round, 2” OD x 2.75” long
1 Tee Nut 1018 Steel Rectangle, ½” x 1.25” x 1.5”+ (cut from 1.25” x 2.5” below)
1 Stud Setup Stud, ½-13 x 3”
1 Nut ½-13 Coupling Nut
1 Washer ½” Washer, grade 5

The following materials are for a single tool holder. Multiply the amounts shown by the number of holders you wish to construct.

1 Holder 1018 Carbon Steel Rectangle, 1.25” x 2.5”, about 2.562” long
1 Clamp 1018 Carbon Steel Rectangle, 1.25” x 2.5”, about 0.562” long
2 Screws Button Head Cap Screws, grade 5 or 8, 5/16-18 x 1”
3 Screws Socket Head Cap Screws, grade 8, ¼-20 x 1”
1 Screw Socket Head Cap Screw, grade 5 or 8, 10-32 x 1”
1 Screw Adjustable Clamp Screw, 3/8-16 x 1”, KBC Tools #1-905-MH306 or equiv.
1 Washer 3/8” Washer, grade 5

Of course this is for the size in the plans (8-13 inch lathe). If you scale it for a different size lathe, then the materials must also be scaled.

The holders for my post do use more material than the common, dovetail holders. That is one of the trade offs for a more rigid QCTP. I have made about 6 holders so far and without changing any tools in them, I am able to do 99% of the work that I want to do. Of course I do plan to make more holders when time is available.

As for difficulty, I think my holders are actually easier. They require a central hole that must be bored: only the diameter must be precise and you can use the post as a gauge. In my opinion, that is an easier operation than cutting a dovetail. And yes, I have done both. Both styles, in fact all styles of tool holders, require milling a slot for the tool. My holders have two slots on adjacent sides so I guess that is a bit more work, but the setup is the same, just rotate the holder in the vise. And there is no reason why you could not just cut one of them on a given holder. The diagonal flat is not hard to cut and mill. That operation is completely explained in the plans, including how measurements are made. And that, diagonal face, is the only external face that needs to be machined: the others can be left with the mill or saw finish if you wish. The rest is just drilling and taping. I didn't keep track of my time so don't hold me to it, but I think I did about the same amount of work on the post as on the first four holders. And the holders are easier to make in batches: I plan to do at least six in my next batch, perhaps a dozen or more. That should hold me for at least a day or two.

A list of machining operations? OK, I will try to remember:

Lathe Operations:
Turning
Facing
Boring
Center Drilling
Turn Chamfers

Mill Operations:
Flat Faces
Grooves

Miscellaneous:
Sawing
Drilling
Filing
Taping

I hope I didn't leave anything out. I tried to keep the design simple so that it would be easy to make. Back to time, just briefly; the real time savings with this post is in using it. If you are making many copies of a part, this post will allow time savings every time you need to change tools. The tool change is literally a single hand operation with what is essentially a single motion. Grab the handle and twist upward. Keep going up and the tool is off. Two seconds? Less? And just down and down to solidly mount the next tool. No wrenches are needed so you never have to search for where you put that wrench. And you don't have to use a second motion to tighten the holder in place, just the one, fluid motion and you are back to making chips. I feel I am justified in claiming it allows the fastest tool change of any Quick Change Tool Holder.

I hope this answers your questions.

Hi Jon,

Your QCTP sounds nice, but it looks like most of the work is in the holder...which would mean quite a lot of work to make multiple tool holders, or removing the three cap screws and replacing the tool every time you want to change tools.

Do I have that wrong?

I'd also like to see a list of materials that would be needed (including what would be needed to make additional holders), their dimensions, a list of machining operations required (like you mentioned...no dovetails necessary...but what operations ARE necessary), and the approximate time that might be expected to make the parts.

Sounds nice, price is great, but my limiting factor is the time it might take and cost of materials.
- J

[WindJunkie]

Hi Paul (sorry...I realized I should be addressing you, not Jon just after I sent my last message),

Thanks for the reply, excellent and thorough answers to my questions. I have an Aloris BXA QCTP for my South Bend 13, but I have no QTCP for my Habeggar Swiss JH102 at all...and I'm seriously considering making yours instead of buying an AXA size set for it. It's not for cost savings (a whole AXA set can be had for around $100), but I'm intrigued by the design...

I'm just trying to figure out which type is more versatile. With the dovetail type you have two mounting positions that are 90 deg apart, so you can grind a HSS tool on both ends, and have it stick out of the holder on each end. Then you just mount it on one face for one operation and switch to the other face for another operation.

I presume your design makes the rotational alignment of the tool holder vs the post repeatable? I'm trying to see how that's accomplished. Perhaps the coupling nut at the top sets and locks the rotational angle somehow??? But it seems that it would block removal of the holder.

Also, with your one-motion removal and mounting...that sounds like a handle has to be made for each tool holder, is that so?

Thanks, J

[Paul Alciatore]

OK, more questions. Excellent!

The dovetail posts do usually have two mounting positions while mine has only one. True. But you can mount tools on two sides of my holders so you have that same 90 degree mounting option. In all honesty, I never thought about using both ends of a tool in a single holder. I have not tried it and I doubt that you could have both ends of a tool protruding from my holders at the same time. If you look at the photo at the top of this thread, the 3/8" tool bit in that photo was new and had been sharpened only once. And even if you could get longer tool bits, the geometry would not allow both ends to be used.

I guess I figured that tool bits are inexpensive and the holders are fairly easy to make so I saw no reason to economize by having one holder with two cutting ends on the tool. I keep my post in one position and grind my tool bits to be used in that, somewhat standard position, for the various operations.

Yes, the rotational alignment in the horizontal plane (around the tool post) is very repeatable. Frankly it is better than I could measure and definitely well under 0.001". This is accomplished with a generous sized flat on the round post. I thought long and hard about that feature. Most tool posts with round posts try to use some kind of a key for rotational alignment but this is problematic. First, there is always some play with a key in a keyway. This means that the user must always mount the holder with a twist in the same direction so the key always aligns with the same side of the keyway. There will be variations in the rotational position with differences in the amount of torque applied while mounting it. Chips or dirt on the key can come into play. And there will be wear so that play will only increase with time and use. In my design, with a wide flat, once the holder is locked down, there is zero distance between any part of the bore of the holder and the post, including at that flat. So, not only is there no need to apply a twist to the holder while mounting it, but any wear on the post or holder will be self compensating and a worn holder will grip just as tight and just as repeatable as a new one. The coupling nut at the top is just for mounting the post. After that, it is not used or disturbed for anything. It has absolutely nothing to do with the rotational alignment. I used a coupling nut instead of a standard one to allow some extra clearance where that nut is close to the flat on the post so holders could be mounted and removed without any problems. That is why that coupling nut has been turned round at it's bottom.

By the way, it may not be obvious, but my design is somewhat self cleaning as there is little room for chips between the post and holders. And it is easy to clean as there are no internal corners.

Re: A "handle" for each holder: Yes, you do need one of those adjustable clamp screws (handle) for each holder. You can see that in the BOM that I posted above. I did not make them, they were purchased, but the screw does need to be cut to the correct length. If you feel this is too expensive, you could use a cap screw but then you would need a tool (socket or Allen wrench) to mount and remove the tool holders. I like the fast tool change so I have purchased those clamp screws. I never claimed that this tool post was the least expensive choice. But it is not the most expensive either. BTW, the plans include a single tool that is used to mount and set up the post and holders. This tool is "X" shaped, like the common automotive lug wrenches with four arms and it has three of the arms used for two Allen wrenches and the third for a socket that fits the mounting nut. You could easily add a fourth tip to this tool for another size cap screw. This is a relatively unique tool and is hard to misplace in the shop so it is usually easy to find when I need it.

As to which is more versatile, I guess that is in the eye of the user. Different people do different work and have different needs. This is a fact of machining life. Versatility was on my mind while I designed this tool post, but it was not at the top of the list. My first concern was that I wanted the most rigid, solid, vibration free tool post possible. I think I accomplished that with the solid, one piece post and the complete, 360 degree wrap of the holders. These two pieces lock together like one single, solid piece of steel. My second concern was that the mounting position of the tools should be 100% repeatable. This is because I was doing and still need to do a lot of repetitive work for batches of identical parts. I also believe I accomplished that goal as I have been able to make multiple parts with the same dial settings. Hand-in-glove with this is the need for fast tool changes so I could make parts as fast as possible and again, that was accomplished. Another thought was I wanted the various adjustments of the tool position and angle should be independent of each other. This was one of my major complaints with the lantern style holders where a single bolt locked down and loosened all adjustments at once. Again, I think this goal was met. This post provides the features that I need and use. Frankly, I never saw any need for some fancy but little used features, like being able to mount the holders at a large number of repeatable angles.

Hi Paul (sorry...I realized I should be addressing you, not Jon just after I sent my last message),

Thanks for the reply, excellent and thorough answers to my questions. I have an Aloris BXA QCTP for my South Bend 13, but I have no QTCP for my Habeggar Swiss JH102 at all...and I'm seriously considering making yours instead of buying an AXA size set for it. It's not for cost savings (a whole AXA set can be had for around $100), but I'm intrigued by the design...

I'm just trying to figure out which type is more versatile. With the dovetail type you have two mounting positions that are 90 deg apart, so you can grind a HSS tool on both ends, and have it stick out of the holder on each end. Then you just mount it on one face for one operation and switch to the other face for another operation.

I presume your design makes the rotational alignment of the tool holder vs the post repeatable? I'm trying to see how that's accomplished. Perhaps the coupling nut at the top sets and locks the rotational angle somehow??? But it seems that it would block removal of the holder.

Also, with your one-motion removal and mounting...that sounds like a handle has to be made for each tool holder, is that so?

Thanks, J

[old_toolmaker]

I just sent out the email notice that these plans had been added, and we already had several orders placed immediately.

Got any questions about these plans? Post them here. This is a seriously detailed set of plans for a very well thought-out QCTP, and a steal at only $10.

Paul,

How is radial position controlled? Is radial position repeatable?

Dick