Quick Change Tool Post for Lathe

[Jon]

Nice job 2gr8kids! Since you posted your completed tool from plans, we'll buy you any plans of your choice. Let me know which ones you'd like, and PM me an email address to send them to.

[Paul Alciatore]

Fantastic,

It is really great to hear some feedback from someone who has actually built one. It looks great. I hope it proves to be as useful to you as it is to me.

Thanks for taking the time to post.

Paul,
Thank you for sharing your design. I recently completed building mine and all worked out well. I changed the post nut to be able to use an old wrench that came with my SB lathe. Otherwise it was made per the plans which were very clear and easily understood. Below is an image of the finished product less the handle which is currently on order.

Attachment 26750

[ddickey]

Paul,
i just finished the tool post today. I have never been disappointed on any plans I've bought here and yours was no exception. Very well detailed and complete. You must've put a lot of time into them.
I did make a few changes as I have a larger lathe. I wanted to hold 5/8" tool bits so also had to mill the tool pocket deeper (.500"). I just went slightly larger on the tool holder dimensions adding 1/8" all the way around. Ideally I would have liked to raise the height but didn't have material any taller. I used 5/8-24 all-thread for the stud as I already had a t-nut made and had the all-thread I also didn't drill the mounting nut all the way through.
The only big mistake was when I drilled the holes that hold the tool bit down I did it on the wrong side. Just put it in the vice and started drilling and tapping. Oh well not big deal I guess. Thanks for a great project.

[Paul Alciatore]

Fantastic! Thanks for posting. I love seeing the posts that others have made. And yours looks even better than mine. Nice job on the finish.

If you can, post something about how you find it in use. I would love to hear from others on that score too.

Paul,
i just finished the tool post today. I have never been disappointed on any plans I've bought here and yours was no exception. Very well detailed and complete. You must've put a lot of time into them.
I did make a few changes as I have a larger lathe. I wanted to hold 5/8" tool bits so also had to mill the tool pocket deeper (.500"). I just went slightly larger on the tool holder dimensions adding 1/8" all the way around. Ideally I would have liked to raise the height but didn't have material any taller. I used 5/8-24 all-thread for the stud as I already had a t-nut made and had the all-thread I also didn't drill the mounting nut all the way through.
The only big mistake was when I drilled the holes that hold the tool bit down I did it on the wrong side. Just put it in the vice and started drilling and tapping. Oh well not big deal I guess. Thanks for a great project.

[old_toolmaker]

Nice job on the toolpost.
Nice workmanship also!

[Jon]

Nice work ddickey! Since you posted a pic of a tool you built from plans you got on this site, you can choose ANY other plans you'd like for free (we'll buy them from the plans author and send them to you for free). PM me and let me know which ones you'd like.

[Paul Alciatore]

I have just discovered another advantage of my QC tool post over the common, dovetail design while reading about a problem in another group. Apparently the locking handle on some dovetail posts can interfere with one of the two mounting positions for the dovetail holders. The locking handle can be "clocked" (adjusted) to be out of the way for changing holders on one of those positions but will interfere with changes on the other. And if the handle is adjusted for one holder in both positions, then there is no guarantee that other holders, with slightly different dimensions, will also work that way. The person asking about that problem, who is not a novice by any means, said it turns his QC tool post into a slow change tool post. I'm sure he doesn't mean it is as slow as a lantern style tool post, but apparently it does slow him down by a significant amount.

My holder completely avoids this problem by placing the locking handle on the tool holders themselves instead of on the tool post. Just one more advantage to this design.