Source of 6mm x 6mm HSS?

[kwijibo99]

Does anyone know of a good place to get some quality 6mm x 6mm HSS tool steel?
I need some to fit in a boring bar from a Wohlhaupter boring head.
I was given a UPA-4 head but it has a Deckel taper so it's not going to be much good to me without some modification but I'll consult you blokes on that another day.
For now I just want to use the bars and even they have me buggered because they need 6mm square tool bits not good old 1/4".
Any and all help much appreciated.
Cheers,
Greg.

[.RC.]

CTC tools sell 6mm X 6mm..... Quality is so so...

[Log]

Sutton 6mm square listed here, 100mm long.

Tool steel | Hi-Speed Tooling (http://www.hispeedtooling.com.au/products/tool-steel/)

Cheers.

[Log]

Blackwoods sell Sutton stuff and list the imperial sizes but should also be able to get the metric sizes easily enough.

Cheers.

[eskimo]

Sutton 6mm square listed here, 100mm long.

Tool steel | Hi-Speed Tooling (http://www.hispeedtooling.com.au/products/tool-steel/)

Cheers.


not sure I could trust buying online with them...just look at this screw cutting gauge...tad pricey

SCREW CUTTING GAUGE | Hi-Speed Tooling (http://www.hispeedtooling.com.au/products/measuring-equipment-others/screw-cutting-gauge/)

[Ueee]

not sure I could trust buying online with them...just look at this screw cutting gauge...tad pricey

SCREW CUTTING GAUGE | Hi-Speed Tooling (http://www.hispeedtooling.com.au/products/measuring-equipment-others/screw-cutting-gauge/)

I'd like to know how that one works?

There Dy-mark is $44, thats nearly twice what i paid locally, and this is Canberra!

[Greg Q]

You'll need to get rid of that Deckel taper POS quickly. I dispose of unloved Deckel stuff as a complimentary service to members of this board:wink:

Try one of the European ebay sites for quality 6mm blanks. Cyclone was a good UK brand. Dormer made (makes?) good HSS too. Komet may be another brand...they did a lot of boring bars and in fact may be original to the Wholhaupter.

Greg

[kwijibo99]

Thanks for the info fellas.

RC, I swore I'd never again use cheap tool steel having never had any luck with it in the past so CTC is probably my last resort.

Log, Funny thing is I checked the Sutton on-line catalogue and it only mentions imperial tool steel. Now I know they make metric sizes I might have a closer look at some of the usual stockists.

I took a gamble and ordered some from rotogrip in the UK which I hope will be ok as they seem to stock quality tooling, the Clarkson dovetail cutter I bought from them a year or so ago was excellent as you might expect.

Greg, If you can lay your hands on a UPA-4 with a 1" straight shank (or for an early Thiel :o) I'd gladly give you the Deckel one in return. The bloke who gave me the UPA-4 used to have an FP-4 which they sold off a few years ago but still had the boring head lying around with no use for it. I made a similar offer to yours and said I'd get it out from under his feet for him and to my surprise he agreed.:2tsup:
Unfortunately for me its the type made specificaly for Deckel with the integrated SK40 S20x2 taper so short of grinding it down to a parallel shank there is not much I can do to utilize it:doh:
Cheers,
Greg

[Greg Q]

Hi Greg...

As it turns out I have a UPA-3 which came with my ancient FP-1 anyway so I am actually set. My machine has a MT 4 spindle with the S20 X 2 drawbar.

I think you might be able to ebay yours off for what you'd need to pay for a straight shank UPA-4.

Which Thiel do you have? Nice machines.

Greg

[kwijibo99]

Hi Greg,
It's a Duplex 158 and love it.
The later models came with MT4 spindles but mine is an earlier one and has the same spindle as the model 58 which is more like a large collet lathe spindle.
It came with an imperial set of collets and arbours and I scored a metric set, a 16mm chuck some stub arbours and MT adaptors on German ebay so its good up to 1" or 25mm, not so good for for my UPA-4 though.

You're right I probably could sell the boring head on but as it was given to me I'd kind of feel bad if I didn't at least try to work out some way to use it .
I havn't really looked for a straight shank UPA-4, I've seen straight shank UPA-3s though so I presume they do make them though the prices are kind of scary.
Cheers,
Greg.

[Greg Q]

Nice machine. There was one for sale here a few years back, well equipped, but too much £€¥ for me at the time. I'd love to find an FP3 one day to augment the FP-1 toy Deckel.

Have you considered searching for another Euro boring head? The names escape me at the moment, but there are Wohlhaupter equals. Also, I have a Deckel FZA boring head on a 20mm shaft, and a Kaiser, but both are limited compared to a Wally Hopper.

I'm in the shed working on a grinder; its a 90 year old Brown and Sharpe and I am dazzled by the goodness of this WWI era machine. Trouble is it seems exactly like the American machine tools from fifty years later. I have two European mills here made post-war and it is as though they came from a different planet.

Greg

[Greg Q]

Oh...the other thing I meant to mention regards your spindles. Since you have a set of collets already you may wish to ignore this, but:

My friend Mike has a pair of Rivett 608 lathes here in Australia. They are I'm sure the only ones here. His tailstocks sported a proprietary Rivett taper. Which makes tooling rarer than hen's teeth. He got a local tool and die house to wire EDM his tailstock rams out to MT 2, which they did, and diamond lapped too, all for $90 each. That strikes me as an improbably low number. If you ever want to change over drop me a line and I'll put you in touch.

Greg