Thread: AL 960 Question

HI Lindsalso,
Welcome to the Forum. I have a Hafco AL-960B. The Measurement that You want from the Top of the Compound Slide to the Centre Line of the Chuck is 31mm. When the Original Toolpost is fitted on the Compound the Height from the upper part of the Base of the Toolpost to the Chuck centre line is 15.5mm.

I have a Aloris 222 BXA Quick Change Tool Post on My AL-960, here is the link for when I fitted it https://www.woodworkforums.com/f65/qu...better-123112/ . With the Original Toolpost I used 16mm Carbide Insert Tools and Machined about 1mm of them. The QCTP takes 16mm Tools straight up. For the HSS Tools I Bought these L075R | Right Hand Lathe Turning Tool Holder - English Style | machineryhouse.com.au , L075S | Straight Lathe Turning Tool Holder - English Style | machineryhouse.com.au, L075L | Left Hand Lathe Turning Tool Holder - English Style | machineryhouse.com.au and I machined 3mm of them to get them to fit the Aloris.

I have to leave this now and go to Work.

I have bought tooling from CDCO and CTC and the others as well .

I'm pretty happy with most of CDCO's tooling , but steer clear of his cheap lathe chucks, they are crap .

tools 4 cheap ..his castings are average . eg the carriage stop . I think he gets them made in China . MIKE

I think I have been approaching this a bit fack to bront. So starting with the machine capabilities and size and material range to be machined, I've choosen a tool and insert brand (TAEGUTEC) which is readily available and spent the weekend studying their very comprehensive catalogue. Given I am starting without tooling, the first tools have to have a 12mm shank to fit the standard 960 tool post.Whether it be a axa or bxa qtcp the retaining post has to be manufactured to mate the qctp to the compound (dorian bxa 16x2, axa 12.7x1.75). So narrowing down to the 12mm tool range it was a case of choosing the insert shape,chipformer grade etc to suit my requirements. Before this weekend I had not known about helix correction anvils for indexable threading tools and their relationship to pitch and workpiece diameter, nice to learn something new.
Thanks Stuart for the 960 measurement, both the axa and bxa are covered by that dimension, although it is closer to the axa optimum tool height. If the axa gets the tick then the stud to be machined will have to come from a metric grade 10.9 (alloy steel quenched and tempered, proof, yield & tensile/ 830, 940& 1040 Mpa) as it will have to step from 16mm in compound to 12.7mm in qtcp.
I will post my experiences with the Taegutec tools and inserts including the models I have choosen after I have used them on a few projects, possibly start a new thread relating to indexable tools.

Originally Posted by Lindsalso

A genuine 40 position multifix looked very tempting, however all I could find was chinese clones of this system.

There's a thread on PM about the Chinese 40 position tool holders, exec summary is that the one tested was fine.

I'd take one over the Aloris/Dorian types any day. In fact as soon as I stop buying boat bits (12th of Never given I just bought a diesel heater off of Ebay) I plan on buying one for my Emco Maximat 11.

PDW - sitting, bored witless (wasn't far to go) at Sydney airport waiting for the kerosene birdie to take me back to my machine shop....

The great advantage of the Aloris type is the holders are dirt simple to make. I guess the importance of that is inversely proportional to your spending power.

Originally Posted by Lindsalso

Given I am starting without tooling, the first tools have to have a 12mm shank to fit the standard 960 tool post.

Are you sure about the 12mm shank for the standard 4-way TP on your AL960? I have an AL960 and use 16mm shank Taguetec carbide tooling in the 4-way toolpost. On my AL960 it's a perfect match with no shims required to get the cutting edge on centre.

Thanks gavan, I was referencing the sales blurb which says to suit tool height 12mm, but it appears from stewarts measurements on his lathe it is 15.5mm. I should probably play it safe and wait until the big box arrives and have a measure (only a day or two now), I would be interested to hear what taegutec tooling you use and what price you pay for the inserts. I recieved a quote today from a brisbane tooling shop asking $394.60 for a pack of 10x TDT3.00e-040 TT5100 's. Am about to cross reference them to Kennametal inserts and compare price to Carbide Depot in America.

I'd wait and measure as well, mine uses the 16mm tools as-is.

I do a lot of my work using HSS, mostly with one of the Eccentric Engineering tangential tool-holders but also the odd hand-ground stuff.

In terms of the Taguetec holders I have 3 boring bars (S16R SCLCR 09, S12M SCLRC 09 and S10K SCLCR 06) a LH and a RH turning tool (SCLCL 1616 H09 and SCLRC 1616 H09). I also have carbide parting, internal and external threading tools but they aren't Taguetec, mainly SECO brand.

I can't remember how much I paid for the inserts, I have a vague recollection of around $90 per 10 for most of the types I have from General Tools and Asteg in Adelaide. (CCMT 21.51 MT TT5100, CCMT 09T308 MT TT3500 for turning, 16ERM AG60 TT9030 for threading, TSC3 TT8020 for parting and TPUN 160308 TT8020 for face milling).

I have fitted an axa to my 960. I just used mild steel for the stud. No problems so far.

Originally Posted by Bryan

The great advantage of the Aloris type is the holders are dirt simple to make. I guess the importance of that is inversely proportional to your spending power.

That's true but it's their only advantage.

My Colchester came with a Dickson tool post, the extra holders are really stupidly priced. Good thing is, you can swap them about and they return to the same zero. Making more holders is on the job list, bit of a PITA but do-able. The multifix holders, I wouldn't even think about making.

PDW

HI,
I agree with Gavin, wait till You get Your Lathe and then check the Tool height. You might be Lucky like Gavin and the 16mm Tools might fit straight up, Mine missed out by 0.5mm . Just looking in some earlier Hare & Forbes Catalogues 2005 & 2007 the AL-960B were advertised as Tools to suit '16mm' .
As for making the Toolpost Stud from 'a metric grade 10.9 (alloy steel quenched and tempered, proof, yield & tensile/ 830, 940& 1040 Mpa)' there is absolutely no need. The Toolpost only needs to be Clamped down enough so it wont move. rfurzer has used Mild Steel for His Stud and got away with it, personally I think it would be a bit soft and stretch over time (however I think it will be Years before it fails). I used 1045 Steel for the Stud on My lathe, 1045 is a bit harder and stronger than Mild Steel.
Did Your New Lathe arrive yet ?.

Yes, I picked it up from the transport depot this afternoon. Had a good look at the crate and covering for any signs of rough treatment during transit. All looks good no signs of any damage. I hope to have it set up on a decent stand (ie not the included tin box) and get my measurements before work takes me bush again for a few weeks.

Originally Posted by Lindsalso

Thanks gavan, I was referencing the sales blurb which says to suit tool height 12mm, but it appears from stewarts measurements on his lathe it is 15.5mm. I should probably play it safe and wait until the big box arrives and have a measure (only a day or two now), I would be interested to hear what taegutec tooling you use and what price you pay for the inserts. I recieved a quote today from a brisbane tooling shop asking $394.60 for a pack of 10x TDT3.00e-040 TT5100 's. Am about to cross reference them to Kennametal inserts and compare price to Carbide Depot in America.

Hi,
That seems awful expensive for inserts. I got some Iscar WNMG (6 tips) a few months back and they were about $12 each. I think parting inserts are about $15 each, for 1 tip. Personally i would start with HSS, but you will have to learn about grinding angles etc before you can start cutting, which is good if you want to learn but bad if you just want to make some chips. HSS is also much more forgiving, being run at lower speeds gives you more time to think and one oops moment doesn't mean a new tip. HSS is also a lot cheaper.
Just my 2c worth.
Ewan

Good quality hss ie momax is getting very difficult to find, later I might play with some chinese chalk for turning aliminium, but my first objective is climbing the learning curve that is composite inserts. I agree those Taegutec inserts (T clamp style holder) are overly expensive given that from the carbide depot in america I can buy an Iscar Heli-Grip holder and 10 inserts to match for less than the quoted price for the Taegutec inserts. There may be other outlets for Taegutec products with more reasonable prices, but up here in cairns, you can get an expensive cup of coffe or a printed T shirt no worries, but anything relating to quality tooling is like a foriegn language