C's and 6's...The Perfect Lathe Chip 

Another good lesson Joe. The guy who taught me back in the day said "you don't want to make hay". He taught me to hand grind tools like the one you used here. Good stuff.

Thanks Joe, for all the great videos you put out for all that we didn't learn in school. This is great "finishing".

THIS IS A ROCK STAR QUALITY TEACHING VIDEO !!!

Excellent info as always sir. I learn more from you than any other source.

Super useful & informative, teaching me stuff no one else ever did. Thank you for sharing!

Thanks Joe, a lot of us hobbyists watch your vids and work safer & smarter in their home shop as a result. Rats nest instead of clean chips is especially a problem on small hobby lathes that don't have the grunt to cut that aggressively. I saw a guy stumbled on a solution to this: he stripped the torx on an insert screw, and to make due he used a socket head cap screw to replace it. Said it worked great for breaking chips.

as always joe, looks simple when explained by a pro. The sign of a good teacher.

Science! Great stuff. Thanks for taking the time to share.

I learn something new every time I watch one of your videos.

great little video Joe! Very thoroughly explained.

Thank you again Professor Pie! I have a bunch of 7075 bar stock that I honestly have been putting off because of the speeds and feeds issues of the spinning razor. The timing of the last couple videos have been just perfect. I now have a much better understanding as to the proper speed and feed to get it done right. Have a great week Joe! Mine will be much better because of all your help. Great Video as always!

I am glad to see your video Joe ,you have a new student on your channel ,thank you sir.

This was great! I’ve been applying this all week, and it’s been working out great! Thanks!

Sensational. It looks like, using a steeper rake and a curved bit is behind what you call a chip-breaker. Good... I considered a second tool bit would show up. You did it right. Three cheers on this great show.

Thanks Joe another great informational video.

Mate, great job! I've learned so much from watching your channel. Keep it up!

when you make chips like that and use the geometry of the cutting tool (inserted tooling/with chip break) you help the heat that is produced by the energy to escape out in the chip.... i love your channel joe pie and i might have to make a trip to austin to meet you man!

Joe i have never run any type of machine but appreciate your pist . Im thinking i will have to try this before i die it is just so cool .

This brought back memories of when my mother (of all people) was getting her masters in Mechanical Engineering and having to learn CNC (back when I was punched paper tape). I used to go with her to her lab's and watch everyone trying to make C's and 6's with various material and tooling, because they had to hand in the part, AND chips to get a grade. Also my high school metal shop teacher was always forcing us to make C's and 6's on the lathe, with classically ground HSS cutters. You CAN do it, it just takes practice and nerves of steel (you swear you're going to crash everything).

I would love to see more videos like this. As an amateur it's really helpful.

Great video. Thanks for the good info

Great info and good stuff. Thanks Joe!

Great advise Joe - impressive results. That was quite a cut on the Al! Must say I find it hard to really get nice broken chips on Al - there again, I don't take over aggressive cuts on my ancient machine.

Nice! I’ve been turning a lot of aluminum the last few days and really needed this! Thanks!

Thanks Joe! Great tips, keep them coming!

Nice to see you back infrount of the camera. Enjoyed the video

awesome teaching as always! thanks joe

Absolutely 100% relate to that opening statement. “To scared to push their lathe” The moment I did it and found the machines limit (safety). The results thus far has been flipping fantastic! Love your content . Again. Ha ! Thank you, always learn something new with you Mr Pie 🥧

I love it when a hot C chip wraps its self around the lower lip or or ears.

thanks joe your a good supervisor

Thanks Joe, another great video.

Thank you Joe, I did learn something that I had forgotten

Awesome as always Mr Joe go ahead we all like ❤your videos.

Good stuff. My old gear can do this on occasion. Thanks for the watch words. Those make it easy to understand.

everytime. Something so satisfying about making 6's and c's. I actually got in trouble by my supervisor when he saw me take a .125 doc and a feedrate of .015 while cuttin soft jaws. Hes not a machinist. Just supervises while operating machines. I do the set ups. I need to move to Texas and come work for a real machinist like you Joe.

very very very useful video thank you very much we wish to see a lot of good teachers like you

I hope they pay you very well there Joe. Top notch machinist! Learned a lot from your videos. Have a PM1228 here and I need to try to push it a little harder and see if I can get better chips on Chrome and Stainless

WOW, never knew that Joe. Thanks for the great tip, once again. Best Wishes n Blessings. Keith Noneya

Very cool Joe. A lot safer than a birdsnest too.Thanks for posting.

Love those hot chips. Had a big O1 tool steel chip lodge in the crease of my neck the other day. Dang, that smarts.

thank you for the no frills show .....I like it

Great video, thank you Sir!

you are awesome; i told my buddy about you; im a old machine builder. he was tool die . i think you forgot more then i ever new LOL

👍thanks Joe. Good stuff

Good stuff JP. I agree with it all as per usual. Only thing I do different is hog with medium rougher WNMG. .015-0.020 FPR. U just can’t beat the cost of turning using W inserts, and they will produce optimal chips.

Great stuff, Joe, I'll share this with my students this morning. I like the cross in the top right corner of your whiteboard. Keep up the good work!

Good one.

THANKS FOR SHARING!

Thx Joe i learned something right there for sure !!!

Thanks Joe

great lesson ,, thanks..

Wow, great video! Randy Richards recommended I watch this video am glad I did!

I am glad I subscribed to this awesome channel. It's good to see Al Bundy making a come back.

As always thanks for your great videos. Please do some learning videos for absolute beginners with different applications of metal work and advice :)

Another good video Joe. I'm not a real machinist, but I'm the closest thing they got at the shop. We have a 15x40 and I have a double-ended TPG tool holder for turning and facing. It has the chip breakers on each end, but I usually end up with long strings. I think I'll sacrifice a view pieces in the interest of science and see how hard I can push things. I need to make up a feeds and speeds chart for different materials anyway. Please keep the videos coming. I made a tool like yours to set lathe tools on center and use it constantly.

Thank you, I learned something today

THANK YOU FOR THE INFO

Joe Pie Great Job machine man. Your doin it. Machinist have the hardest tools

Thanks Joe! We used to get some gnarly snake chips when boring stern tubes on ships, 60" bore 0.45 or so on a side. Hairy...they'd cut to the bone and cotterize in one swipe. Stay safe, Will

Dude! Your art is fantastic. You got isometric view down pat. OK now I'm nervous; I'm going to grind a high-speed steel tool, and make some C's & 6's ( I hope)... Thanks for the super info!

Great video. I have recommended it to several others.

Joe, I love watching your videos but I have to confess that I watch them mostly for the "idea of the technique" as I do not have access to large tools. I've only been seriously dabbling with machining for about a year and am limited right now to my Sherline manual equipment. But recently I had to whittle down a 2" piece to .4something". I really liked the finishes I get with HSS tools but I ran up against the rats nest problem in spades trying to turn that piece down. I then put a carbide insert tool I have and worked on pushing it and could almost get chips like you show. What would happen is that it would start out a rats nest but by the end of the cut it would be spitting out little chips. The carbide tool is a 1/4" TCMT and I was turning a 1900rpm at about .01 deep per side. I tried both dry cutting and I have Boelube. Never thought to try WD-40. I woundering if it is even possible to get the chips like you describe on smaller machines. Even this 2" piece I was using is rare as I usually work smaller diameters and am thinking bending will be a problem trying to push it like you describe to make the chips. Maybe a lathe follower???

Very Cool!

I once made a chip intencianally trying that was 43 feet 3 inches long, and enjoyed it. It was out of aluminum 6061.

Another really informative video Joe, thanks. But you need to learn the magic words to get the focus right. (As per AVE).

You can also also undercut the leading edge of a drill with a dremel and a diamond bit for a quick resharpen (if the center point is still good) and create a chip breaker at the same time. I've done it to get though some nasty gummy materials. Also on the lathe if your not turning right up to the chuck you can make a chip deflector that mounts to the tool post to keep the chips off you. C's and 6's rock they heatsink the tool and the part and are much nicer if you have to shovel. They're also less likely to break a conveyor. Avoid polyester clothing as they will melt it.

Thank you so much for the video! Could you maybe consider making video about most basic how to get started on a lathe? I have been thinking about getting one for a few years, but since I never seen one in persona I'm a bit afraid / sceptical.

As usual have learned some new Was always impressed with my 10 meter long curls. Time to rethink.

thanks Joe! great video. would love to see you make a video on parts cosmetics! I do a good job of hitting my sizes but would like more info on making the parts apperance better / more professional!! thanks again for a

Great information Joe - thanks. Now, I need to force the machinists at my new job to watch your videos. They make strings all day long and cannot understand why I shake my head. They seem to think being a machinist is only hitting dimensions. I tell them they have to hit the dimensions QUICKLY, with as few tools as possible. Baby steps.

Thanks

I took advantage of an offer to spend 8 weeks at our local Vo Tech in a course for advanced machining. With 2 weeks to go the instructor asked if we had any questions, I told him I wanted to break the chip in 316 SS during finish cuts, he ignored me. The last week I took a piece of 316 SS shafting in and asked the same question. He confiscated the shaft and said I might not be able to break that chip. I was disappointed to say the least. I can do it on heavy cuts but not on finish cuts no matter what insert I have tried.

Beautiful, all hail the `hmm that's a tough one to fill in..

If you want to know ask Joe😁 couldn't agree more, however as they say everyone's a hero in ally, could you give us some wisdom with hard steel using HSS, there's a few people I would to meet in my life time and your one of them so please don't think I'm trying to criticise, I always look forward to videos cos I know I going to learn something, keep up the good work Pie man. Regards Alan.

I've got a couple videos of making some C's and 6's, not in aluminum but steel and stainless.

If you increase your nose radius you can get those chips with lower depth of cut. Only issue is keeping feed up and working to an edge.

I used to think bird nestin beat dwellin and yellin, but this beats all....Go Joe!

What i seen from experience working in a small shops in 80% of the time you will never have to take such a deep cut on a long distance to make it worth wile to mess with the settings.Machining costs money and material so usualy you will take rod size that is closest to your measurements.Sometimes you will take maybe 1 or 2 passes to get to the size you want but even that isnt worty of time unless you make 500 peaces which you will rarely do.

i try to get chips like that but we work with mainly tool steels. i have to try not to go through inserts quickly. i run coolant on all my tools the majority of the time

Thanks again for passing your knowledge un to us. I do have a request can you do a video on positioning the height on these tools I seem to have a bit of a rough time figuring out if I need to go up or down to get right cut Thanks again!

Sure wish we learned this in class... Birdnest City over there...

Thanks Joe. Yet another great video but I have a question if I may. I try to use feed and speed tables for new materials but they don’t cover depth of cut. Other than the safety aspects is there any advantage to C/6 chips in the standard of finish or productivity? Would the trial and error based result ever conflict with feed/speed formulas I wonder?

AvE knows the incantation to get a camera to focus.

Awesome I've never had the nerve to take big bites like you demonstrated. I struggle with getting perfect finishes on various materials, faster speeds & slower feeds with light cuts is my go to at the present still not the best. I've used both HSS & carbide various tip widths, no "consistency" when last pass to spot on size wanting the perfect finish, winds up it is what it is 😢, using a Monarch CY16, only 500+- RPM lathe speed available. maybe you can give me a few tips or do a short how to video, i'm sure there's others that might struggle with consistency also. Happy New Year, thanks for all your efforts & time making videos, I've learned tons 😁

What is your advice on using cemented carbide tooling which has no chip breaker?

Would a higher cutting speed help if you don't want to break the chips but they are breaking anyways even at 0.05mm/rev? My SCLCR holder with some CCGTs always breaks the chips on aluminum but it breaks them on the freshly turned part and not on the tool or themselves.

My favorite chips are nature and rippled with salsa... :) Sometimes it takes longer to find a sweet spot than do the actual job... ;)

If you had turn from a large OD to a pretty thin OD, do you still maintain the large DOC?

I have no problem getting the proper chip on more powerful lathes, but I don't have the same luck on my 13" South Bend lathe at home. One hp (1 1/2 hp 3ph motor running on single phase) and belt driven, when I apply the proper feeds and speeds, it'll stall the spindle. The magic combo is around 014, .04 deep, 300ish rpm on something in the 2" diameter range. Thoughts?

Thank you for your informative videos. I know nothing about machining, but find it fascinating. Would you mind explaining why Cs and 6s are preferred? Something to do with heat or tool life?

Great Info. I just got myself a lathe and am pushing it to get those chips. So far using bits of unknown steel to practice on. If you have an unknown steel how do you find the correct speed to cut? I've found this one peice will leave a great finish if run on the fast side but the feed must be 0.017" and still no c's or 6's. If i run at 2/3 the speed and feed at 0.006" then i get a beautiful shower of those nice chips but the finish sucks. Depth of cut is about 0.1 to 0.125 each case - Using Carbide inserts

Thanks for the tips! Definitely expanded my boundary of knowledge. With regard to steel, what chip color would you consider ideal? I haven't pushed any cutter to C/6's yet, but I'd like to know a "safeword" when I start making cuts.

"If the chips are long, it's wrong" or "If you want to know, watch Joe" :)

Nice art work, wish I could draw. Two things, 1) we put chip breakers on our tools in the late '60s in HS Machine Shop, but they would not let us run those old machines like that; 2) I always wondered why people were using carbide on aluminum when HHS works great. Especially when they don't run it hard enough to get the chips to break. - Cannot find that tool holder on the Kennametal site?

thanks for the video. great work as always ;o) any idea, if it's possible to break chips from 318 steel? might have a bunch of that material comming in my direction later this year, which is definitely going to be a hassle...

Joe, great video and I always learn something when I watch your stuff. When you say "if that tool would dry out, it would probably just break off" , what do you mean by that? Keep the WD40 on? Keep the temp down? Can you elaborate?

You're ballsy man...I never go over 700rpm on my bench top lathe..and that's for finishing cuts lol I'm a newb machinist though just started a few months back. Curious what kind of lube you use? Anything other than Tap Magic you recommend?

What relationship is there between feed rate, RPM and diameter of piece being turned ?

Can this be done with drill bits? Say 1/2" to 2" dia. In 1/2" thick plate up to 3" thick.

A minor burn from a smallish chip can only be better than a potentially nasty gash from a long stringy one. g00167015 mentioned the machinist's dance, lol but as someone who's done a fair bit of overhead welding... I've taken tiny spatter burns like a champ to get that weld done. but the beauty of welding over machining is if you let go of the trigger it stops doing what it's doing... a long stringy chip with a rotating motor isn't so forgiving.