The Best Cutting Tool Sets To Get If You Have Just Started Lathe Work 

Thanks for watching and for your encouraging feedback.

How have they worked? You got extremely lucky and you should play lottery next week if the drills are good.

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Steve, does bang good sell standard fractional hss drill bits? I'm placing an order for tools for my Jet mini lathe. I try to watch all your videos cause you give lots of good information for the new machinist. Thankyou

Hi Chris I use the same DCMT 070204 insert tool for roughing and finishing. Regards Steve

Hi John Thanks, there are different quickchange toolposts but if you just get the ones listed for the Myford or Chinese Mini Lathe they are both the same size. It is one of the best things I have bought for my lathes. You must be pleased to have a Myford ML7R. Regards Steve

I haven't paid any import duties yet I see on the checkout one can sometimes pay a small charge usually under 2 pounds to cancel out any import charges.

i haven't yet purchased a chinese mini lathe. your videos have convinced me that it would be a worthwhile purchase. however, i am stalled at the point of purchase. there are so many on offer by various resellers, as well as direct from manufacturer on alibaba. there also seem to be some variations on machine capacity and motor power, as well as purchase price. it would be very helpful if you would do a bit of research, and address these issues, and make recommendations. again, many many thanks for your work.

I find the inserts excellent. The same as any well known brands really. People say that it is the ones made in India that are useless. There must be something seriously wrong if your inserts only last a few cuts. I have just made several steel components using one edge and the insert still doesn't need changing. I only use the titanium coated or blue nano inserts though.

@@SteveJordan My parting inserts are from China. They are definitely inferior to the Kennatool inserts I normally use. Maybe I should try blue nano inserts as you suggest. The holder tool is identical to one shown in your video.

@@ALA-uv7jq Hi Yes I forgot about those. The part-off inserts are not all that good yet, definitely no comparison to Kennametal, Iscar or Sandvik part-off inserts. All the turning tool inserts seem good to me though. I'm hoping they will improve the part-off inserts at some point.

@@SteveJordan Thanks. Yeh I only referred to parting inserts.The parting tool holder MGEHR 12-2 seems robust enough, just the inserts don't last, especially in s/s. I have ordered a set of blue nano type. Lets see how they go. Cheers.

No it is limited if I remember rightly. I will re check it tomorrow as I have an un machined compound slide as well. I am pretty sure the 12mm tools are too high. Regards Steve

@@SteveJordan thanks mate

Hi Kevin. If you had a quick change toolpost set that would allow proper centre height positioning as long as your tool thanks are not greater the 12mm square. I have got a backing plate for the 5 inch 4 jaw chuck. I think you can get the plates from Chronos uk. Regards Steve

@@SteveJordan thank you

It doesn't really matter. I only buy the Blue Nano for hard materials, but I have found the titanium coated ones very good as well. They just don't last so long on stainless steel etc, but then again they are very low cost. Regards Steve

Hi yes they will but check out what shank size will fit in the toolpost. You can get them with 8mm shanks if you need a smaller size. Regards Steve

It is a Dixon Quick change toolpost

That is the price. It is great value for money though for what it is and the excellent quality. I saw a similar set in the UK that was double the price.

Hi Peter, That isn't at all correct. Carbide inserts have a radius not a flat, which is how they are designed. They also do not 'burn out quickly' unless one is using them incorrectly. I use the 070204 insert tools and an edge on one of those will last a very long time even on stainless steel. Carbide inserts also have the advantage in that one can change an edge quickly and the centre height and tool position remains exactly the same. I personally think they are the best type of tooling for lathes and CNC machine tools. Also if one is new to machining, buying a mini lathe, with all its problems from new, plus having to learn to grind tools is what puts many people off. Its generally all too much for people to find out how to do things unless one is truly dedicated and perseveres. Also the Chinese Mini Lathe, has duff electronics from new, if it has the same electronic boards etc, that my 9 year old Amadeal lathe had. (I don't know if they have been upgraded now?) I have over 30 years experience in engineering, yet I had two of these boards break down and also had to replace the potentiometer about a dozen times over an eight year period. A DC motor set-up isn't all that good for a lathe. Plus when buying a Chinese Mini Lathe they need quite a bit of work to get things like the slides rigid enough for proper machining It is great to learn how to grind HSS tooling though and I do have many specially ground HSS tools for specific purposes, like internal/ external o/ring grooves etc. I just think with the amount one has to learn at the beginning, its best to start with insert tooling. One can also get good knowledge from these tools, how they work etc before trying to grind HSS blanks. I personally will stick to insert tooling as it is truly excellent in every way.

@@SteveJordan I think you misunderstood me about burn out. The mini lathe controllers burn out power mosfet if overloaded which is quite easy to do with carbide inserts. With a x10 loupe it's easy to see they are 'blunt'. Saying that, my mini lathe is about 14~15 yrs old and still going strong, but, I'm very careful not to overload motor.. I was given a mini mill with burned out controller, but that's another story

The UK suppliers buy these tools from China for very low cost, Then massively increase the prices for re-sale. I would rather get the things for low cost as well. There are those that tell people to support UK suppliers, but most people can't afford to pay the extra costs and be charitable these days with this type of thing.

You'd be better off paying Steve. He's providing what you would traditionally have paid a UK retailer for: expertise in why/how to use these tools. The other value proposition of the supplier (and maybe the retailer) would have traditionally been the ability acquire the goods. That value proposition isn't relevant in this case.