Author Archives: Zander K

Some more CCMT lathe tools, now I think I have the entire 5/8″ shank “collection” – left hand, neutral, chamfer and boring bar (3/4″). I have commercial right hand tools and 1/2″ boring bar.           It was … Continue reading →

Tool holders (for the lathe) gotta be the metal equivalent of wood working clamps: you can’t have enough and when you do have enough, it still isn’t. I wanted to make a holder for 3/4″ boring bars as the one … Continue reading →

Since the previous two insert cutters I made turned out so well, I decided to try another, a smallish fly cutter. I have a Suburban Tools fly cutter and it is a monster by my standards. I got the smallest … Continue reading →

When I got my quick change tool post set, it included this combo knurl tool & facing holder. Kinda useless as I hate push knurlers. So I decided to make it useful by sawing off the knurler, extending the slot and punching … Continue reading →

I got the plan for this dovetail cutter from a Randy Richard video using a screen grab (he’ll email you a copy but it was easy to just grab it). It’s a sweet design using common TPGB321 inserts ($7.25 from … Continue reading →

Here is what the tool looks like making chips, in this case, plowing the face off a dovetail cutter: And a bench shot: And a PDF of the plans (as seen under the tool above): champferTool To cut the pocket I … Continue reading →

My collection of champfer tools, past and present:From right to left: draw and file, a HSS hand ground bit that works well but material builds up really fast so it needs to be honed often, a brazed on threading bit … Continue reading →

For cutting short tapers on the metal lathe, the compound slide (the one that sits on top of the cross slide) is often used. The problem is, if you (ie me!) can’t turn the knob in a nice slow smooth … Continue reading →