Yes, you certainly can. But, HSS has only been around a bit over a century. The modern world was built mostly without it, and with high carbon tool steel. For some things, it is still superior to either HSS or carbide tooling. Niche uses, true, but still of use. And high carbon tool steel is readily available in a much greater variety of sizes and shapes than HSS, and easier to work if you have the tools.?
Not a good choice in a production environment, it's true. :) There, fixed sizes and limited shapes work better. Fewer variables in setup & tooling. As I said before, it all depends on what you're doing.? And if one style of toolpost, and a more limited selection of tooling works well for you, which 35 years of happiness indicates, ain't nothing wrong with that!?
Some folks could get along fine with mild steel tooling. Some absolutely need carbide. I've got a chunk of Inconel here in the shop that I expect would laugh at HSS. No matter what toolpost I was using! If I ever find a use for it...
Very few wrong answers, and a lot of right answers in choosing & using a toolpost. Tooling is very dependent on what you're doing and with which material. If all you're working is brass or some plastics, mild steel would likely work well enough.?
Bill in OKC?
William R. Meyers, MSgt, USAF(Ret.)
Aphorisms to live by: Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement.? SEMPER GUMBY!
Expect in one hand, expectorate in the other. See which one gets full first.
On Thursday, March 7, 2024 at 09:25:43 AM CST, Mel Gross <melgross@...> wrote:
I haven’t used a lantern post in about 35 years. I don’t miss it. When I bought my South Be d 10L Heavy back in 1983, it came with one. I used it for several years, becoming increasingly frustrated with it. I ended up buying a Dorian BXA. Great post. You can use anything you want in it, including HSS tooling.?
I really don’t recommend carbon steel. Even finding that for lathe tooling is going to be hard to do. You can grind your own HSS or brazed carbide, or even, if you have the proper grinder, carbide inserts.
On Mar 7, 2024, at 9:45?AM, Bill in OKC too via groups.io <wmrmeyers@...> wrote:
? Well crud. If you are even remotely interested in reading my polemic on toolposts, you'd have to hit the "show trimmed text" or just read the quoted text here...?
Somehow trimming the 4 or 5 previous quoted messages trimmed my text too. Maybe I should stop doing this on my phone?
:)
Bill in OKC?
William R. Meyers, MSgt, USAF(Ret.)
Aphorisms to live by: Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement.? SEMPER GUMBY!
Expect in one hand, expectorate in the other. See which one gets full first.
On Thursday, March 7, 2024 at 07:39:39 AM CST, Bill in OKC too via groups.io <wmrmeyers@...> wrote:
Because lanterns work better for some things. And Blocks work better for some other things, so you should have one of those, too. Likewise a QCTP and lots of tool holders to fit it. Depends on what you're doing as to which is best.?
Lantern will let you push the size limits of your lathe a bit better than the others. A block tool post works better if you have a small number of tools you usually use, and a QCTP is is best for high volume production work on complex parts.?
One advantage to the lantern post is that you can forge specialty tools in a high carbon tool steel and get incredibly sharp edges for tricky work. With a couple hundred years of fantastic work to back it up. ;)?
Blocks & QCTPs are more convenient but not quite as versatile. Which is best depends on what you need to do. And you can still do good work even if you don't have the best toolpost. It's probably going to be a bit slower, but still doable. I put a QCTP on my Atlas TH42 when I bought it, but kept the lantern post. And if I ever get my SB Heavy 10L restored, it's getting a QCTP also, but I'll be keeping the lantern post too.? Never can tell when you might need a bit more reach.
Bill in OKC?
William R. Meyers, MSgt, USAF(Ret.)
Aphorisms to live by: Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement.? SEMPER GUMBY!
Expect in one hand, expectorate in the other. See which one gets full first.
On Thursday, March 7, 2024 at 02:00:35 AM CST, eddie.draper@... via groups.io <eddie.draper@...> wrote:
Why are people still using lanterns?? Get yourself a chunk of square steel, hold in 4 jaw, hole through the middle, clamp down on top of compound, milling cutter in chuck, 8 tapped holes & you've got a 4 way that holds any sort of tool.? This assumes you don't want to lay out �?$ on a QCTP.
Eddie
Snip!
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Bill in OKC too