Lathe Tool Shapes - What Are They All For?

[@captainnag]

I just purchased my First Metal Lathe, (a 1940's Craftsman) i'm almost 60 years old and have 0 experience! I have some welding and cutting experience but no machine shop! My Grandfather made EVERYTHING and i remember playing with the millings and thinking how cool they were, unfortunately he passed away before i could pick his brain and have him teach me! I find your video's very helpful! The older gentleman i purchased it from gave me some scrap to play with and some tooling that i had no idea what they were used for but this video helped me A LOT in identifying them and explaining why some looked custom!! I subscribed to channel and look forward to learning much more in the near future!! Thank you for making these video's for people like me!!

[@OddJobFix]

Glad to see a straight up tutorial. I don't watch too many 'project' videos because, well, they aren't my interest for a project. But straight up teaching is always welcome. Nice job.

[@iamnoone.]

The look on your face at the beginning is priceless

[@Kineth1]

ah e ga o

[@tsirron]

That’s what the cats look like when their backs are scratched

[@BlueSparkCardCo]

​@@markfergerson2145 😮

[@BlueSparkCardCo]

​@@markfergerson21451:46

[@joearledge1]

Clearly she's been spying on me standing in my garage in front of my machine lol😋🤣

[@adrain5714]

I have watched hundred of machining videos. You have some of the best video out there in terms of clear concise information without a bunch of jibber jab or questionable humor. You have a great speaking/presenting voice, your highly organized and....I appreciate all of hard work put into your work. Thanks.

[@plea4sant]

That video was incredibly helpful for an absolute beginner. I love how you're never presumptious about how much we may already know and cover the smallest details about how and why something works as it does. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience. It's a gold mine.

[@richardthomas1548]

your incredibly knowledgeable for your age.But your true gift is the compassion you show for us who in spite of our old age are just learning a complex skill.. Thankyou

[@bethsaunders8862]

Love the video! As a complete rookie it's great to find a video that starts with the basics and avoids technical jargon. Thanks!

[@Orf45]

Your clarity, word choice, demeanor, and presentation somehow cleared up many years of fuzziness. Much appreciated. Keep up the great work.

[@VoidedWarranty]

Completely agree. I have totally done turning with a chamfer tool because it fit the job!

[@rikhartelman3802]

Bedankt

[@edparadis1578]

Great video! I inherited a lot of lathe tools from my Dad who was a machinist for 55 years. There's a lot of custom formed HSS bits that I'll spend lots of time figuring out just what work was he doing with... Thank you for the great explanation!

[@dennistennyson4540]

Hi Ms. Blondi: I enjoyed you video. In my 25+ years as a "Chinist" I top-ground some very expensive tool bits(Mo-Max Supper Cobalt) to perform a certain job that I had contracted to do. After consuming many tool bits($) to do the job I never again top-ground tool bits. The next time I got the job again I did the job without top-grinding the tool bits a nd it did very well. Never had too many tool holders. Happy Machining.

[@garethb5729]

None trivial amount of time. Is my new favourite statement. It's obvious why you said it. You gave me understanding. Thank you.

[@qzwqsy]

Thanks!

[@peterblake8318]

This video is great for me, a beginner. Thanks.

[@quintrankid8045]

I think we all deserve a review of back scratching tools. Not having a machine shop I use a triangular architect's (or engineer's) scale. Thanks for the video.

[@TonberryV]

This video and the video This Old Tony did on carbide in the home shop are excellent help for beginners. Love how accessible you keep the information without it getting dry.

[@nicolaspillot5789]

Superb timing. I just bought a 13x24 lathe, and i bought some carbide tooling just because i did not want to learn all the HSS and grindings and shapes at the same time i learn to use a lathe. Now i have no excuses, and i can get some hss bars ! thanks, once again, you rock !

[@kaasmeester5903]

As someone who is about to pull the trigger on buying a lathe and getting into machining with zero vocational training, this video is a great help. Thanks for this. 😊

[@kenknight4560]

I wish I had seen this video years ago as I taught myself to be a 1950's machinist to support my car hobby. Very well done and informative.

[@haroldgreenwood-l8r]

well done....as a 60 year retired tool maker I much enjoy your channel ......hope you keep at it....best of luck...

[@someoneelse2106]

You are for sure one of my favorite people. I seriously appreciate your humanity, strength, and humility. I really wish there were more people who had those attributes where I live. Thank you so much.

[@pluckygirl9242]

New to metal working and a friend sent me this video. Thank you this was a great over view and very help in getting my feet wet with all this. Love the Chanel.

[@crabmansteve6844]

And the greatest geometry ever put on a lathe tool post is the circle. Carbide button inserts make me stupid happy, one of the most satisfying cutters ever.

[@smartbull6382]

This video is absolutely amazing! I picked up an interest in hobby machining because of KZbinrs like you, Abom97, Inheritance Machining, and others. Bought an old lathe at an auction that had about a thousand different tool bits and no idea what they were all for. Thank you for explaining the uses and applications for the different angles

[@rajsastrophotography]

I just bought my tormach lathe yesterday and I was overwhelmed by the amount of cutter I got. This video helped me a lot. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us. 👏

[@shwasimoto1]

Just bought my first HSS turning tool grab bag and this video was sooo helpful in figuring out what I can use them for

[@Guido_XL]

This is exactly the kind of instruction that I sought as a lathe-beginner. I have been watching others using a lathe many times, but I hardly ever have spent time doing it myself. Now, I decided to use a lathe for my hobbies at home. I bought a Proxxon PD250/E mini-lathe. German quality, condensed into a small piece of equipment that doesn't look like much at first, but will most probably do the job quite well. Of course, I also bought a set of lathe cutters with it, but, I couldn't discern as how to put them to use without instruction, although I witnessed this many times before. I guess there's much truth in the saying that you only really learn a trade by actually doing it yourself.

[@6Sally5]

As I write this, I am awaiting delivery of my first metal lathe. I have been binging on most of your lathe videos, but this one is the best. Thanks Quinn! I’m gonna toss a couple $ your way as a patreon member…something I have only done for one other YT channel, and that is a knifemaker channel. I’ve learned so much from you!

[@johnapel2856]

Neat! Now I get to play "What is this thing for" the home version. Thanks, and Meow to Sprocket.

[@hw8621]

Blondi, you're so funny! Our metal shop instructor in high school was sooooo boooring that 98% of the class didn't know what we were doing nor why. However there was enough exposure to this great skill for some of us at least to remember it years later. We didn't learn much but now watching your tutorials and examples I am able to finally get it. Thank you so much teacher!

[@gabrielgeorgeian6477]

Excellent knowledge, It is a shame the industry has been dead for at least 60 years when every thing was imported from out side machine done and ship it. After Regan the machine shop died. I am one of thousands who raised a family with this trade (who to blame)? I hope when I die I go to machine shops in haven. And we where proud to be a machinist tool and die maker. THank you for your spirit to bring beautiful memories.

[@Gronicle1]

Another great video. You are a very good teacher. I send you videos to friends who are on the learning curve. Thanks.

[@tomnielsen3661]

This was great, when I got my lathe I got 2 lathes and did not really know it. The man had extra parts for everything and then I also purchased a machiest tool box with tools and I had now idea what half the stuff was for. So now I can go thru it and pull out what are cutting tools. I my still not know how to use them, but it is all a learning curve.

[@SalmoTrutti]

This is very timely- I've just got my lathe up and running and am in the process of figuring some of this out. Thanks Quinn!

[@kevinpulver4027]

I've got a few hours in operating lathes, but I basically know nothing about them. This is very basic foundational stuff that I need a lot- thank you!

[@timsatchell6713]

As a pensioner that just bought his first (mini) lathe,this was a brilliant video. Thank you.

[@BrandonBone18]

She said "Skookum" I knew i liked this channel.

[@tacticalrabbit308]

If you watch CEE cutting edge engineering out of Australia they use those round carbide bits to make plunge cuts to part pieces on hydraulic cylinders and leaves a surface ready for welding later.

[@Paul-FrancisB]

​@@TitoRigatoniexactly just the topslide on Curtis's lathe is about the same as Quinn's whole lathe bed 😁

[@brapbrapmafucka]

Big round ones are strong for horrible gnarly weldcutting and interrupted cuts

[@raybalaster8024]

Clears up a lot. Thanks for this!

[@randyvilleneuve4907]

I inherited my Uncles machine tools, some good and some not so good. The small lathe is an old Craftsman 109-21270 with variable speed motor. The machinist box with the lath tools looks like what you dumped on the bench. Not the most accurate lathe but I use it almost one a week to make tools or modify something. Comes in handy.

[@jfischer507]

Lol my dog LOVES it when I scratch her back in juuuuust the right spot with high speed steel lathe tools. When I'm feeling fancy, she can have the carbide :)

[@eqlibrium854]

Wanna be machinist in my dreams. I learn so much fom this channel. Thank you Quin (sorry if I misspelled) you are awesome. 💚

[@andrewgould8924]

Love it. I'm going to start playing with all the tools the old guys who retired left.

[@BretMTx]

Great video and most helpful. I'm a gunsmith not a machinist but I use my small lathe to turn barrels from barrel blanks and modifying factory barrels. Getting a nice finish when turning a barrel from a blank is so helpful. And bumping a shoulder back to get the front sight indexed properly is common and requires getting into a tight space. Thank you for explaining the tools to do those jobs.

[@andylsun]

Thanks! That was a great video and useful for me. My local used tool shop has bins of small used lathe tools I sort through and now I have a better idea what to grab for what purpose.

[@timallen6025]

About as good as it gets . Clear, memorable and ahem corrects a few misnomers to me too! Thank you

[@miguelgarza6246]

thank you, great video. I was so lost on what tool does what.

[@slffan2580]

Thank you for your videos, they are great for me as a beginner at the age of 52 I've always loved lathe work but now I am about to buy my first lathe, a myford ml7 from a friend. Really looking forward to making my first project, maybe a hammer 😁👍

[@general5104]

Thanks Quinn. I remember, when I was a young teen, (about 16), I was going to a Tech Trade School, (night school, while I was going to a different high school), where the old instructor, (Joe Fraiser) showed us how to grind a 3/8 x 3/8 square high speed tool steel bit to a 1/2" deep gouging tool with a 1/8" wide snout and a perfect radius on the end, to cut to the left and at the end to cut a BALL & Groove that would go inside a thimble cap on the end of our Screw-Jack. Tgen how to turn the radius inside the cap and then close the thin edge around tge ball with a brass bar an inch high and 1/2" thick. I can still see him do this Wah-La thing with his hand and he stuck his thumbnail into his forehead and scared himself. That brass pushed against the turning cap, rolled it closed so it wouldn't come off the ball. It was our SENIOR project. 3 levels high with threads turned on each level and knurled. He used a big 8" old fashioned bench vice to squeeze the bar handle on each end so it wouldn't come out. That was over 50 years ago! I still have that tool. I keep it lubricated. I made a similar one in tech school, after I graduated from high school, but it wasnt near as fancy. It was just a bell base with a short neck and a fine'thread 1/2"-28 screw and the closed ball cap. one of the projects in the Machine Shop class. I took tool & die, too. I worked in Job Shops till I changed carriers and went to Electrician when I got a real good job offered to me. Better pay and benefits and a pension...nothing like that was offered as a machinist. THANKS QUINN, for your work and explaination.

[@Liriq]

OMG, same! I too am super particular about the geometry and angles of my back scratchers. Pricey, but soooooo worth it

[@cjy290]

I have dived into the world of grinding my own HSS tools thanks to you. Even got my group lead into your videos amd we got the engineer's black book which i used as a guide for all my angles... despite being shat on by a bunch of old guys my surface finish is unbeatable and i dont need multiple zero passes anymore. But right when I get overwhelmed by all the shapes i been shown by old guys you drop this video so now im not as lost

[@nicholasmcneely245]

Thank you for discussing tool post angle! As a beginner, I hadn't been able to find any resources that talked about setting that angle. I was mostly on the right track, but it was helpful to have someone demonstrate it!

[@nbuligan]

The goofy song in this video is straight fire! Love it!

[@bertyjustice4424]

When I went over to using quick change holders and insert lathe tools it was heaven to not have to keep adjusting the tool height. Am I right in thinking that when using HSS you have to set the tool height again after every sharpen? Great video by the way

[@stephenjohnson6841]

Another great video Quinn! You do such an awesome job of explaining things without making the viewer seem dull. Thank you once again!

[@rhavrane]

Bonjour Queen, As an amateur user of a Unimat 3 lathe who is learning on the job for brass and bronze, I find this video very informative, thank you! Amicalement, Raphaël

[@FloatingCoder]

Thank you! I learned a lot from this video! I hadn't realized how important it was to have the cutting edge of the turning tool square to the work. Thanks for all the great information in this and all your videos!

[@jaysnively1489]

Thanks for the information. You answered questions I didn't know to ask. Love your channel!

[@chektay888]

Excellent clear narration, no wasted words, thank you very much

[@dcee2899]

I am an absolute beginner with a small lathe, so this video is going to be really useful information. Thanks.

[@strange_mood]

Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom! This kind of video is invaluable for armchair machinists like me to get a good feel for the way one would tackle typical operations on hobby machines.

[@somethingelse4424]

I spent hours trying to grind my first HSS tools with no guidance, and thought for sure I must have bought a junk lathe 😂. Now I feel ready to go out to the garage and try again. I'm amazed how far I made it at work as lathe operator. 5 years of throwing carbide tools into the CNC and then failing so miserably trying to take .01" depth of cut on my own manual lathe with my own HSS tool. The most shameful part is that my job title is "tool maker". I've never felt like such a fraud.

[@MrCubflyer]

Thanks Im just starting out with Lathe work and I find the shapes confusing as to what I should be using now I have a better idea.

[@andrewdolinskiatcarpathian]

Excellent overview. It would be interesting if you followed this with a look at the “tangential” tool which is the ultimate “all in one” HSS tool. 👍👏👏😀

[@firebird8600]

Yay!! It's Blondihacks time!!

[@TyrellKnifeworks]

Incredibly helpful video, thanks!

[@jayminor9757]

Hey Quinn! Great video, Thanks. I am a long time, amateur machinist and have pretty much, but not totally, figured out turning tools and the grinding and selecting there of. That said, your summary here is excellent and I’ve picked up tips and gotten explanations as to why things work, or don’t. It was a half hour well spent. Let me add, Also, that your instructional capabilities are stellar.

[@jackholton3070]

Your combination of excellent explanations and clear, detailed images is really great. Thank you, this is really valuable.

[@finalcut67]

Thank you Quinn, very informative for a beginner like me 🙂Love your vid's!

[@salceti]

By far the best explanation of lathe cutting tools I have seen EVER, thank you for that, youbdemonstrate clearly the angles and faces and reasons for the way they work

[@VoidedWarranty]

People may have noticed that a turning tool works better as a facing tool when withdrawing it instead of pushing it in, and you showed why, with the angles. When there's a hole in the part you can often get away just by reversing the direction of feed when you're facing while leaving your tool post square. Lighter cuts though.

[@hersch_tool]

The default direction of the cross slide power feed on old machines, like south bends and their contemporaries, is from in to out as well. I imagine that these 2 things are related. :) For example, when your lead screw direction is set to progress the longitudinal power feed towards the chuck, the cross power feed will progress towards the operator. Back when these machines were made, I reckon it was a significant time saver to NOT have to change a tool in a lantern tool post. It's the opposite on newer machines, I guess the advent of quick change and turret style tool holders made it easy enough to change tools that it made sense to change this behavior in newer lathes as well.

[@jessicav2031]

Thank you! This is the explanation I needed. I have watched others before but, uh, I still burn up tools trying to use them wrong because I found it confusing. No, that box is definitely not full of carbide inserts that were chipped off on the first use. It was intentional. It's art.

[@EIGYRO]

Thank you. Very clear and easily absorbed. Answered a lot of my questions.

[@plunder1956]

Like anyone with a lathe and LOTS of lathe tools in a rack behind it, I loved your back scratching joke.

[@rjay1674]

Thanks for doing this episode. It really helped me understand what I am looking at on my new lathe.

[@cjy290]

Also a good video suggestion for the lathe skills series is indicating the tailstock... i just recently got educated on it by an older coworker and figured out why things seemed off center that our shop makes on the lathes

[@LaraCroftCP]

Hi Quinn👋, You forgot one of our favourite Tools, the Diamond-Tool-Holder! LG Lara P.S. Great Video!

[@wayneswonderarium]

That short one may have gone in a bar that can hold bits at 90° - and been used for internal threading

[@caesar2164]

I was thinking that too, double ended so the bar could be both for boring and threading.

[@davidb8872]

I would like to see how you grind these tools and get the correct angles, currently I only use inserts. As always great tutorial 👍

[@Anderzander]

Great video. I’m going to need to watch it more than once … and then start going through about 50 high speed tools I’ve inherited..

[@diamondbill3070]

Thank you so much and I'm glad I have come across your channel. So informative.

[@ThisMFINGuy]

This whole time ,2years been watching you, and thought I had been subscribed !😜thank u for being u!

[@bradleywalsh4103]

love the breakdown on tooling. I've been watching various channels on milling and machining and while they've been a wealth of knowledge, they never touched on the basics which was a little frustrating. will definitely be binge watching your content lol... subscribed and shared 👍cheers from Toronto ON CA

[@LoneEagle2061]

Special mention on the grooving tools for trepanning tools. Also no mention of your brilliant HSS tool holder? One other type to be aware of are the shear tools. They’re uncommon, and not ideal on small, low powered lathes; but they’re potentially very valuable for those scrap bin mystery materials as they can achieve good finishes on materials prone to tearing or galling.

[@VoidedWarranty]

If you haven't tried cbn in the home shop, give it a shot. I keep a few around for finishing on stuff especially hard tough or angry things. Extremely low to pressure and very light cuts are possible. Amazing finishes with a .001 or .004 depth of cut with a .001 turn per rev. Bridges the gap between carbide that needs some pressure and a very sharp hss tool that won't cut that bearing shaft. But also on softer things, I can get the rpm up on a big part and not turn my life away doing a finishing cut. Low tool pressure for that finishing cut means basically no taper too!

[@VoidedWarranty]

They don't like impact or vibration so I basically keep them for finishing or saving a piece where with carbide I'd need to take 2 thou or so and still maintain finish.

[@christophersanchez2698]

I prefer grinding my own tools, preferably brazed on carbide. I’ll add a “groove” similar to the grizzly one, which is a chip breaker. Perfect for roughing in parts. I’ll either finish with an insert style tool or with the same depending on the work and and with the goal of a nice finish and no chatter. Speed and feed is Extremely important as well! Great vid!

[@JeffreyMeyer-yk9ed]

Yep, you nail it. 1 minute 20 seconds into the video.🙂

[@benkeller3]

Well done Quinn! I like ours inherited a bunch of strange tools that you helped me maybe figure out.

[@braddr1]

Another good use for random bits of used hss is as a blank for a new tool. Lop off the end or otherwise impose whatever geometry new you want it to have.

[@Umski]

Thank you! I knew about 3 of these from my school days - the lathe I acquired had handmade tools that the previous owner had cut so I've never been quite sure what suits what 😬

[@AlHasenfratz]

Learned a bunch from that one, thank you. Most of those accumulated oddball cutters now have a category ! The remainder are apparently back scratchers. Who knew?....Al

[@Bkgoodman11]

I have been searching for a video on this EXACT subject! Thanks!!!

[@paulasklund5474]

For a short video, you covered a lot of knowledge, Thank You 😊

[@MarkRobinson555]

Thank you very much for a very informative, helpful and well explained video

[@michaelclark7536]

Thank you love your vids I am consuming them all one at a time great work. Hear your up,here in Canada good work have fun keep up the amazing teaching that you are doing

[@gregorythomas333]

Damn...I learnt me somethin' today...this is an excellent trove of information...thank you Quinn!

[@mrrberger]

HHS and Carbide aint cheap, especially when learning. My toolroom Foreman, took me to the welding bay and showed me electrode hardfacing. At 65HRC off the welder, Hardfacing is tougher than HSS so a lot of tip crashes and blunders later I became accustomed to Hardface tooling. I still hardface my tooling today and find myself batch welding and regrinding, alot faster than putting a new grind on new barstock.

[@Grappa96]

More informative than in my machining class!

[@RemarkXer]

I'm sitting here, listening to you while looking at my aquarium, thinking how wrong you are, but then I noticed that all the edges of the glass are chamfered so I will never doubt you again :)