Import Aloris-type Quick-change Toolpost Teardown

A Chinese-made Aloris-style toolpost for the lathe is disassembled and modified to improve functionality.

[@aloristooltech]

Thank you Mike Levy for using our products. We invite you to visit us again and discover new products that we have available for you to continue developing new ideas.

[@PiefacePete46]

Excellent, clear, and useful video for anyone contemplating purchasing this or similar toolpost. For those who have already bought one, this could well show you how to get the best out of it. Many thanks.

[@mikelevyonline]

Thanks for taking the time to comment.

[@KW-ei3pi]

Thanks. Good info on fixes. I was a bit shocked at your problems, as I purchased the larger BXA version five years ago, and found it to be a very good quality unit, with no problems. I'm sure it is the well known quality control issue, or rather the lack there of. All I have done is replace the nut on top with a handle. Regards.

[@aceroadholder2185]

Chinese mainland tools and tooling aimed at us poor folks at the bottom of the machining food chain is often in the end a "kit" from which you can make usable with some modification or reworking. Like you say, in a professional setting this stuff is no bargain. Time wasted fixing tooling is time that isn't being used to make salable parts or products. So there is the reason an Aloris QC tool holder costs as much as it does. I have a Chinese QC holder that is the cam type on my 12" lathe. It works well enough on a small bench lathe, but probably not as repeatable as the wedge type when changing tool holders back and forth. I can't bash it too much as it was given to me and has given good service for some years now. Cheers from NC

[@mikelevyonline]

So true.

[@davidwillard7334]

What do you mean !? By can't bash it to much !?

[@vadimtrochinsky2078]

Thanks for the video! Just like the other commenter, I had that bloody spigot on my lathe and was considering options. I thought about just adding a circular shim, or modifying the toolpost. I ended up just grinding the annoying thing off, since thanks to this video I found that part of the toolpost has threads, and with a shim tools end up too high. For anybody interested in doing the same I just used a dremel and it was surprisingly easy. Used one of the thick wheels for it.

[@watahyahknow]

about the shims put on the central shaft : you could've first make a pipe the right ineer diameter , place it on the central shaft and then turn the outside diameter doing it that way you have enough wallthickness to press the part on would've meant using youre normal shimstock style toolpost for part of the conversion as the quickshange would be in pieces have to say you solved the problem with simple solutions , might have to lo ok intoo my chineese quick change toolpost

[@RizwanShaikh-hs6gt]

Thank you for sharing your experience sir God bless you

[@mikelevyonline]

Thanks for stopping by. If you purchase one of these I hope you get a better sample than I did.

[@AlphaBobFloridaOverlord]

Very helpful! Good explanation and creative modifications!

[@carlkulyk366]

Very useful information. Thank you

[@philipwolf3619]

Excellent explanation !! THANKS !$

[@ImWolf69]

Thank you sir for this video... which answered several Q's regarding this QCTP. Long story short, after viewing your disassembly and the associated issues with this tool which I was considering buying, I will no longer be interested in Bostar junk.

[@mikelevyonline]

Glad you found the review informative.

[@hughgaynor4320]

I was glad to see your video as it showed in detail how these tool posts are constructed. I am planning to buy a cheap QCTP however I need to bore out the base of the tool post holder to fit a (stupid) spigot on my lathe. I have seen this successfully done on the piston style tool post but would prefer the action of the wedge style. So I was wondering if the boring modification could be done with the wedge style. Your video confirms it would not work with the construction of the wedge style tool post as the threaded section at the base of the tool post would be removed by the boring operation. The alternative would be to remove the spigot however I would rather not modify the lathe in this way. Thank you Hugh

[@mikelevyonline]

Thanks for commenting. Perhaps it would it be possible to just turn down the spigot to fit the toolpost.

[@williamhoward7121]

Nice video and breakdown, thanks

[@douglashank8480]

Thank you sir, for the excellent video! I received this exact same tool post for Christmas but haven't installed it yet. Thanks to you, I'm going to give mine a thorough inspection and fix whatever deficiencies I find. You've earned a new subscriber. 😊 I'm paraphrasing here, but I've heard another You-Tube machinist, Stefan Gotteswinter, quoted as saying that any cheap Chinese import tooling that you buy should be treated as a kit from which you can make a decent finished product. Your experience seems to fit that description to a tee! I've also heard it said that, in machining, there may be several right solutions for a given problem, and I wonder if a thin piece of shim stock - maybe sheet brass, or even Teflon? - might be rolled around the inner piece and trimmed so that the two ends are just short of touching? It wouldn't form a complete ring(s) like yours does but finding a usable bit of sheet material might be easier - though less elegant - than making precisely machined rings. ...or that might not work at all, and I should make my own video instead! 😩 Thank you again, Doug

[@mikelevyonline]

Thanks. Yes, a piece of shim stock of the appropriate thickness should work.

[@user-qc4tl7lc6u]

MikeThe AXA type is not in the class as the BXA from Bostar.. Well it might have improved since your comments. But my BXA is excellent quality .... including the tool holders...

[@melgross]

Very inexpensive tooling can be very variable. One way the save money is to allow standards to be lax. They’re good enough to work, but no more. The old “you get what you pay for” is usually true. I always tell people to think carefully about what they’re willing to give up as they go down in price. Some of the problems can be resolved by a good cleaning and adjustment, where possible. Other times some of the problems can be partly resolved as we see done here. Poor hardening and tempering is rarely resolvable, and will lead to more rapid wear.

[@mikelevyonline]

So true…

[@cave-works]

Thanks fir sharing

[@sergel8790]

Just returned mine. Thought it's defective, as the wedge thread wasn't machined and the wedge was touching the compound at the locked position. Kind of sad as everything else was fine. Bought a used Aloris BXA with 3 tool holders for a little bit more ($250). No play at all and the wedge is more than 1/8" off at the locked position.

[@mikelevyonline]

Sounds like you made the right decision. Thanks for commenting.

[@gangleweed]

You could have just ground a bit off the bottom of each wedge without harming the function of the action......the wedge(s) has to come down to grip the dovetail but must have clearance at the bottom when fully locked on a tool holder.

[@davidwillard7334]

You should !. HAVE ! GOT ! RID !! OF !! YOUR !! LATHE !! TOO !!

[@kenjesse5442]

Nice video of quick easy fixes for import quality tooling that more often as not is part and parcel in our home shops. Of additional interest to me (I also have a Rockwell 11" Lathe); Is this your 11" Rockwell in the video and if so that is a very interesting modification of the cross slide that I would be interested in seeing more info about. A few more videos and 30 minutes later... disregard the Rockwell question that isn't your Rockwell in this video. Subscribed and looking forward to more videos and I for one appreciate the style.

[@mikelevyonline]

Thanks for taking the time to comment. You're right--it's not a Rockwell 11" lathe that is shown in this video, it's my Colchester Chipmaster.

[@gregorydahlen2103]

5-12-2020 Thank you for this very informative video. I just bought this identical AXA Bostar toolpost. Possibly the Chinese manufacturer viewed your post because the handle on my unit is pristine and there is no excess play on the top collar. I can not yet comment on the variability of lockdown location or feel using the two positions as I have not yet mounted the device my South Bend Heavy 10 lathe.

[@mikelevyonline]

Thanks for the feedback. Looks like you received a better sample than I did.

[@stevethompson8504]

It would be interesting to attempt to produce one of these .but I can't quite tell if the slot that accepts the moving wedge is skewed to match the wedge angle or not , though I suspect it would likely have to be .and I can see that the teeth behind the wedge are thicker on one edge than the other .so it would appear that the threaded plate area of the wedges are actualy at an angle relative to the main housing that they slide into . Am I right please?

[@usethenoodle]

Thanks Michael! Good job on your video. I too bought the same tool post in the last month. I adapted it to my new Grizzly G0752Z 10X22" lathe. Mine is a little different. It has the same label and was an Ebay deal. The thing that bugs me is the clocking of my handle is such that it can interfere with the placement of a tool holder on the side facing the work piece. It has to be in just the right position to put the tool holder on. Not a big deal but I noticed it isn't an issue on yours. Do you think I can take it apart and re-clock the handle to a more neutral position such as yours perhaps by how the internal "lead screw" interfaces with the stem of the handle???? Just a thought. Also, mine came with a center stud with a nut for a 22mm wrench rather than the bolt yours has. I do like the thumb style lock nuts you have on your tool holders. Did you make those? I have hex lock nuts on my holders and I think the knurled thumb nuts you have would be more convenient as you don't have to use a wrench to loosen or re-tighten them. Here is the video I made for my channel regarding my QCTP conversion. kzbin.info/www/bejne/sHnCao15gs6empI

[@mikelevyonline]

It's a little hard to tell from the camera angle in your video, but it looks to me like your tool post handle locks up in about the right position, so I'm not sure I understand the problem. The knurled lock nuts on my tool holders were turned from the original hex nuts that came with the holders.

[@lennoxridge1609]

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[@lincolnamari3486]

@Lennox Ridge Instablaster =)

[@lennoxridge1609]

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[@lennoxridge1609]

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[@nilzlima3027]

i wish is had found this video before i made the mistake of buying that very one.

[@jimturner9697]

It’s loose because the teeth are only catching on the outside corners.not making full contact

[@mtn.srlrascu6675]

Also depends of the tool holder how much down or hi is it

[@whjerts]

The bolt holding the tool holder does not look original. There is usually a threaded center shaft with a nut on the top. I would guess the mounting bolt was bottoming out.

[@mikelevyonline]

Good observation but no, the bolt does not bottom out.

[@tcibutler]

Isn't the difference in handle location you're experiencing a direct result of the thread position being that the wedges are positioned 180 degrees out? Being that it's a double start thread I'm just curious if the wedges are being started on opposing pitches to make the wedge position symetrical. The proper way to eliminate this difference would be to have the wedge threads indexed to compensate like the jaws are in a 3-jaw chuck on a single start thread. This would keep the 2 wedges always at the same height regardless of handle position.

[@mikelevyonline]

Interesting thought, but the problem here is one of sloppy manufacturing.

[@watahyahknow]

@@mikelevyonline since the double tread is 180 degrees apart and the wedges are not they should be cut slightly different from eachother to clamp with the same amount of turning wonder how you could make those wedges from bar stock....... thinking about putting a flycutter in the head of the lathe with the tip ground in the trapezium needed for the wedge and clamp the piece that needs to become the wedge intoo the toolpost calculate the radius needed and set the machine to cut the tread in the propper pitch and carefully set the piece on the toolpost closer and closer intoo the flycutter untill you reached the correct radius , might need to set the treading in reverse than you have the teeth in the rear but still need to machine the rest of the wedge (oh joy) if you make it taller then you need it to be you can probable set it the way you want it before machining the top and bottom to fit the toolpost itself need to file the last few 10ths of the wedgeface itself to size by hand to get it exact

[@robertbutler8004]

You get what you pay for!!!

[@peterzwart2830]

You should not compare apples with pears. I have an American axa tool post holder (brand Phase II) and several chisel holders from China and I had to adjust two of them with a dovetail cutter. But why pay the top prize as the hobbiest, so rather 10 toolpost from China instead of 5 from America for the same money

[@davidwillard7334]

But PEOPLE !! DO !! COMPARE !! THAT !!

[@davidwillard7334]

THE !! LATHE !! LOOKS !! QUITE !! READY !!! TO !! BE !! DONATED !! TO !! CHARITY !!! NOW !!!

[@brucebelvin2058]

Bostar is one of the worst Chinese QCTPs. Hess is much much better.