QUICK CHANGE TOOL POST 6 12 SWING

Works well, decent quality. Adapted it to my clausing 10" lathe. 9/16-18 thread tap was difficult to find for t -slot fabrication I had to borrow one as they are not readily available. Makes my lathe much more fun to use and quicker projects.

SHOULD HAVE MADE THIS MY FIRST UPGRADE TO MY LATHE

Notwithstanding my prior comments on the installation of the QCTP, it is a joy to use once you get it installed and sitting solid. The parts are good quality. Changing tools and tool holders is simple and quick using the allen keys that comes in the packaging. The parting tool comes with a blade, which was an unexpected bonus. The tool holders hold the tools solidly. It is easy to set the tool height and it stays where you put it. If you have been using a lantern tool post, you won’t believe the difference. I should have bought one decades ago.

I bought this QCTP for my 9” Southbend. It has one major design flaw and one serious manufacturing defect. Both have workarounds, but at this price you shouldn’t need workarounds. Once you get it installed, it is a game changer. The design flaw is the use of 9/16” -18 NF thread on the tool post stud. This creates 2 problems. First, the T nut supplied is 2 ¼” by 2 ¼” by ½”. If you need to make a new one, as I did, you can’t buy a 9/16” –18 NF tap. You can try, but you can’t actually get one delivered. Busy Bee does not sell them, nor do Princess Auto, Canadian Tire, or any of the big box hardware stores. Amazon says they do, but all of my ordering attempts were cancelled as “no stock”. I even tried our local industrial supply store. They had never sold one and could not find a vendor able to supply one, unless I was willing to pay for a custom cut tap. The work around is to use a ¼ NPT tap and a serious pipe wrench. The ¼ NPT thread form is “close” to 9/16” – 18, but only if you have a serious pipe wrench. They are never coming apart. The second problem it causes is that the top thread on the stud is also 9/16” –18, and the retaining device that secures the tool post is a nut. If you want to change the cutting angle of the tool, you have to dig out your wrench, loosen the nut, rotate the tool post, tighten the nut, and put your wrench back. If you want to make a cap with a handle, you need a 9/16” –18 tap, again. This problem could have been avoided by using either a 9/16 – 12 NC thread or a 14 mm thread profile. A simple change that would vastly improve functionality of the tool. I thought about making a new stud, but it needs to be hardened steel to keep everything firmly in place. The manufacturing flaw is that the bottom surface of the tool post is not flat. I thought originally that is was just my cross-slide and, yes, it was worn from years of using a lantern tool post, but after hours spent truing it on a granite surface plate I discovered the base of the tool post is also not flat. That wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t so hard. I ended up using some aluminium facia / soffit as a shim between the tool post and the cross-slide. The aluminium crushes down to take up the unevenness.

Performs as expected. Shipped quickly and well packaged from Accusize to my house.

plus que satisfait et s'installe facilement avec peu de modifications