Advanced Tool Sharpening for the Lathe

with Special emphasis on

Threading Tools

Many people create HSS lathe tools using nothing more than a bench grinder and get
perfectly acceptable, if not downright excellent, results. For most normal sized projects
with moderate tolerances that may be all you'll ever need. As tolerances get tighter, or
improved surface finishes are required for decreasing part sizes, better tools are
needed. You can't shave tenths and simultaneously get a great finish with a dull tool.

My goal is to show you some practical techniques that can quickly be applied to improve
the edge quality of your tools. The techniques are neither authoritative or backed up
with extensive research. They are simply things I've picked up over a good number of
years building close tolerance assemblies, scientific instruments, plus reading and
watching how other machinists, some having far more knowledge and experience than I
do, make things. With some thought you may well build on, and improve, the ideas
covered here.

It should be mentioned that my focus is exclusively on generating extremely sharp

edges and you can't blindly apply that type of tooling to every situation. Razor sharp
edges are exactly what you don't want in most high speed production situations with
stainless steel and other alloys. This tooling isn't for roughing or for cleaning the scale
off mill finish steel. These edges won't have the durability needed for volume production.

So when do you need these tools?

 When there's a need to control size at the tenth level or below.

 When taper is a problem with unsupported stock and you can't use a center.
 When stock tends to work harden during cutting.
 When making adjustment screws of any pitch where smoothness and fit is
important.
 When making fine threads in excess of 40 TPI.
 When making threads where low friction is important.

Tool angles are well covered in many places, from Southbend's How to Run a Lathe, to
the web, to Machinery's Handbook, so I won't spend time on finding the perfect rake
angle for cutting 6061 aluminum. Information on how to achieve maximum sharpness of
cutting edges is a lot harder to come by, and that's the real topic of this page. I have to
add that we all seem to have absorbed a lot of erroneous folklore concerning
sharpness, starting back when a well meaning friend or relative showed us how to
sharpen that first pocket knife. A conversation about carbide tooling is also in order, as
its an option with many strengths and pitfalls, especially for the home machinist.

The exact details of what happens when we "cut" metal is also outside the scope of this
page, but the reader is encouraged to do some additional research. Start with the
search term "mechanics of metal cutting". If you look at the cutting action of the typical
lathe tool, you'll see that the actual cutting takes place along a line, and usually a very
short one at that. The line may be bent and have a radius, but as long as sufficient relief
is present, what happens 25 thou away from that line is irrelevant to the process. Thus,
when we talk about tool angles, it's the angle right at the cutting edge that's important.
Everything I present below is an attempt to control the geometry in that tiny area of the
tool where cutting takes place.

You Can't Get a Good Edge Sharpening Freehand

It only takes a single pass on a stone, or a millisecond at the grinder, at the wrong
angle, to destroy the geometry of the cutting edge. There is no way to sharpen freehand
and get a quality edge. You have to use some kind of guide system. I can already hear
the Crusty Old Machinists calling me an idiot and making all sorts of claims about how
they can shave with their freehand sharpened tools. The fact is, they can. Why? They
cheat. They use a guide system, whether they realize it or not.

Crusty Old Machinists

The neophyte often rocks his tool all over the grinding wheel due to lack of skill and
practice. The Crusty Old Machinist may do the same thing, but only to increase the
metal removal rate when roughing things out. After that, he usually keeps the entire face
of the tool in intimate contact with the wheel. You'll see only a hollow ground area with a
single radius on his tools. As the he brings the tool to the wheel, and especially when he
removes it, he's careful not to grind on the cutting edge. Thus, even though he may not
realize it, the cutting edge is being protected by the inherent guide system of the curved
tool face riding against the curved grinding wheel. It's not perfect, but it's a technique
you should master because it leads to the next step of refinement.

Here's about what a tool should look like coming off the grinder. You would also want
some top rake and maybe a chip breaker for most applications, but note the clean and
slightly curved faces. This was ground on an ordinary 8" off-hand grinder using no rests
at all. The main (side) cutting edge is the one facing you, though the tool will also cut
very well the other way, if the depth of cut (DOC) is small.
Refining the Edge the Old Fashioned Way

If you've done the rough grind correctly, several things will have been accomplished.
First, the cutting edge will be quite sharp, usable for many things as is. Second there
will be considerable relief angle under the edge because the angle is greater than the
average angle of the curved grind. Third, and very important, there will be a well defined
edge on the lower side of the tool. That edge is the simple guide system that will
prevent damage as the cutting edge is stoned to perfection.

As long as that lower edge of the tool remains in contact with the stone, you can avoid
the errant stroke that creates a new facet on the cutting edge. Lift off that lower edge
and in a single swipe across the stone you create a small facet at the wrong angle that
requires a huge amount of corrective stoning to remove. The lower edge also
determines the relief angle that will be produced, so pay attention during grinding to be
sure the overall shape is correct.

Think in terms of facets, just like those cut on a diamond. When they catch the light they
should look like perfect planes, with no rounding near the edges. Some people sharpen
tools using silicon carbide paper. Though it can be effective to a point, it invariably
rounds the edges, blunting the tool and causing rubbing just below the actual cutting
edge. In profile this looks just like a worn tool. Even though the overall relief angle might
be 8°, it's the almost microscopic angle at the edge that matters. Understand that at
some level of magnification the edge will always look dull, and the relief angle non-
existent, so a certain amount of judgement is required to match the edge to the
application. When the cutting edge rubs you need extra pressure to make it cut. A
correctly formed edge will cut nearly on contact, dusting off as much or as little material
as you need.

Suitable abrasive tools for refining the edge include hard Arkansas stones, synthetic oil
stones, the harder Japanese water stones (rarely used for metal cutting tools) and the
various plastic lapping films. Do not use pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) backed
lapping films as the compliance of the adhesive will cause rounding at the tool edge.
You can keep plain films from sliding by putting a drop of water on the back. Use the
films with a heavy sheet of glass or a surface plate. Lapping films are available with
almost every known abrasive. Diamond is suitable for carbide and works acceptably
with HSS, in spite of general advice not to use diamond with ferrous metals. Aluminum
oxide is less expensive and works well for HSS. 12 micron is a good general purpose
grade. 9 micron is probably as fine as is really needed. For coarser work the commonly
available plated diamond hones are quite good and very durable. Be sure to get a solid
one, as the ones with perforations tend to catch the tool tip.

Here's that same tool above, hand stoned with a small medium Arkansas, and then a
fine black one, using both edges as the guide system. By always keeping both edges in
contact with the stone, rounding of the cutting edge is avoided. A smooth radius has
also been stoned in between the faces. Remember, the quality of that radius will
determine how good a surface finish you can get. Sometimes people will keep
increasing the radius, trying to improve the surface finish, when they really just need a
high quality cutting edge on the radius they've already got. A large radius will increase
the tendency to chatter. A small radius, like this one, needs to be fed very slowly, but
also won't deflect small stock. The relief angle under the cutting edge is 6° (aka the end
relief angle) and the front edge angles away the tip at 15° (aka the end cutting edge
angle).
Don't Forget the Other Face of the Tool

The top surface of the tool is often ignored, but it's as important as the faces. If the top
surface is rough, no amount of stoning on the other faces will give a clean cutting edge.
The grinding marks on the top will extend through the cutting edge, degrading the
surface finish of the work being turned. They will also reduce the durability of the cutting
edge. If you grind rake into the top surface, follow the same procedure as above and
stone it smooth. If you leave the top of the tool flat, it's still good practice to stone it. I
speed things up by placing a thin piece of tape on the rear of the tool. This gives a tiny
amount of negative rake, but allows the tip to be quickly improved without having to
remove a lot of metal.
Modern shop practice tends towards zero or even negative rake tools, but these are
rarely suited to the home shop. Positive rake will make your tools free cutting, reducing
deflection and power requirements. With steel you can use 10-20 degrees, but never try
to use a tool ground for steel on brass; it will grab and possibly rip the stock from the
chuck or damage the lathe itself. Consult the various references for the correct angles
to use with different materials. Sharp tools with the correct angles can make all the
difference between a job going smoothly or being nothing but trouble.

Grinding lines should always be perpendicular to the cutting edge. If the lines are
parallel to the edge, the edge will be more fragile. As an example, drill sharpening
fixtures are usually shown set up on the horizontal centerline of the wheel, making the
grinding lines parallel to the cutting edge. Ideally they should be raised so the drill tip
touches the wheel on the vertical centerline so the grinding lines are perpendicular to
the cutting edge. Or, you can raise the grinder and work on the lower part of the wheel.
If the nature of the setup puts the grinding lines parallel to the cutting edge, stoning is
even more important to refine the edge into clean facets and prevent the cutting edge
from failing across a large horizontal area.

Very sharp edges are not inherently durable, but the smoother and more defect-free you
can make them, the longer they'll last.

The Shear Tool

OK, I wasn't going to talk about tool angles, but the shear tool deserves special
mention. I've only seen it described in a few machining texts, and the description was
usually incomprehensible. I never understood the tool until it was properly described in
an on-line forum. It has but a single specialized purpose, that of finishing materials that
tend to tear. If you can't get a good finish on some difficult grade of steel, this is the tool
to try. Be aware that it has many limitations. As shown, it will only cut from right to left,
and the depth of cut is rarely more than 0.001". It's hard to get close to a shoulder
without careful grinding and a low contact point. Both the spindle speed and feed rate
are generally kept quite slow. Slow power feed is thus preferred, especially if the part is
long. Use oil.

The tool nose is ground at a slight angle to provide clearance, just a few degrees. The
cutting edge is usually 30-40 degrees off vertical. Stone until smooth and sharp. As you
can see below, the vertical position of the tool is not critical, in fact when one spot
becomes dull, just raise or lower the tool a bit. Operating correctly, this tool will produce
a chip that looks almost exactly like steel wool. Under the right conditions the shear tool
can give a finish so smooth it could be mistaken for ground.
Other Fixtures

The factory supplied rests on most grinders are nearly useless. With a bit of searching
on the net, you can find plans for much improved rests and tool holders. I also
recommend buying a copy of Tool and Cutter Sharpening by Harold Hall, Workshop
Practice Series #38, which includes much sound advice, along with plans for many easy
to build grinding fixtures.

Still, most of what's available only addresses the grinding part of the process and my
focus is on getting a better edge than grinding alone is likely to give. I mentioned pocket
knives earlier and nothing puts a better edge on a knife blade than the original Lansky
Sharpening System. They use a guide, clamped to the blade, that prevents accidently
stoning the edge, even briefly, at the wrong angle. Each stone has a long rod extending
from the back that rides in the guide. The same principle can be applied to almost any
edge you want to touch up, including end mills and dovetail cutters. You can make up
your own stones by glueing them to a bar, or using lapping film (this is where the PSA is
useful), but I just use the Lansky stones right from the standard set. Here's the basic
idea for touching up an end mill, though one would want things tied down a bit better
than sitting on the studio seamless. Yes, I know this is about lathe tools; use some
imagination and apply the technique to whatever edge you need to deal with.
Threading Tools & Fixturing

The methods above will suffice for almost all typical turning needs using HSS and cast
alloy tool blanks. The angles can be held to sufficient accuracy by eye and experience.
This is not the case for threading. As a bare minimum you should use a "fishtail" gage to
check the included angle and squareness of the tool, but that still leaves you a long
ways from what can be achieved with very little additional effort.

Once you've roughed out the tool on the grinder, you need a fixture to perfect the
angles. I made the fixture shown here from a scrap cutoff of Delrin. I had made a
rectangular one some time back but it grew legs, so they must be desirable. The exact
shape and dimensions aren't important, though you should try to keep the two feet and
the tool tip near the points of an equalateral triangle. The only strict requirement is that
the tool bit can be fastened in very close a 30° angle and that all angles can be fine
tuned using two adjustable feet. The fixture is a kinematic design; it has three contact
points making it completely stable in use. The angles can be changed slightly, but you'd
need a different fixture for Acme or other threads with significantly different angles.
You can make a nice angle template out of aluminum roofing flashing. Just scribe it and
cut it on a paper cutter (not a rotary cutter). Here's the fixture being set up for the main
30° angle. If you want to work from a different side of the tool, or the fixture itself, the
template can certainly be cut to reflect that preference.
Next we go to the back of the tool to set the relief angle. It will be necessary to go back
and forth a couple times because the adjustments interact.
If you look closely you can see the perfect facet at the tip created by the ultra-fine black
Arkansas stone. The nearby edge of the tool catches the light, but it's still rough ground
and didn't hit the stone.
You can also use the fixture on glass or a surface plate with lapping film. This is
pressure sensitive aluminum oxide film, and the adhesive backing rounds the facet
slightly, resulting in a slightly less sharp and less free cutting tip. Try to get plain lapping
film.
Now, flip the tool over in the fixture, readjust, and tune up the other side. You may want
to remove excess material that doesn't need to be lapped as described shortly, so the
lapping operation goes swiftly. With a properly ground tool, lapping shouldn't be any
more than a ten minute job.

OK, tell me again why we need this level of control over the edges? For a thread to
function properly, the flanks of the screw need to contact the flanks of the nut. If the
angles are off, the contact area will be a narrow high pressure line near the ID or OD of
the thread. The lubricant won't be able to support the pressure and you'll get metal to
metal contact, possibly galling and certainly higher friction than would otherwise be the
case. If you're making a 1/4 x 20 bolt, it probably doesn't matter. If you're making an
adjustment screw for a laser mirror mount, it certainly does matter.

For conventional HSS lathe tools the hollow grinding technique described above works
well. For threading tools that get lapped using a fixture you can save a huge amount of
work by removing unnecessary material at the grinding wheel. You should be lapping
the minimum amount of material necessary to the function of the tool. If it only takes .
050" of material to support the cutting edge, don't waste time trying to lap more than
that. If the maximum thread depth you ever cut is .025", grind the tool so you don't have
to lap .5" every time you sharpen it. This is even more of a time saver with carbide.

Carbide is a wonderful thing for many jobs. Very little HSS is used commercially
anymore. You'll hear that carbide isn't as suitable for the home shop as HSS, but I don't
fully subscribe to that view. The problem is that commercial carbide inserts are
designed for production use on completely different machines than most HSMs own.
They're typically not very sharp, may have negative rake and may have coatings that
only function at high cutting rates that produce high temperatures. There exist sharp
uncoated inserts for aluminum, and these should be fine even on a small light machine
as is usually found in the home shop. In general I find inserts are an expensive and
unnecessary complication for the HSM.

Brazed carbide tooling ranges from poorly made imports, to the very fine Micro 100
tooling. Other than those high end tools, few brazed tools perform their best right out of
the box, and you can't fix this using only a green carbide wheel. More likely you'll make
things worse. If you want carbide to perform like HSS, you have to create sharp edges
like HSS, and that requires diamond abrasives. For threading tools, follow the
procedures above, but use a green wheel followed by diamond lapping films. Easy,
problem solved. For other lathe tools the best solution is a slow speed diamond wheel
grinder like the Accu-Finish, or a diy version of the same thing. Lacking that, the
diamond lapping films will get you where you want to go, slowly, but once you've used a
purpose-built carbide grinder with a proper adjustable sliding table and diamond wheels,
you'll be too spoiled to consider anything else.

I might add that, lest you think I'm over the deep end, the Accu-Finish people provide a
smooth ceramic grinding disk, plus a bottle of fine diamond fluid to charge it. The result
is a mirror finish on carbide, and a razor-like edge. There's no question that most jobs
can be done using much more casual techniques, but when you need perfection it's
good to know how to get it.

Stay Sharp!
 Grinding HSS lathe tools.

Following a number of requests, this

page details the grinding of a
general purpose lathe tool.

This is an attempt to try and explain

in simple terms the tool design,
terminology and the grinding process
needed to create it.

                

This first image shows a tool blank. There are 5

faces to consider at the cutting end, but only 3 of
them require grinding. The back (4) surface and
bottom (5) surface can be left untouched.

The remaining three faces require grinding along

two axis each, however they can still be created
within three grinding operations.

On most tools there is also a fourth grinding

operation which is a radius on the tool tip. This
radius increases tool life and improves surface
finish.

The numbered faces in this image also indicate the order in which the three faces are cut.

Although there are three faces to cut and each of them has two angles to set, the front and side faces
both have two critical angles and two non-critical. The top face has two angles, both of which are
important.

Tool geometry.
The end and side faces both have a clearance/relief angle and another edge cutting angle. The relief
angles are needed to stop the tool rubbing. A tool with a greater relief angle usually has a lower rate
of wear, but because there is less material to support the cutting edge the tool can break more easily,
it also cannot conduct heat away so efficiently.

The top face has two rake angles because it can cut both 'into' and 'along' the work piece. These
angles are identified as a 'side rake' angle and a 'back rake' angle. The rake angle sets the angle of
shear for the cut. A greater rake angle reduces cutting forces and gives a better tool life, but too much
rake can make the tool fragile.

The diagram below shows the terminology used to describe cutting tools (click for a larger image).

  

Different materials are best cut using slightly different angles and the table below gives some
suggested angles for the critical faces; but in summary harder materials have a smaller rake angles
and softer ones greater rake angles. The exception is Brass and bronze which are usually cut with
zero or negative rake to prevent 'digging in' of the tool.
 

A Tool Grinding Rest

Accurate grinding of the required faces can more

easily be achieved with an adjustable grinding
rest.

The photo on the right shows a simple grinding

rest which is only angle adjustable (not height)
and it has a sliding fence which can be used to
hold the cutter at a set angle as it travels across
the edge of the grinding wheel.

Some notes on the construction of the grinding

rest can be found here.

Tool Grinding Sequence

Throughout this sequence the tool temperature was kept reasonable by frequent dipping in a pot of
water. Also - always ensure that the safety guards are in place on the grinding wheel, and always wait
for it to stop before adjusting the rest.
The first face to be cut was the side face.

In this example we are making a normal right

handed tool for the lathe.

Grinding the side face of the tool

The grinding rest was tipped to give the required side clearance relief and the fence adjusted to give
the side cutting edge angle. The work was fed across the edge of the grinding wheel with a light
inward pressure to make the cut.

The angle set by the table is the important angle here as is sets the side relief. The angle of the fence
is non-critical and is simply used so that the side relief doesn't have to be ground all the way along
the tool.

Second to be cut was the end face shown in

green below.

Grinding the end face of the tool

The grinding rest was tipped to give the required end relief angle and the fence adjusted to give the
front cutting edge angle. Again the front cutting edge angle was not important, although it is usually
set to make the tip and less than 90 º. The relief angle is the critical one.

If the tool tip is to be radiused, it is cut next.

This can be done as a freehand operation on the

bench grinder, or by hand on a grinding slip, if
only a very small radius is needed.

Grinding tool tip radius by hand

Finally the top face was cut. This face had a side
and back rake angle.

T
he completed tool
To cut the top face, the grinding rest was tipped to set the side rake angle and the fence angled to cut
the back rake angle. Both these angles are important to make an effective tool.

This photograph shows the tool

cutting a 25mm mild steel bar and
leaving a good surface finish.
Cutting pressure was light and there
was no tool chatter.

The tool in action

 
 A workshop poster containing the essential tool
grinding data can be downloaded by clicking the
image to the left.

Please print, laminate, share and distribute as

needed.

A Simple Grinding Rest.

Credit for this design goes to the
late Rudy Kouhoupt. This design
was heavily based on his grinding
rest from volume two of his
'Workshop Wisdom' Series. It was
merely adapted to suit my grinding
wheel and the materials to hand.

I am unable to re-produce the

plans here due to copyright, but
the images of the construction
should allow a similar jig to be
made by others.

Please note the comments at the

end of this article, which explain
some if the shortfalls of this design
and some improvements **.

A Simple Grinding Rest

The grinding rest design, was a flat table surface set at the wheel center height, which was
allowed to tilt into, and away from, the wheel. Within this table a slot was used to house a sliding
bar, and this bar was used to hold an angle adjustable fence.

               

The frame was three pieces of steel plate

welded to form a 'U' shape. The base part of
the 'U' was extended each side to provide
mounting holes for the rest. The sides were
machined as a pair and were clamped either
side of a block of wood to ensure they were
aligned on the base before welding.

The pivot bolt was a roofing screw with a

square shoulder on the inside. This would allow
for one handed clamping of the table tilt. One of
the mounting holes had to be filed square to
accommodate the bolt shoulder.

Grinding Stand Base

               

The table could be machined from solid but this

one was made in 3-parts. One large block of
steel for the base, which would be drilled right
through to take the pivot bolt. And two pieces of
aluminium screwed to the top and spaced so
that the chosen piece of sliding bar was a nice
sliding fit between the two parts.

Two pieces of aluminium made up the top of

the table. Spaced so that the sliding bar was a
smooth fit.

               

The sliding bar was drilled and tapped in the

centre to take a 6mm bolt. This bolt was used
to hold a piece of brass angle, which would be
the adjustable fence.

               
** The grinding rest was satisfactory but a
better design would have the siding bar closer
to the grinding disc. This would remove the
problem of the fence being too far away when
used at angles near parallel to the disc edge
(see right).

A table of this type would be more easy to

make if it was made from two parts rather then
three, so there would be no need to
accommodate screws along the front edge,
enabling it to be much thinner.

Fence not close enough to disk for this cut on

the top face of the tool.

Another issue was the linear adjustment of the stand. When the table tilt was adjusted, the stand
would often need to be moved away from, or towards, the disc. For this reason the holes in the
base (or the bench) had to be oversized to allow the stand to be repositioned. This repositioning
was a fiddle but thankfully for most tool angles the table tilt was similar and this adjustment was
not needed. The need for this adjustment could also be minimised by having the pivot bolt as
close to the disc as possible.

               

Finally it was discovered that when grinding a normal right

handed tool on the left-hand wheel, the tool could catch the
grinder housing (see right). Therefore the stand was moved
to the right hand wheel where this was no longer a problem.

A shorter tool would of course be another solution.

 
Conrad's Easy Knurling Method

Blank diameter is critical to quality knurling. The wrong blank diameter can cause the
knurl(s) to double track, giving a pattern finer than the knurl was designed to produce,
one that's generally unsatisfactory. To make your knurling come out properly with no
double tracking you need to select the blank diameter of your stock to match the pitch of
the knurl. This is very similar to having two gears of the same diametrical pitch that fit
together. Every time you add a tooth the diameter increases by a discrete amount.
There are no in-between diameters that work correctly. The same is true of knurls and
the blank to be knurled, though fortunately knurls do tolerate a certain amount of error
before problems occur.

There is a modern standard for knurls that makes the blank diameter easy to determine,
but not all knurls are made to that standard. Standardized knurls work correctly on stock
diameters in 1/32" increments or some similar number, depending on pitch. The
problem is that we often have knurls of unknown origin and specification. I bought my
Eagle Rock scissors knurling tool many years ago and had no idea what the pitch of the
knurls was. I also collect used and antique knurls. Knurling was a hit or miss
proposition; sometimes it came out great and other times it would double or triple track
no matter what I did.

Machinery's Handbook has knurling formulas, though somewhat confusing directions on

how to apply them. Information is also available on other web sites and from
manufacturers, but you still need to start with information about your knurls. The whole
thing is a headache without straightforward instructions. Here's a simple method to
determine what you've got and how to select the correct blank diameter.

Grab one of your knurls and a pin to fit it. Clean the knurl. Ink the knurl on a stamp pad
and roll it down a piece of paper. If you don't have a stamp pad, ink up a piece of paper
with that tube of Hi-Spot Blue you forgot you had and use that. Lacking that, just make
an impression on the paper by pressing down a little harder. Shade it with a pencil to
make it more visible.

Now, count a good number of lines, maybe 50-100. It helps to mark every fifth one with
a pencil and count the groups. Measure the distance with verniers. In my case I counted
75 lines and measured 3.535 inches. Divide to get the spacing: 3.535 / 75 = 0.0471"
Make this measurement and record the number for each knurl you own.
This is actually the circular pitch (CP) of the knurl. The diametrical pitch (DP) of the
knurl is π/CP, but we don't really care about that. What we do care about is the inverse
of that number, CP/π, because the diameter of the blank you intend to knurl must be
some multiple of it. In my case 0.04713 / 3.1416 = 0.015"

Let's say I want to knurl a piece of 5/8" stock (0.625"). 0.625 / 0.015 = 41.666 That
remainder of .666 is the mark of the devil and suggests that the knurl will give problems.
We don't want a remainder, at least not a significant one. Since we know knurling will
increase the OD of the part, and we know that the multiplier is about 41, we can just use
41. 41 * 0.015 = 0.615 By turning the blank down to 0.615 we know there's an excellent
chance of the knurl tracking correctly and giving a clean pattern.

With coarse knurls you can also measure the knurl OD and count the teeth to arrive at
the same numbers, but the above method uses more revolutions and is somewhat
easier to do, especially for fine knurls. Concave knurls can be printed on the white stem
of a cotton bud, the edge of a piece of white mat board or a piece of paper wrapped
around a small metal rod.

You'll notice that we're working with numbers relating to the surface of the knurl and not
worrying about the depth of the pattern. It's my feeling that once the knurl makes in
initial clean impression, it can't help but follow that impression to full depth. Thus, I tend
to revolve the spindle manually with mild pressure to establish that clean impression,
and then increase the pressure to go to full depth. It's possible that if you go to full depth
immediately, the numbers will have to be adjusted slightly, but try this first.
To summarize, "fingerprint" the knurl and measure the circular pitch. Use stock with a
circumference that's a multiple of the circular pitch, or stock with a diameter of the
circular pitch over π.

The usual knurling advice still applies: Make no more rotations than necessary or the
knurl will pick up flakes of metal. Use plenty of oil to flush away debris and prevent the
knurls from seizing on the pins. Sometimes an air blast helps keep debris off the
surface.

Almost too easy!

Cast Alloy Lathe Tools

Stellite J - Tantung G - Blackalloy 525 - Crobalt

With the refinement of carbide insert cutting tools, many believe cast alloy tools have
been rendered obsolete in commercial machining. That's certainly true for run-of-the-mill
CNC work in aluminum and free machining steels, however some applications remain
where cast alloy tools should be considered.

These alloys possess properties somewhere between high speed steel (HSS) and
carbide. They can be ground with a standard grinding wheel, though the process can be
a bit slow going. They're tough and work well on interrupted cuts and on castings that
would tend to chip carbide, though they're more prone to chipping than HSS. High
lubricity is another feature and that prevents welding of material on the tool tip. They
cannot be annealed and thus retain their hardness and cutting ability to red heat. In
general, they will operate at 2X or more the speed of HSS, but not that of carbide.

For home machinists cast alloys are an excellent choice for less rigid and lower
speed/power machines that can't take maximum advantage of carbide. They lend
themselves to off hand grinding better than carbide. The biggest obstacle for the home
machinist is getting tool blanks at a reasonable cost.

You may find the occasional cast alloy tool in used and surplus tooling. The alloys are
completely non-magnetic so you should always carry a magnet when inspecting odd
lots of tooling. The etched names will often be ground away and the magnet will quickly
separate HSS from cast alloy tooling. In general you are looking for the following:

1. Stellite Star J (and possibly other Stellite types)

2. Blackalloy 525
3. Tantung G
4. Crobalt

Modern cast alloy tools will be ground on all sides and look similar to HSS tooling. They
resist corrosion extremely well and may stand out in used tooling for that reason. On the
other hand, don't be put off by the appearance of older cast alloy tooling. Some of it may
look like it was cast in a backyard barbecue grill. It will be dark in color and have
significant imperfections and poor grinding. Others will have passed it by, but their loss
is your gain. New cast alloy blanks are still available from at least three manufacturers
but don't expect to get them for import or flea market HSS prices!

The internal structure of old cast alloy tool blanks was said to be non-uniform due to the
casting process. The instructions were to keep the cutting edge as close to the chilled
surface as possible, and the blanks were marked in various ways to identify the
surfaces. There is some contradictory information floating about concerning this, but I
believe Stellite blanks were labeled on the bottom and the cutting edge should be
opposite the etched label. Very old blanks had a notch ground on the bottom of the far
end. Some say the top. The cutting edge should be ground on the top surface of the
other end. If the notch is ground away, another one should be made. The end angles on
the blank are another clue. I've seen Tantung blanks with the notch on the top, at least
based on the angle at the other end. Sometimes you'll find old tools where there's no
more printing and the notch is long gone. In that case you have to hope the previous
user kept the correct surface facing up. In recent communications with AGI-VR-Wesson
they said grinding orientation is not important with new Tantung G tool blanks. I'd like to
find some original manufacturers literature to clear up the matter and until I do my
confidence in any of this is minimal. For what it's worth, I did some tests on one of my
blanks, torturing a cutting edge on both sides. This suggested the notch marked the
bottom, as the opposite face seemed a bit less apt to chip, but the difference wasn't
great.
I made hardness measurements on all the faces of several different blanks in my
collection. All the faces of all the tools, regardless of manufacture, were about 63 on the
Rockwell C scale. From that I have to conclude that it's not extremely critical which face
you grind. Certainly when hardfacing is done by melting the material with an O-A torch
onto the surface of something else, there's little control or concern about the matter.

Let's look at some photos of various second hand tools and blanks I've acquired in used
tool shops and at flea markets. The first shows typical markings for Blackalloy 525,
Tantung G and Stellite J.

This is my favorite threading tool using the Blackalloy 525 blank.

Here are three unmarked blanks I found in a used tool shop for 30¢ apiece. They have
the typical notches but I don't know for sure which is top and bottom.
Older tools can look pretty bad, with rough grinding and a lot of imperfections, but the
alloy is still good and you shouldn't shy away from them if the price is right.
This is my entire collection of cast alloy tools, acquired over a couple years at flea
markets and used tool shops. I'm not responsible for the grinding and geometry of
anything but the threading tool, though I'm sure they all served some noble purpose
back when cast alloys were more popular.
Notes

The most important rule for cast alloys is never to quench them after grinding. The
manufacturers are universal in this caution. Let them cool slowly, as needed, while
grinding. You can use continuous coolant flow, or none at all, but never quench or
dribble. The alloys must not be subjected to thermal shock. This is also true for HSS to
retain its full performance, but ignoring the caution will have much less serious
consequences with HSS than for these high performance cast alloys.

The preferred angles are a bit different than HSS as more support is needed to prevent
chipping of the edge. An old Southbend tool grinding note says to use the steepest
angles that still allow the tool to cut freely. The Blackalloy Company has a good chart of
specific lathe tool angles on their site. I like them a lot but a 3/8" square Blackalloy 525
lathe blank will set you back just under $35.

From the Deloro Stellite site the composition of Stellite Star J is:

Co Ni Fe C Cr Mn Si W
Bal 3 3 2.5 32 1 0.5 17
 Tantung tools are available from AGI-VR Wesson. The Tantung G tool blanks seem to
have the most reasonable pricing as a 3/8" x 2.5" lathe blank is about $20 as of this
writing. More information on Crobalt is available from Crobalt. I haven't done any type of
comparison between the different brands so can't comment on any relative merits, but
they are all of very high quality.

Wear a dust mask when grinding any of these alloys as they have a high percentage of
cobalt, which is toxic. Do not breath the dust! That's probably good advice when
grinding high cobalt types of HSS tools as well.

Fixing a Bandsaw Blade.

Traditionally bandsaw blades are

resistance welded. Larger bandsaw
machines have this facility built in so
that the operator can cut internal
profiles without starting from the
outside edge of the work.

However blades can also be silver

soldered or brazed and this has the
advantage that the join doesn't need
annealing afterwards.

A brazed Bandsaw joint

               
To braze a blade, a holder like the one shown on
the right can be used. This was made from scraps
of steel strip. The key feature was a milled edge
which could be used to align the two blade ends.
Each blade is held in place with a simple clamp and
wing-nut.

The material in the middle of the clamp was

removed to allow the join to be made without
soldering the blade to the clamp.

The heads of the bolts on the underside could be

used to hold the clamp in the vice.
Simple home-made blade clamp

Before brazing, the two blade ends should be

ground at a matching angle to increase the surface
area of the joint. This can be done of the bench
grinder. It means the finished blade length will be
shorter than before but this should be well within
the tension adjustment of the bandsaw.

Grinding should be done carefully and wearing a

glove if the blade is sharp. Also ensure the blade is
lifted up from the grinding wheel after the cut and
not pulled down as this can cause the grinding
wheel to catch it and push the blade towards you.

Grinding blade end

               
Once the grinding is complete then the blade can
be lined up and held in the clamp.

The straight edge of the jig is used against the rear

edge of the blade to ensure the ends were lined up
and accurately as possible.

The blade ends were pushed together to meet but

not overlapped.

Blade join lined up and clamped in place in the

brazing fixture.

               

Brazing the blade should be quick and easy. The

joint should have a small amount of flux applied
first.

The blade will have very little mass and so will heat
up quickly with a small gas torch. Once glowing dull
red, a small touch of the solder rod is all that will be
needed to complete the joint.

The blade after Brazing

               

Once the blade has cooled, the braze should be filed to make it smooth and flush with the thickness of
the blade.
Braze after filing flush

Close up of the finished joint

 End Mill Grinding Jig