I’ll throw my hat into the ring on this one – I have the diamond tool holder, and I agree with Merick – it’s the canine undercarriage as far as I’m concerned.  It may not even be as expensive as you quote – I’m sure my Myford size one wasn’t , and very quick delivery from the UK distributors.  It cuts very well and resharpening is easy.  The only caution I have is that  – for me, cutting mild steel – if the point isn’t dead on centre height and you are facing, the ‘pip’ on the turned material can tear a flake off the point of the tool.  I’m very aware that this may be my incorrect use, and I’m not in any way talking down the tool – just somethinng to be aware of.  I’ve modified the grinding rest on a ‘Tormek’ wetstone grinder for use with the grinding jig, which I find gives very good results.  You can buy some 1/4 tool steel and make a number of cutters to ensure you always have a sharp one to hand. 

 

And just for Circlip and the others – I wish I’d got the Diamond before shelling out for various carbide insert tools – which probably cost more if I add them up!

 

John ( no connection to Diamond Tools)

Hi Chris,

I thought I would let MGJ have first “dibs”, now I shall add a few comments.

You ask if it is worth it, to be fair the answer is both yes and no. If you can spare the time, maybe a couple of hours, then make one yourself, it’s much more satisfaction inducing. If cash is a bit short, again make one yourself. I would quite understand why if you can afford to buy and your time is more important to you for other things, then it is no sin to buy.

The important thing is that you get yourself one, there is not one person I have shown the tool holder to who has not been impressed. Correction, there is not one person I have demonstrated the tool holder to that has not been impressed. The video for the commercial item is not “hype” or something that takes years of practice to get right, it would work first time every time. As John says get the thing cutting on centre height, this is so easy to do just slide the tool up or down in the holder.

 

The mentioned screw cutting ability is particularly good, but with a proviso, that is going up to a shoulder or threading near the chuck.  I made a different holder that over comes this problem and one day i will write it up, if there were to be enough interest. 

 

This tool when used for thread cutting benefits from the offset top slide method, combined with a cross slide stop.The offset method makes it cut on the sharp edge., which then cuts beautifully cleanly.

 

 When you get your tool you will find that a standard grinder tool rest is adequate to sharpen a tangential tool, but a proper grinder rest will be of great use for other things.

 

To sum up, if you can spare the time to make a grinder rest, then you can spare the time to make a tangential holder, too. If not , yes, it is worth buying even at that price.

 

The good book is wrong to say that “pride” is a sin, you can take pride in doing something well, without fear of going to Hell. So make one and feel proud!

 

Note to MGJ, that holder is only on loan till I make you one of the upgraded ones, without the annoying screw, which will then be yours to keep.

 chriStephens

OK, we’ll try this one again. For the masses, the holder in question is called a “Tangential turning tool holder” the basic design of which goes back to nearly more or less a hundred (100) years.

 

  Now for the REALLY observent of us, if you go back to the Forum header page (The one where all the FREE downloads are, and look for the free “Sample versions of M/E and MEW, click on the one for MEW iss. 156 and look down the contents listings  for ref. to the affore mentioned item.

 

    Simples.

Hi Circlip,

                The diamond tool holder is slightly different to the tangential one. Instead of the tool bit fitting into a slot it fits into a V grove.This means the  corner of the bit points towards the work piece when the tool holder is perpendicular to the lathe axis. With the tangential tool one edge of the tool bit would be almost parallel with the work piece.

Les.

Are we not in danger of  getting tangled? The tangential bit is the tool held at a cutting angle 12/12 I  believe.

 

How you hold it precisely at that compound angle is your choice: clamp, tunnel, tube, bolt or whatever. 

125 Years Chris, yes, MORE or less 100, clue was in the use of English, and no, I wasn’t reffering to the swan neck. Seems my computer is suffering from some sort of hiccup as the picture and description of issue 156 page 12 seems as near to the “Diamond Toolholder” as one can get?? and anyone wanting to support the Australian economy should be ashamed of themselves. OH, forgot, LOTS have been supporting that  of the far East, so helping the collonials ain’t too bad.

 

    Simples! (Even GOD rested on the seventh day Chris)

 

  Regards 

Hi Guys,

Sorry  Les, I don’t quite see the point you are making., but then I have not yet taken a close look at a “real” Diamond tool holder.  The pictures are not good enough to see minute differences in angles. Perhaps I should buy one and take a look? Maybe not, I am far too mean.

 

Circlip, of course you must have your day off once a week, but remember they don’t show adverts on the BBC! I hope you are not equating yourself to an omnipresent omnipotent being, though .

Speaking of which, sorry if this is too OT for some, why did the said omnipresent, omnipotent being need a day off? If he had not rushed to finish his task in 6 days instead of taking 7, he might not have made such a botched job of creating the World and its contents. On the other hand perhaps it was all intended to be as it is, and the said being must really love idiots, for he created so many of them.

Back On Topic, let the above be a lesson to all you Engineers, take your time and do it properly. On a twenty year project another few hours is nothing.

 

Ivan, welcome to the Diamond tool holders appreciation society. It never ceases to amaze me that the “Diamond”, or whatever we are going to call it, holder is not the first thing taught to newbies. If neophytes knew from the start, then I am sure they would not have such worries over grinding angles and matching the angles to whatever metal they are turning. Granted that Carbide tip’s sales might suffer a tad, but hobbyists use so little compared to industry that a few pence drop in Sandvik’s bosses bonus will not matter one iota.

chriStephens 

 

 

 

 

Hi Les,

Well done for making a holder, you wont regret the time spent on it. 

Re your second para. can you lower the holder and then raise the tool bit back to centre height, this will give you more clearance for the clamp screw. when facing.

 

I might put my version of the threading tool holder on the SMEE stand at Harrogate, but it will not impress anyone just sitting there, it  really has to be demonstrated to show how well it works. This will have to wait for Sandown at the end of the year.

chriStephens

PS when you log in, click the box that says “remember me” and you don’t get timed out so much. 

Hi Meyrick,

Couldn’t agree more, it’s just another case of the right tool for the job. 

There are times when the only tool for the job is made from Tungsten ( or Titanium) Carbide and there are times when a HSS tool is more than adequate, if not ideal, for the job. Anyone who chooses one to the exclusion of the other is working with one hand tied behind their back.

In defence of the HSS user, there are so many Carbide tips that the chances of the rank amateur picking the right tip is negligible. As for brazed tips they come ground but not sharpened so beware, and yes they are cheaply made from cheap grade carbide.  Milling cutter tips are much less brittle but then they are not really suitable for turning are they?

chriStephens 

     Excellent though most aspects of these ingenious devices are, it seems

   to me that there is a difficulty that has not been mentioned.  On intermittent

   cuts, there will be a tendency for the tool to be driven down into the holder

   like a tent peg and some sort of positive means of preventing this would

   be a good idea.

Hi Frank,

A positive stop is not really necessary, but agreed, you would think that it were. The gripping power of just a 5 or 6mm Allen screw head is enough to hold the tool bit in place. On the commercial item there should be more than enough grip. There is some merit in having a tool bit that will slip under extreme duress, but as the tool cuts so easily there is more tendency for the tool to cut than to slip. If it should slip there is no harm done, the tool will come out of engagement with the work, you just have to reset to centre height and start again. All it would show is that you were a bit ham fisted in your knob twiddling.

I, at first, thought of a positive stop, not to hold the tool securely but to aid  resetting after sharpening. I quickly dismissed this as impractical because the tool bit gets shorter every-time you sharpen it, rendering the stop useless. What is needed is a gauge to set the cutting tip back on centre height after sharpening. 

 

Going back to an earlier post, although I am a self appointed spokesman for these tools, I did a count up of my QC tool holders this evening, and only one of the 17 had a Tangential in it, make that two the other is a GHT radius turner. The rest is a mixture of assorted tools, both HSS and carbide, plus a DTI and a Knurling tool. I like to have both hands free to work my lathe.

chriStephens