Main thing you need is Neil's new series on "lathework for beginners" should tell you all you need to know and more. See that latest issue of MEW

My advice when buying a QC tool post would be to make sure the tool posts "mechanism" pulls the tool holder into the post on locking, as a Dickson does. Some do the opposite, that is to say the tool holder is pushed away from the post. This will have a significant effect on rigidity.

John

Newton's third law?

In a Dickson the piton pulls and the dovetails push in equal amounts.

In some others the dovetails pull and the pistons push.

Is there really a difference in rigidity?

Neil

Fancy tools and toolholders are a mirage to deceive the beginner.
Don't get a QCTP until you have several years of experience or more money than sense. You shouldn't be in such a hurry that you need the 'quick' part and if you are too lazy to set the height with shims you are in the wrong hobby.
Don't get a set of carbide tools – often they are crap quality and half are the wrong shape.
Don't get 3/8 or 10mm tool bits for a Myford as it is not about getting the maximum size that can be forced into position.
Do get some 1/4 in HSS toolbits off ebay maybe a handful of used ones at <£1 each. Some will be sort of ground into a nearly usable shape.
Do get a grinder – Screwfix have a 200mm 'Titan' one that I recently got that is amazing value.
Don't think that you need a fancy tool rest for the grinder that has more setting handles than a moon rocket.
Do find out what a 'slip stone' is and get one.

Well Martin

I certainly find a QCTP worthwhile – but to BE QuickChange you need a few holders – and I have a few!

Comment was also made about the "Tangential tool holder" – a good tool and useful for many jobs – you will see that I have one fitted to a boat for the QCTP. I also have a QCTP on a rear toolpost which is mostly used for an inverted parting off tool ( less traumatic than the usual front tool method!)

(OK I admit it I am a QCTP Fan!)

Norman

This is all good advice, and I think you need to take heed, as a newbie myself I too was almost drawn in by the QC tool post, for a newbie, you'll find you don't work quick enough for it to be of any merit.

Learn how to center a tool off the tailstock, using a dead center as your reference, beer or coke cans can make cheap readily available packing material, and you'll get your tool within 5thou of the hieght you need. 1/4" HSS tooling means you'll need some thicker strips of packing material to get a rigid setup. 3/8" become useless once much of the top surface has been ground away. A Tee bar with the correct sized socket/Allen bolt for your tool post is a good way to speed things up but a spanner is just fine. Get a cheap pair of tin snips, for cutting the cans up. Though some very sharp scissors will work.

I had a go on a friends bench grinder, and it was easy, just have a cup of water on stand by and don't leave it in contact too long, you don't want the HSS steel getting too hot. The stone can be used to round the edge off so you aren't turning on a point which will give you a screw type cut not nice and smooth.

Just my learning from my brief exploits in tooling for the lathe. My ML4 has a 4way tool post a block of Aluminum with a cut across it's middle and bolts arranged all the way around. If you know a friend with a milling machine, a 4way tool post will be more beneficial for a fraction of the price. You can have two tools set up in the post, and just swivel it, though be warned not to catch you arm on the one sticking towards you as you take a measurement of the piece of work in the chuck.

Sorry John, I really don't understand what difference it makes if the pistons or the dovetails do the pulling or the pushing?

I disagree with Bazyle too – if you are doing a job with repetitive tool swapping a QCTP can turn it into an enjoyable job rather than a drudge you keep putting off.

Neil

I would've thought that it's a given that using a QCTP is a nice thing to have. So if you can't buy one, why not make one?

Michael W

A QCTP is the best value piece of lathe tooling I've bought. My last job was to turn a 14mm spigot, thread half of it M14, and part off leaving 5mm of the original 30mm bar on the unthreaded end. With the turning and facing, runout groove, threading, chamfering and parting off that's five tool changes for just one simple part. I made four of them. Having the tools ready to drop in place is part of working efficiently. I'll save my patience for the occasions when I can't work smarter.

I use a Dickson clone on my WM250, that was also on the mini-lathe I had first. I currently have 13 tool-holders, and I buy a couple more each time I order other stuff from any of the suppliers who stock them.