AXA vs. AX Tool Holders - What Up With That?

[WLW-19958]

Hi There,

I have been collecting Aloris AXA wedge type tool posts and holders for a while and I am puzzled about something. Some of the holders don't fit onto the tool post very well (or at all). Some of these are genuine Aloris brand BUT one is an AX and the other is an AXA.

And the situation is more complicated. I have two Aloris AXA wedge type tool posts. The first one I got has had more use but seems to work great.

More recently, I picked up a near mint condition Aloris AXA tool post and I was going to replace the older one BUT most of the import tool holders I have won't fit onto the dovetail (I got these holders awhile back ). These same holders fit the older Aloris just fine. Even some of the Genuine Aloris brand holders won't go on the newer Aloris tool post (the AX one doesn't fit either one).

Did Aloris change the dovetail dimensions on their tool posts over time? Do AX and AXA tool holders have different dimensions?

I figure I can eventually recut the dovetail on the tight ones but I am surprized that the Aloris ones don't fit.

Any of you out there notice this before?

Thanks for your input!
-Blue Chips-
Webb


[This message has been edited by WLW-19958 (edited 01-28-2006).]

[JCHannum]

The AX originally was for the piston type toolpost and the AXA was the wedge. They will not interchange. I have also noticed the Armstrong clones do not fit either.

The ones I have dealt with were soft enough to adjust by filing.

[YankeeMetallic]

Milling out the dovetails on the Aloris brand is easier said than done. I just customized an Aloris AXA to take a 3/4" tool and that material was VERY hard.

[WLW-19958]

Hi There,

I can appreciate there is a difference between AX and AXA tool holders BUT what I really find confusing is this one of the Aloris AXA holders (an AXA-2) doesn't fit either of the Aloris AXA tool posts I have (on the older one, it will slide on barely but I cannot get it off without repeated tapping with a brass hammer).

I don't see any damage to the dovetail area. The only thing I can see is possibly insufficient clearance to corners that fit the inside of the dovetail on the tool post. Do any of you have an Aloris AXA-2 holder that won't fit onto an Aloris AXA tool post?

Just Curious. Good Luck!
-Blue Chips-
Webb


[This message has been edited by WLW-19958 (edited 01-29-2006).]

[DR]

On another forum there was a thread about this. Apparently Aloris screwed up at some time. Some holders (and/or posts) don't interchange with previous versions.

[Rich Carlstedt]

Yes, The comment was made on the Chaski thread, and the guy called Aloris and they replaced the holders for free.
I think that is what I would also do.

[WLW-19958]

Hi There,

I contacted Aloris as suggested and they asked me to send them the tool post and the Aloris brand AXA holders that didn't fit and they would correct the problem.

I was told they changed the spec.s on the dovetail slightly a while back but they would honor the "interchangeability" of their tool holders.

When I got them back, the receipt said: "Reground to make all AXA tooling compatible (new + old)." I don't see any modifications to the tool post itself but it looks (to me) like they reground the dovetail on the holders to make them fit the tool post.

They didn't say why they changed the dovetail spec.s but I suspect it was to prevent some of the import tool holders from fitting and hence you would have to buy holders from them?

Anyway, I thought I would post this update.
Good Luck!

-Blue Chips-
Webb

[DanR]

It is possible that they were doing something to thwart the import tool market, but that could be counter-productive.

Although we have an Aloris at work, I couldn't justify one at home. Still I liked the adjustability and I learned to hate the time I lost for making and scrounging shims.

I bought a Phase II wedge type AXA for my machine, as the price was respectable and it did what I needed it to do... EXCEPT I had trouble with decent cutoffs for bigger stuff (two and three inch diameter).

At work we came up with an Aloris AXA 71 holder that held a substantial blade and carbide insert cutters. It worked great on those cutoffs in the 2 - 3 inch range, and was so stable it almost gave a 'facing' finish to alumininum.

There was no equivalent made by the others, and it was so good, I had to have one.
I bought an Aloris AXA 71 and blade for just over $200 from our local G&G industrial where we had gotten the one for work [My original 5 or 6 piece wedge type Phase II was only about $168 from Enco].

Although the single Aloris unit cost more that the rest of the system I married it with, it was worth every cent. Now I am eyeing the 60 degree thread cutting head, but I have some good thread cutting tool bits already so I may hold off.

The issue is that fitting with the imports actually can help Aloris sell selected toolposts that they otherwise wouldn't sell.
Changing to a 'no-fit' situation could hurt them more than help them....