Why so many tool holders?

[The Metal Butcher]

Well, I have a few....... at least half I built myself. Some rarely see action. So it would be easy to get by with less. It’s a little like having too many collets, I have a few that I’ll never use. It’s a disease, I guess.

Well you clearly did a good job. I'm struggling to tell which are yours and which are factory. Any tips on blueing? I just started on a 1.5" boring bar holder for CXA.

[dian]

thats a bit weird. 85 holders? where do you put them? in the end you dont know what you have and where it is. a bout a dozen is enough for me, i tool them up for the job on hand as has been said. how long does it take to change a tool? for quick stuff even a 4-way is enough, i usually only have to change tools when boring.

[old mart]

We have about twice as many tools as shown in Tim Clarks photo and not a holder in sight. All of the tools are the same height to sit in the four way toolpost and the boring and threading tools are all in tubes together with custom milled shims. I made a special toolpost to hold 26mm parting blades and the 12mm shank solid carbide boring bars. I also made a rear parting blade post which holds 26 and 32mm blades. I have a NOS large four way toolpost which will be fitted directly to the cross slide for added stiffness. With such a lot of tools, I have kept away from QCTP's because of the expense. I also have doubts regarding the stiffness of some of these designs

[CCWKen]

I made the switch to a QCTP from a rocker. I now have over 20 tool holders and built a rack for most of them. (I posted photos last year.) When bought over time, the "expense" of the tool holders is not much concern. The service and time savings they provide far out weigh the aggravation of centering a tool on every change on the old rocker tool post. Also, more options for tooling are made available. I think I had 4-5 Armstrong holders for the rocker. Any carbide had to be purchased in the 1/4" form. Those always had to be ground before use. No sir, the "expense" is well worth it.

[mattthemuppet]

I think I'm at 35 now, unless I miscounted Some tools are rarely used, others are used constantly. Some of the rarely used ones (corner rounding router bit or face grooving tool) are very handy to just pick up and use for a single operation in the middle of a job. Not having to swap tools between holders or inserts (CCMT vs. CCGT) between tools is very nice.






all but 4 or 5 are home made, mostly from steel. Looking at the drawer pic reminds me that I need to print up some more tool holder holders

[nickel-city-fab]

I made the switch to a QCTP from a rocker. I now have over 20 tool holders and built a rack for most of them. (I posted photos last year.) When bought over time, the "expense" of the tool holders is not much concern. The service and time savings they provide far out weigh the aggravation of centering a tool on every change on the old rocker tool post. Also, more options for tooling are made available. I think I had 4-5 Armstrong holders for the rocker. Any carbide had to be purchased in the 1/4" form. Those always had to be ground before use. No sir, the "expense" is well worth it.

AMEN same here. I finally broke down and got a wedge type AXA set. It is easily the most rigid and repeatable part of the entire setup.

[dalee100]

Meh, I "suffer" along with half a dozen tool holders I've made for myself. I do have 2 blanks to finish as needed, but I haven't needed them yet. Perhaps I'm not in a race, or maybe I'm more into tooling management - having what you need and only what you need.

Don't feel as if you need to have 100 tool holders loaded and ready to go. Most don't. As long as you have enough to do the job at hand. But it is often a way to show off how cool you can be. Don't worry about it, you are already cool.

[BCRider]

If you're into using inserts you'll certainly need more tools and that means more holders if you don't want to keep swapping. There's inserts that work best on cast iron, some different steels and finally the separate inserts for aluminium. And if you have separate roughing and finishing I can see that easily needing a dozen or more just for your plain turning tooling to cover all the needs of the different steel alloys, cast and non ferrous what with all the various inserts that work optimally in each case. Then add in some various handy form tools from ground HSS for chamfering or radius cuts and other shapes that need just regular slotted holders and I can easily see 18 to 20 of them being a "nice start". Never mind all the special holders like parting tools, boring bars, threading and the like.

[Tim Clarke]

Well you clearly did a good job. I'm struggling to tell which are yours and which are factory. Any tips on blueing? I just started on a 1.5" boring bar holder for CXA.

I use oxpho blue from Brownells. It's the best I've tried.

[The Metal Butcher]

I use oxpho blue from Brownells. It's the best I've tried.

Thanks mate, just bought some. Looks like the reviews have some good application advice. I look forward to trying it out.

[mattthemuppet]

Thanks mate, just bought some. Looks like the reviews have some good application advice. I look forward to trying it out.

I use a black oxide approach with potassium something (?) salts that someone described on here (markx?). Works really well and seems very tough. I've also used oxphoblue and that works well too, though I don't think I've given the tools I've used it on enough use to compare it to the black oxide treatment.

But it is often a way to show off how cool you can be. Don't worry about it, you are already cool.

woohoo, I'm cool! At last! I knew it would happen eventually

For me it's simply a matter of convenience. The QCTP is very convenient, having one holder for each tool I use makes it even more so.

[challenger]

Meh, I "suffer" along with half a dozen tool holders I've made for myself. I do have 2 blanks to finish as needed, but I haven't needed them yet. Perhaps I'm not in a race, or maybe I'm more into tooling management - having what you need and only what you need.

Don't feel as if you need to have 100 tool holders loaded and ready to go. Most don't. As long as you have enough to do the job at hand. But it is often a way to show off how cool you can be. Don't worry about it, you are already cool.

More is better😁.