Beginner tooling selection

[borjawil]

I purchased an older atlas a year ago and have used it occasionally, but unfortunately haven't learned much on properly selecting tooling.

My understanding is left tooling cuts from left to right, right tooling the opposite, and neutral for...?

I'll be using my lathe to turn basic spacers, bushings, etc. So 1 OD and or ID, and bushings with a lip (like a top hat). My current issue is what tooling do I need to use for rough stock, finishing, and to create the 90 degree corner in the lip of the bushings i need to make? I will be upgrading to inserts.

[enginuity]

I know you say you would like to "upgrade" to inserts.

Coming from a "younger" guy as a home shop machinist do yourself a favour and learn how to grind high speed steel tools.

I know carbide inserts are really easy and work well (I use them professionally all the time where productivity is key), high speed steel in the home shop saves so much money. And on equipment like an Atlas it allows you to customize the geometry for low cutting forces.

[Mcgyver]

do yourself a favour and learn how to grind high speed steel tools.
.

+1. Its not necessarily an upgrade, for a lot of amateur machining on a light lathe, you are better off with properly sharpened HSS.

If there were two things a beginner should make sure the read about and understand, its tool geometry and cutting speed. They are just so fundamental to everything, understanding them is a precursor to being good at this craft. That imo would be the best advise; Dig in and stick to it and learn the basics of tool geometry. There is tons of free reading material out there, and its not that onerous.

If you understand tool geometry, where and why the rake and clearance angles are, grinding them becomes easy. And once learning it applies to everything, well, except grinding, which means you start to get whats going with different machining situations, drilling, milling, boring etc

[754]

If you get the South Bend how to run a lathe book, it explains most of it.
Yes it applies to all brands of lathes. It explains how to grind tools.

If you absorb 1/2 of that book, you will be turning out parts and figuring a lot of it outl
...

[BCRider]

Plus all the inserts have some nose radius. So the truly sharp inside corners are not possible. Instead if using inserts you would cut the outside with a shape that has some amount of nose radius and as a last step you would reach into the inside corner with something like a long diamond shaped VNxx series insert and cut a slightly deeper rounded relief such that there's clearance to fit up against a square shoulder without issues.

Inserts for your Atlas is certainly an option. And the proper inserts will cut just fine without the need for excessive pressure. But it does mean picking the proper geometry of insert edge shaping. Some inserts intended for hogging away large amounts of metal are deliberately made so the edge has a micro negative rake so the edge is more durable. But this tends to push away and plow off metal instead of getting under it and splitting it away with more of a shearing force. Such inserts try to push the metal away and result in higher pressures which are not great on smaller and more flexible lathes. You'll see this first hand when after a cut is made and you winde the carriage back that it cuts a fairly deep spiral due to this spring back. A good HSS tool or an insert with a more suitable geometry will not result in this springing away force during the cut and when retracting the carriage will leave only a very fine spiral or no spiral at all.

Carbide inserts are far tougher than HSS in some ways but more delicate in others. They'll cut and keep cutting far longer. But enter the cut the wrong way or make the mistake of turning the machine off in mid cut to take a measurement without withdrawing the tool from the work and it's almost certainly a chipped out tip you'll get for your moment of inattention or unknowing mistake.

There are a lot of other things too. But for a lot of us carbide inserts is not always an upgrade. For a lot of us it's an alternative at best which lets us choose HSS or carbide depending on the job of the moment.

Also depending on what materials you are using there's likely going to be a few different cutter shapes with different clearance angles you want to make or use. Trying to make sense of it all is why I threw up my arms over which inserts to buy and mostly stick to using HSS which I can grind to my needs. I'd like to learn a bit more about which inserts are good for certain jobs but it's a dark and dangerous insert jungle out there.....

As for how the inserts are held many of them have the same geometry behind the cutting lip on both sides of each corner. So left, right and neutral is not from the insert but instead the holder.

[OaklandGB]

Adding my opinion on sticking with, and learning all about HHS tools.

If your tools leave a radius that needs to be sharper, a couple of minutes on the grinder will get you a HHS tool that while it may be a little fragile at the cutting tip, will likely get you exactly what you want.

As a newbie, I've rummaged the local tool store's "used/junk barrel" for the odd handful of 3/8" and 1/2" used/broken/ HHS bits. While they look horrible, once cleaned up you can often see what the maker was trying to do. HSS does not "go bad" so I have a small stash of used HSS that will have new life once I get better at tool grinding. No special tools either, just a 10" bench grinder I bought at Home Depot, the wheel dressing tool that came with it, and a used stone to hone tool edges.

As a retired home shop newbie, I also keep a magnifier handy, it really helps.

[BCRider]

There are a few really good videos on grinding HSS too. Here's just three of the better ones that explain the shape and angles and why and how much for each.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__A2xtLF0AU&t=21s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvJhRtRR7rk&t=637s

Grinding a single point threading tool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSBEtPjAX28

And there's lots of others to be found with the terms "grinding hss tool bits", "grinding lathe tool" and "grinding threading tool".

[machinejack]

Go for the HSS you will get more satisfaction by seeing nice chips curling off after successfully grinding you own tools. There a many references on HSS lathe tool grinding. It takes more power to cut with carbide plus your Atlas was not built to run carbide tooling. Carbide is great I use it all the time mostly for hogging but then I have the HP to do it. Taking a fine cut of less than .010 is hard especially after the edge has broken down. Where carbide shines is on production runs. Setting a final depth that has a cut of around .025/.030 you are not cutting on the edge of the insert. Try taking a .001 cut with carbide after you've done some turning with the insert and you will see what I mean. Metal balls up on the tip it's pushing and not cutting. HSS is cheap and like all posters this IMHO.
Have fun been machining for over 50 years and it never gets dull, unlike cutting edges.
Jack

[BCRider]

To be fair, I'm posting this since we haven't seen the legions of insert users responding yet, there's a lot to be said for a well selected assortment of insert cutters. With the focus being on the use of the proper inserts that have the geometry to work on your Atlas.

In previous threads some have posted that we can achieve low cutting forces by using inserts which have shapes and angles which are tuned more to working with aluminium even though we are using them on steel. The edges are sharper and the relief angles are more suitable to reasonably chip loads on a lower powered and less rigid lathe such as your Atlas. If you can find this style of insert you should be very happy with them. The trick is to find the proper ordering numbers that describe such inserts. If and when you learn of this let me know too. I'm still looking to try some inserts but need the same guidance as you. My experience so far with a small assortment of them has been less than stellar. I'm consistently doing something that results in the edges becoming chipped and I don't know what it is.

[wdtom44]

For a few dollars (maybe 10 or 20) you can buy a life time supply of new HSS tool bits. Much less if you get them at swap meets or flea markets. Then , as others have said, learn to grind them. Find a fine stone to remove the grinder marks. Get a 10 power loupe or other such magnifier to look at the edge to see when it is really sharp. The book How To Run A Lathe is very good for someone starting out. Inserts cost$$$, are easy to chip, and may not be as good as HSS in some cases especially with a light lathe.

[Arcane]

I purchased an older atlas a year ago and have used it occasionally, but unfortunately haven't learned much on properly selecting tooling.

My understanding is left tooling cuts from left to right, right tooling the opposite, and neutral for...?

I'll be using my lathe to turn basic spacers, bushings, etc. So 1 OD and or ID, and bushings with a lip (like a top hat). My current issue is what tooling do I need to use for rough stock, finishing, and to create the 90 degree corner in the lip of the bushings i need to make? I will be upgrading to inserts.

I use HHS a lot and carbide only when the material can't be cut with HSS. I have a 9" SB lathe that came with tool holders for HSS and a lantern post tool holder. What a PITA that thing was. I came across an advertisement in one of our hosts paper magazines for the Diamond tool holder and I ordered one and I am extremely happy with it. Nothing others have said about HSS can be faulted in any way but if you want an easy to use tool holder that uses super easy to grind tool bits that is suitable for almost everything you will be turning, the Diamond style tool holder fits the bill perfectly.