thanks Tom these videos are awesome I have been reading about lathes and machining and watching videos for a couple of years now . My first machine (Lathe is arriving tomorrow ) I am super excited I retired from 32 years in Law enforcement now I am starting a gunsmithing business Cant wait to set up my new lathe and get get started Thanks for all the great info

This is my favourite video so far. Only noticed yesterday that I wasn't even subscribed to you the past 4month of watching your videos but I've now subscribed so alls safe thank you for the helping tips.

Great first Round. The ole school grind is pretty awesome! Thanks for sharing.

A classic, "old school" tool grind, and a solid performer. Just the way I was taught many years ago. Don Herbert, TV's original "Mr.Wizard", was a fine teacher who always showed respect for his students, and inspired many of my generation. An apt reference for your many informative videos.

Thanks for taking the time to experiment with different cuts and tool positions.

The title of this video amuses me far more than it should, I'm sure it's been commented on before but A++

Thanks Tom (and Adam for that matter), I'm just dipping my toe into machining as a hobby, seems like it's time for me to put some effort into tool grinding. Great video series (and thanks for accommodating the metric folks as well)

Thanks Tom that's helped me a lot on tool grinding

I used to cook my fingers every time I used a bench grinder to shape HSS. I was watching this vid and feeling the burn. I've adopted a new strategy and it seems to work for me. I use a belt grinder with a pretty coarse ceramic belt on it to rough shape the blank. When it's close, I use a bench grinder that I put diamond wheels on, and that finishes fast and super smooth. For the heavier bits, like Tom's 1/2 inch sample, this works really well. I typically use smaller blanks, 3/8th being the largest normally, and typically, 1/4 inch. Tom you should also mention that surface finish is highly dependent on the quality of the cutting edge on the tool. This can be demonstrated easily. Even a sharp, well formed tool will give lackluster finish if it's rough. You can still screw up the finish a thousand ways, but the only way to get a great finish is to do everything right, tool speed, light depth of cut, surgical polished edge of correct geometry, presented to the workpiece rigidly, saturated with the correct lubricant/coolant. Only then can optimum finish be achieved. Also there are some materials that simply do not finish well. A36 hot rolled steel under the best conditions feels like "cat tongue" when turned because the material tears ahead of the cutting tool ( or so I've heard ). Using some exotic lubricants ( Crisco ) help, but I always leave time for using the toolpost grinder on the stuff if I have to use it. Then there's 12L14/2011/303 which have a very wide envelope of cutting conditions and still give excellent finish. 304 stainless makes stringy chips under just about every condition. Designing geometry, and finding a speed/feed to get chip control on 304 would be nice.

Im learning a lot Tom! thanks for todays lesson !

These videos are going to help me a bunch! Thanks

Man, you are the man! I went through a very vigorous apprenticeship and years of jobs, and I never did that, lap the tool, I will be doing that now!

Outstanding dem and explanation!!

All those chips and no dip. Nice grind Tom it worked great.

great video...I'm having a flashback to my days of grinding HSS in tech school and not paying attention, slipping and getting good finger grinds!!

what a monster of a lathe you have, i'm awe struk

Had me at the edge of my chair towards the end, was expecting that tool to give in. lol. Nice job Tom.

WOW! As always, thanks’ for taking the time to make this video! And I support this site. ~M~

Thanks for all the time you take to make vids. In Alaska I dont have alot of machining opportunitys I have worked for 3 shops that closed down wile was there people don't pay or turn wrenches any more so thanks to your amazing teaching ability I still get to learn. So I just bought a 13x40 doall probably over payed now just looking for vfd to for 220 in 3 phaze out and run 5hp. from what i read I need a vfd that is double or triple hp of my lathe because single phase. Or im miss reading and vfds that are 3phase in dont run full power on single phase just confusing to a outdoorsman I can show I how not to get ate by a grizzly or how to gut a moose and fight off bears as you walk in the dark with 100+lbs of blood dripin meat. I can do that but electrical engineer I'm not at least not yet. from ALASKA THANKS FOR ALL THE KNOWLEDGE CANT WAIT FOR YOUR NEXT VID "TEACH" P.s to any 1 who hikes in the woods YOU ARE BEAR BAIT!! In Alaska we know this and we call your orange tents" TWINKES "for bears get it ''YOUR THE CREAM FILLING " hahah

Love the videos. Thanks heaps for the metric notations.

Remember grinding high speed tooling when I started in a machine shop . Turning tool threading tool and necking tool and drill bits .

Hi Tom, Nice job and I am learning lots from this. I liked Abom's grind also. Thanks M.K.S.

I truly like your desire to show your talents so many times I wanted to leave this trade.

Tom I really liked your selection of the tool steel grind. I knowingly smiled when you were showing how you planned to grind the tool as I have used these before and grind-ed them myself . All of the angles from the lead angle on to the others make for a very strong efficient tool. I have used carbide inserted tools for roughing which has the same type of angled lead and they really do the work. I enjoyed your processes and results. The Old School way is always good for me. I like the sound of those smaller blue chips clinking around they are just right.

Thanks for the video, I could see a lot.

Love what you are doing, subscribed.

Wow I was surprised to see high speed steel take such a large bite. Definitely need to try some of these grinds. M&R JOHNSON

wow awesome chips Tom. i have a largish (13" swing over bed and 4' between centres) and i think it would struggle with cuts like those, epic work and good tool grind. keep up the good work. off to see what adam comes to the table with. also liking the soluble oil for smoke free cutting. best regards lee

Great video as always. This caught my eye in the comments: This is Major Tom to Ground Control I'm starting up the lathe stepping through the door. And I'm floating in a most peculiar way and the chips look very different today. Tom you put big a smile on face..........This ground control to Major Tom, you've really made the grade, and the viewers want know how deep you go, now its time to change your feed rate if you dare...........man you cracked me up! Regards Ralph

That was a demanding cut! That lathe has grunt!

Great title for the video chip control to Major Tom.

Excellent demonstration of the master's at work. Thank you

Your grind reminded me of a ship's bow. I like it.

Nice one Tom - look forward to see what Adam has up his sleeves. -hhilm

Great and timely video Tom. I just went through feeds and speeds with my students, again. Thier goal is to see who can get the longest chip but I've been trying to explain to them that a short chip is best. I'll show them this video and maybe it'll help get my point across. I'm sure it will. Thanks again.

Hi Tom, Thanks for the Old School lesson in Basic HSS Turning Tool Grinding. You ground your Top, Side, and End Angles to 10 deg. I wonder if you ground the Top Angle to 5 deg and ground a 1/64th nose radius on the tool, would it help with chip control and surface finish?

Hi Tom, thanks for the video.

Nice response Tom. That little bench grinder seems like it has plenty of power for grinding tool bits. What brand is it...just curious. I see you decided to try some back rake on your grind. I wanted to try that on my next round. I think we got some similar results with the cut, but my ultimate goal is to maintain a breaking chip. Thats how I like that cold rolled to form....perfect little curly cues coming off the tool. After I show some deep heavy cutting, I want to get back into my standard chip breakers and how they work for me under normal cutting jobs. I guess I need to fire that coolant pump back up too. I'll just put a drip pan under it when I use it. Lots less smoke then with all the cutting oil...LOL So don't count me out just yet. I got plenty more to show ya! Best regards buddy, Adam

You touched on something that very few mention: changing tool height. So many are so hung on the tool always being exactly on center. I have a lightweight 12x36 Atlas/Craftsman lathe. Probably your carriage weighs as much as my lathe ;). If you raise the center height it does change the rake and front clearance angles and the side becomes a bit of a shear. It also changes the direction of the force on the tool. Rather than straight down it is at an angle. This can change how the toolpost and carriage flex. I have used it to control chatter on a light lathe. Some material just wants to fight you and a smooth finish. Another tool in the arsenal other than feed rate, RPM. and tool angles. I should mention, running a tool above center may help, but you will need to adjust it for every radius. It is a pain to do but can work. Thanks for going outside the box ;) I'm enjoying these chip control videos. Always nice to see what you can do. I'm happy with 0.040 DOC, 0.008 feed and blue chips coming off my small lathe. ;)

thanks for milimeter conversion!!! nice video!!!

I'd love to see the insides of an aloris type tool post some day, if you're ever opening yours up for any reason...Haven't figured out how how they might have made the dovetail expand like that using a handle motion like that.

Hi Tom, still trying to get caught up, just a couple weeks behind now, I really like the way you explain as you go and walk us through step by step, I am certainly learning a lot about this whole process. OK, I'll head over to see what Adam is up to next. Boy, with chips like these, my "collection' would really be impressive..... Thanks for a great video ...... Mike

Tom, I HAD to chuckle,@5.07 you mentioned no need for the web etc to use the handy reference book. "It works when the lights are out"....but unfortunately the mill and lathe do not!! LOL Eric

thanks for the mm conversion.

Awsome vid Tom. I have a old Craftsman 6" lathe I restored. I have an A2Z QCTP that came with some 3/8 indexable tools, but the lathe cuts much better with 1/4 HSS. The OEM lantern toolpost uses 3/16 tools. Do you have any sugestions for grinding chip brekers on 1/4 HSS or smaller 3/16 HSS.? I bought a craftsman 8" grinder, but such a small chip breker doesn't seem doable on a grinder. Maybe when you get down to a 1/4 HSS chip brakers are thrown out the window. Whats your experience? All the vids and info on tool grinding seem to deal with larger tools 3/8 and up. Thanks in advance, for any help. Ron

Can you make some videos about how to get a smooth finish by grinding nose radius Ox? I think it will be very helpful. Thank you so much!

Tom, Your detail showing on the tool profile geometry grinding is AWESOME!!!!!, Nowhere is there any real clear data on it apparently it just gets absorbed by osmosis just being around old salty machinists!, thanks again for helping the noobs out here floundering along

What grit is the lapping stone? Big thanks to you and Adam taking the time to make these videos.

Great video Tom. In these days of inserts many people don't realize that HSS is quite capable albeit at a slower volume/time. Being as how this is only a teaser we'll allow you to keep the chipbreaker grind for the real competition... :-) Colin

Great video. I love seeing you guys go back and forth and share ideas. Would be great if Keith Fenner would weigh in too. Two questions, what manfacturer/material/grit are your grinding wheels and what is the water based coolant you use? Keep it tasty!

I was thinking short high degree tapers like you might use to machine a model rocket nozzle. But long propeller shaft tapering whould also be interesting

You make grinding the tool so easy. I guess experience counts. What kind of stone are you grinding with. Thanks for all your videos.

With the 10° lead angle ground in and the deeper depths of cut you were taking, the cut begins closer to the tool post than to the point, so don't you end up with a matching beveled angle on the shoulder where you stop your cut, almost like it was a form tool?

Hi Tom, Nice vid, can i ask what grit/type of course wheel you are using on your grinder? It looked to move the HSS very well, far better than the 36g white AlOx that i use does. Cheers, Ueee

Hi Tom, a question on the ´finger-rest you have installed at the grinder disc. What is the tilt(approx.)? Do you have it setup at 0 degrees tilt(meaning flat) or do you have a slight angle? I mean the L-shaped metalplate surrounding your grinding disc?

You can change feed rate wile spindle is turning on your Yam lathe? I don't think Doall lathes can do that.

Adam did some nice big blue chips with coolant mist and cutting oil very thick and heavy very rough cutting what are you guys doing

Hi Tom, That's impressive, how many horses to drive the space ship? As we know Adam, as soon as he is finished with the dilemma of the 1/10 of inches, his pride will make him very creative so he doesn't get beaten. As far as HSS hardness is concern, it can be heated up A LOT before it looses it's properties. One test I performed: I welded a piece of HSS to a mandrel, then I tested the hardness on a Rockwell meter, it resulted the same thing on the heated zone as the other end not affected by heat, around 61 to 62 Rockwell C... Impressive material! The little lathes are shivering while we assist to the epic battle, I enjoy this more than TV, Pierre

I am definitely going to do a follow up video at some point on my heavy turning video. I was at .030 feed rate with my 1" bit I would have liked to have seen how your 1/2"did at at least .015. I think it might have broken the chip even better. I am thinking crowding the feed rates might result in more faster metal removal than just making a deeper cut. I can't wait to get time and materials to try it with! Thanks for the great insightful video.

as far i can remember were been things like "chip brakers" or something like this or tool geometry what helps to control chips, without a pictures i cant explain this but i remember how it worked

I love this old school stuff I want to get involved

Hi Tom, old school worked well! That's how it hung in there long enough to be old! I'm getting pretty old, and it's mostly my way... ;o] For the most part that was just how I'd grind it. Perhaps depending on material, and machine/machinist (chips)... I may have put just a "tiny" bit more radius on the point,,, (very slight). There was not even the least little bit of strain coming from the sound of your lathe... It seems to be quite a nice machine! Y'all are creating quite a nice series and are great teachers. Thank you... :o] O

Hi tom, could you at some point make a video about machining tapered parts? Tappered externally and also doing a tapered bore? I can find some videos on it but I would appreciate your take on the topic. James

Were was this video 2 years ago when I was making a lot of smoke and black chips! I assume you are going to delve into grinding a chipbreaker in a later video. What is your preferred coolant? This was a great video, hss can be extremely frustrating.

very interesting tom about the feed rates higher feed rate looks a better chip

What combination of wheel grit, wheel construction do you recommend for HSS?

When I first learned to calculate feeds/rpm/chipload I did it longhand. Damn. Wish I had known that immense cheat going in to it. Would have saved at least 2 full pencils and countless pieces of paper.

ahhh i see magic under the tool bit :)

as i remember as shrper the very tip more easily it brakes so you go to "daimnd" wheal and round sharp corner and polish surfaces (to let chip go easy)

Very well explained , as usual ! But why don't you use these diamond tipped wheel dresser instead of this ninja star ones??

Tom, what is that tool called @23:50 that helps you get your cutter on center? That's awesome. Did you make that?

the carbide tip actually dissipates the heat from the cut so you can so in higher speeds with the carbide bits

thanks for the show tom...what grit wheel do you recommend ?.....

How thick are the copper jaws you put on your vises?

deos getting the bit that hot when grinding it remove its hardness somewhat? im much more cautious when i grind a drill bit for example, which is also hss

Hi, Very interesting watching you grind your tool. Purely for my own interest, can you find time in any video to demonstrate a chip-breaker on one of your home ground tools please? This I have to say is for my interests only as I do not have the capability to grind anymore.

I cant help wondering if you have ever heard of 'Heat treatment' bcoz you get your HSS so hot when grinding it goes blue. I would go so far as to suggest that is completely the wrong wheel for grinding that metal, but, Meh, what would I know?

Let me be clear… I am now much more versed on the relationship between feed, RPM, depth of cut, geometry and sharpening technique. I am just a bit confused as to the specific goals. Thanks!!

Hey Major Tom, (any relation to David Bowie?) Thanks for the Chips Ahoy video. It is interesting how all the variables (cutter profile, spindle speed, feed rate, etc.) have such a profound effect of chip shape and color. Those last ones were getting pretty toasty! I'd love to join in, but the 13" Birmingham I am ordering (2hp motor) wouldn't cut the mustard, let alone a .800+ chip! Thanks for the info. BTW, what grit grinding wheels do you use? The first one appeared rather hungry. Regards, Oxen Dave

Hi, Tom. thanks for the schooling on tool bits. i think i was making mine wrong all this time, my nose radius are huge and side loading my work pieces. your equation: what is the units or value of the "4" or is it a consistent??? thanks for the great videos. sorry about the stupid questions.

If the chip is changing color, you know its doing its job. That is, carrying heat away; from the tool and from the work piece. Well done! On a side note, we have a lathe guy in our shop that absolutely LOVES to let everyone know when he's cutting 304 stainless. The high pitched screeching is an abomination and everyone in the shop despises it and we're not wearing hearing protection and have to listen to it all day sometimes. There are many factors involved when cutting 304. The tool height, the radial depth, the cut per rev, tool condition etc., and yet.... he professes to be an expert but can not rough 304 with no screeching. There IS A WAY gosh dang it!!! and ... what it is I do not know but I would supremely like to show him how to do his job. I've worked a tiny bit on the lathe and am mostly a mill guy but when I cut, I cut. I don't rub and chatter. Any suggestions, Tom or posters here? It is aggravating and bothers everyone in the shop. Is there a way to deal with this with numbers?

Tom, that is pretty impressive now if you could convert it to making curly fries I would declare you the winner..my poor little old lathe would be weeping if I showed it this video.

Can you tell more about the honing stone?

The HSS cutting speeds in the books and on the charts are based on a 60 minute tool life. GREAT CUTTING TOOL ! Nice cutting with .4375" depth & .010" feed, no more steel wool ! Great to see you using real man's coolant ! By the way those unrealistic high speeds manufacturers recommend for their carbide inserts are based on a 15 minute edge life !

Is that a 6 or 8 jaw chuck? Interesting, do you have a video explaining how different it is to indicate versus a 3 or 4 jaw chuck?

Well done! Show me your chips, I'll evaluate your craftmanship...

Why do you not just use regular coolant? Love your skills!!

time goes slowly, but carries on and now the best years have come and gone you took me by suprise, i didn't realize that you were lapping

Tom and Adam… I think I might be a little unclear as to the specific goals. Bear in mind that I am watching other youTube videos of others who are following your lead. It seems that the overall goal is how big of a chip can you take. I really am not trying to be a smart ass… But as a "newcomer" to machinery and your skill set, I am soaking up the information and this seems important to me. So, please, what are your specific goals for this series? Thanks for what you are doing!!

Hey Tom... I am confused...7/8" depth of cut is really TIR, the actual ("in feed") contact of the cut is 7/16" Confused or correct or are we talking the same? Chuck

Are the drill feedrates given per diameter or as a formula using diameter as a variable? I also believe there should be a variation due to web thickness as well as the flute depth, lead angle, flute geometry and overall quantity of material and rigidity left in the drill structure after grinding. And that isn't even mentioning the big hitters like point and relief angle, and every facet engineered into it purposefully designed to be material specific. You would be the perfect guy to write a better guideline. I'd give hundreds of dollars for something like that lol. There is more to be written about the process of machining variable wise than just about any other system in the world. But computers are steadily compiling the info. Silently waiting and listening. I keep track of things like the deviation in the finished dimensions of parts I make based upon the temp of the machine, up-time, and how long it has been sitting in a state allowing it to cool. I love the Swiss process... It is one of the most controllable manufacturing processes I have been exposed to. Which is why I can't wait to start learning both tool&die processes as well as advanced metrology.

Any micro(say .0001) deviation from a true plane on the leading edge of any cutting tool is actually worse for the drill wearing than just taking the whole edge down to being smooth. In case any of you were wondering why he lapped the tools, he did it because a tool wears from one of 2 things. Either by friction (I.E. gradual dulling in a relatively uniform manner) or by exploiting the inherent geometrical weakness in the chipped portion of metal which causes any chip to still have microfractures around it which only serve to actually keep chipping further instead of wearing. Honing a tool is like shoveling your walkway 2 feet wider if you live in a place with alot of snow. It helps mitigate the amount of times the material need to be removed to still provide reasonable performance. You do not have to hone...They both work, but in a relatively short time the non-honed tool will dramatically decrease in performance. And on a micro scale it will also leave tiny ridges everwhere there was a chip. Wonder what if anything you could do after honing. I assume a chemical coating would further refine the edge as well as possibly eliminating surface pores. And he is absolutely correct, tools do not always cut best at center. But it always has to be close

As much as I realize how much carbide insert tooling has made life in the shop easier I also believe that if you don't know how to grind and use HSS you aren't a machinist. You're an "operator". Well OK maybe a little more than that. I'll use carbide for most operations but for a lot of stuff I switch to HSS for grooving*, threading and form tools. Plus most manual lathes simply cannot take advantage of carbide threading inserts in terms of speed. *A lot of the grooving I do is face grooving for O-rings. The tools for this usually require more than normal side clearance to clear the outer diameter of the groove

mostly a purple c chip, wow that's nice

you would be a good teacher at school explaning this with visual difference , all what i had is HSS low cutting speed and tungsten carbide tips high speed (the rest on your experience ) and these with changeable tips ( bench grinder not even cut well ) .. .:) , good fun .... afther you have to go and "dress" bench grinder wheal :) i didnt knew any thing better at my 15'teens :) ....wonderful times been , we just try brake a thing and no punishment , if i be with my knowledge back in those times

What powers the lathe when the lights go out? ;)

Why do you have to deepen the top back rate. Would it give the same result if you give that 10 degrees but let the tool ½" solid? You remove nearly a ¼ " from the top but you a add a ¼" shim. It's as in the Atlas book "How to run a lathe" but in those times they used lantern tool post. You use an Aloris straight tool post. Most interesting video. Speed rate and RPM is not an easy thing to understand. Hope that you will talk more about that subject. Mainly Speed rate & RPM for standard cut, for us who live on the earth and finishing cut the old way, for those who are older than you 😉 thanks again. Merci

Greetings- I was trying to point out to others who have light duty 3 jaw chucks and a short purchase that they would have trouble making this depth of cut without using a tail stock. I have had it happen to me many times with a 12 inch atlas and short purchase. More likely, the part will move into the chuck as far as it can, and the part will slip in the chuck. I suspect your surface finish would be better with a tailstock. Jim

I was always taught cs*3.82/D Perhaps the CS numbers in my book are adjusted for that?

Want a tough test for your chip breaker, try some 17-4. I was turning some 17-4 a few days ago, and generally being lazy grabbed my toolholder that already had a nice cutter in it set on-center, however sans chip breaker. It shot out a long lethal ribbon that you wouldn't believe! Made me rethink what I was doing because I wanted to live!