My neighbor spotted this deal at a garage sale and called me asking if I was interested. It wasn't too far from home so I drove over and had a look. The Armstrong tool post and 2 Aloris BXA 201 sized tool holders were the only machining related items at this sale and looked pretty mint but dirty. It was a woman running the sale and she told me they were left over items from her ex-husband's stuff. The woman had no idea what they were but knew they were quite expensive to buy new. Someone had told her to ask for $400, I offered less and she jumped at my offer so they came home with me.
I took it apart and cleaned it with solvent to get the dried up grease and dirt out and it looks like new inside. I then re-assembled it with fresh light grease.
I already have a Chinese made wedge style tool post that I am pretty happy with. It has an Imperial threaded mounting post (same size and thread pitch as the Armstrong) and when I checked it I found the tool height to be repeatable to about +- .001". A couple of things about it have always bugged me though. Using the same tool holder mounted in the tool post perpendicular to the lathe bed results in a handle position about 45 degrees different that if it is mounted parallel to the lathe bed. Also the handle was always too far clockwise toward the chuck so I drilled and tapped 2 extra holes so I can re-position the handle further CCW when needed.
You can see the difference in the Chinese tool post handle positions in these 2 pics.
Here is the Armstrong with the same tool holder locked in both positions, as you can see the handle is in the same orientation in both pics
I tested the Armstrong tool post and it repeats tool height at +- .0002" so much better than the Chinese one. The last thing I noticed is that it is much more solid when a tool holder is locked. the handle on the old one has always been a little springy/mushy when locked, the Armstrong one is rock solid.
So is there a difference in performance between a North American built QCTP and an import one? I have to says yes there is.
![](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fphotos.smugmug.com%2Fphotos%2Fi-GS9jMR3%2F0%2F52e404e8%2FX2%2Fi-GS9jMR3-X2.jpg&hash=a8ee4b3da85dac8627e608d3b5dabf29)
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I took it apart and cleaned it with solvent to get the dried up grease and dirt out and it looks like new inside. I then re-assembled it with fresh light grease.
![](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fphotos.smugmug.com%2Fphotos%2Fi-TWCC4Tr%2F0%2Fcd66ed7a%2FX2%2Fi-TWCC4Tr-X2.jpg&hash=2fbceda1637070159fea9d0e1578de7c)
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I already have a Chinese made wedge style tool post that I am pretty happy with. It has an Imperial threaded mounting post (same size and thread pitch as the Armstrong) and when I checked it I found the tool height to be repeatable to about +- .001". A couple of things about it have always bugged me though. Using the same tool holder mounted in the tool post perpendicular to the lathe bed results in a handle position about 45 degrees different that if it is mounted parallel to the lathe bed. Also the handle was always too far clockwise toward the chuck so I drilled and tapped 2 extra holes so I can re-position the handle further CCW when needed.
You can see the difference in the Chinese tool post handle positions in these 2 pics.
![](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fphotos.smugmug.com%2Fphotos%2Fi-56F8djg%2F0%2F24872e2d%2FX2%2Fi-56F8djg-X2.jpg&hash=f9a163a456a903c553e706b6eb27ec67)
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Here is the Armstrong with the same tool holder locked in both positions, as you can see the handle is in the same orientation in both pics
![](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fphotos.smugmug.com%2Fphotos%2Fi-pzhxfGH%2F0%2Fa7a505d8%2FX2%2Fi-pzhxfGH-X2.jpg&hash=3a17761c48a0cab7a508fb2e8d209e81)
![](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fphotos.smugmug.com%2Fphotos%2Fi-QQcr3kW%2F0%2F49398b24%2FX2%2Fi-QQcr3kW-X2.jpg&hash=c816aabd8a9da20a48520214ad08c1ff)
I tested the Armstrong tool post and it repeats tool height at +- .0002" so much better than the Chinese one. The last thing I noticed is that it is much more solid when a tool holder is locked. the handle on the old one has always been a little springy/mushy when locked, the Armstrong one is rock solid.
So is there a difference in performance between a North American built QCTP and an import one? I have to says yes there is.
![](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fphotos.smugmug.com%2Fphotos%2Fi-K4nKTwH%2F0%2Ffeac6346%2FX2%2Fi-K4nKTwH-X2.jpg&hash=b48f8ae068699240d7471f04221f5e6c)
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