AXA Tool Holder(s)

[Dusty]

And finally success.... no shim required

View attachment 20527

Started out a good 2mm too narrow and worked the dove tail open a smidge at a time on the shaper. Was an all afternoon venture

Question - Are the aluminum holders worth finishing or will they just give me grief down the road?

Well done Craig, been waiting for this post only because you're a dogmatic (pit bull) kind of hobbyist. Yes steel is the way forward along with a small bag of dog point set screws and you will never look back. Just saying!

 

[140mower]

And finally success.... no shim required

View attachment 20527

Started out a good 2mm too narrow and worked the dove tail open a smidge at a time on the shaper. Was an all afternoon venture

Question - Are the aluminum holders worth finishing or will they just give me grief down the road?

I don't know if I would use the aluminum ones for cutting, but one could certainly hold an indicator and the other a bump tool, or some other light duty use..... they would be perfect for that.

 

[DPittman]

And finally success.... no shim required

View attachment 20527

Started out a good 2mm too narrow and worked the dove tail open a smidge at a time on the shaper. Was an all afternoon venture

Question - Are the aluminum holders worth finishing or will they just give me grief down the road?

Good job man, I admire your perseverance.

 

[140mower]

And finally success.... no shim required

View attachment 20527

Was an all afternoon venture
If you source some slabs, you can cut 3-4 at a time in the same amount of time then cut them off in the bandsaw, (scratch that, power hacksaw, this is a shaper job after all) makes it seem more productive.....

 

[Susquatch]

I measured the dovetail angle on my BXA tool post and tool holders today using 3 different methods. A magnifying comparator, pins of different ODs, and a gauge. They are all as close to 60° as I could reasonably conclude.

 

[140mower]

Well, somehow I buggered that up... Lol

 

[YYCHM]

Well, somehow I buggered that up... Lol

You added your comment inside the quote LOL....

I hear what your saying..... with a 8" stroke and each holder being 1.5" wide one could make 4 at a time.

 

[Susquatch]

Well, somehow I buggered that up... Lol

You can always edit the post or even delete it and start over....

 

[YYCHM]

You can always edit the post or even delete it and start over....

No he can't. That's a premium member privilege unless things have changed.

 

[140mower]

No he can't. That's a premium member privilege unless things have changed.

Even if I did, I would probably only bugger it up worse. Lol. Better to leave it be and let the youngun's have a chuckle at another old fart online....

 

[YYCHM]

Re the set screws, my early China ones were actually IMP but seems like they are all now metric, M8? You can get dog point style on Ebay/Ali pretty reasonably but I've used regular set screws too.

Tool set screws are M8-1.25. Any idea what the height adjustment screw is? Looks to be M10 with a fine thread?

 

[Susquatch]

No he can't. That's a premium member privilege unless things have changed.

I think you are right. IIRC, new members have very restricted rights, regular members have editing rights, and premium members can delete posts as well as also being able to edit titles etc. There may be some time limits in there too.

Even if I did, I would probably only bugger it up worse. Lol. Better to leave it be and let the youngun's have a chuckle at another old fart online....

Hey hey hey...... I may not be the oldest member on here but I'm definitely an old fart with grandkids and one great grand kid but I'm not yielding any ground to those youngun's!!!!!

It's easy to do. Grow some and give it a whirl. Nothing to lose and at worst we will all get to have a good laugh WITH you!

The real challenge comes when someone else quotes something you said that you regret saying. That turns into a bit of a dogs breakfast. Ask me how I know! I had to do that with @YYCHM once. He was most accommodating. But in the end I was glad to be able to do it and even happier to know how.

Go ahead. Call me a stubborn old goat, post it, and then fix it!

 

[Susquatch]

Tool set screws are M8-1.25. Any idea what the height adjustment screw is? Looks to be M10 with a fine thread?

I'll be out today doing toolpost things anyway. I have both types. I'll measure them and let you know.

FWIW, my biggest bitch is the need for multiple Allen wrenches to tighten all the different lock screws.

One of my to-do projects is gunna be a block of wood to hold and keep all of them handy. A place for all and all in their place!

 

[Dabbler]

Are the aluminum holders worth finishing

Why not" they are a lot stronger than you think. for taking light cuts, with HSS tolls they will be just fine.

 

[Dan Dubeau]

There are a lot of tools that would be perfectly suited to live in an aluminum holder.

Indicator,
Bump bearing tool for aligning stock
Chamfer tool
etc

I don't think I'd want my daily driver turning tools in one, but for occasional uses, and one where repeatability over time isn't a big problem they'd be perfectly fine.

 

[Susquatch]

Tool set screws are M8-1.25. Any idea what the height adjustment screw is? Looks to be M10 with a fine thread?

My height adjustment screws are ALL 10mm - 1.0.

My set screws are a mixture of about 75% M8-1.25 and 25% M10-1.5.

That's no biggie in my mind. But I prolly have 5 different size Allen wrenches to fit them all..... I HATE THAT!

 

[YYCHM]

My height adjustment screws are ALL 10mm - 1.0.

My set screws are a mixture of about 75% M8-1.25 and 25% M10-1.5.

That's no biggie in my mind. But I prolly have 5 different size Allen wrenches to fit them all..... I HATE THAT!

M10-1.0 ..... That fine eh? Thanks for checking.

 

[Tom Kitta]

I bet mine are imperial - no metric stuff. It does not matter really. As for AL I agree with dabbler that you can use them for cutting as well - they simply will wear out faster and become more loose. As long as you don't hog with a tool in one they should work fine. But do report back, I am curious to find out. Mild steel, unhardened ones I have work great.

 

[140mower]

My height adjustment screws are ALL 10mm - 1.0.

My set screws are a mixture of about 75% M8-1.25 and 25% M10-1.5.

That's no biggie in my mind. But I prolly have 5 different size Allen wrenches to fit them all..... I HATE THAT!

Sounds like it is time to make a rotory broach....

 

[6.5 Fan]

I have a couple of Aloris holders i think 2 are CXA and a big DA 55 if anybody needs some measurements. Think they are bored for a 3mt taper maybe bigger for the DA. Haven't looked at them for a while, got them in an auction buy 25 years ago and never used them.