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Piston V.S. Wedge AXA QCTPs Question..

They should be Craig. Same dovetail, just different lock mechanism. I will be looking for an AXA for Miss Metric and part of the reason is so all my tooling can be used on either lathe.
 
Really Tom? I hadn't realized that. In fact KBC sent me a very nice Aloris parting tool holder by mistake (or maybe it was a gift because the KBC China brand was out of stock..... Yaaaa.... that's what happened LOL). Anyways it fit perfect. That was many years ago though.
 
Tom Kitta said:
Yes no issues interchanging - as long as you do not interchange between US made and Chinese made tool posts. US made are smaller.
Click to expand...

I've noticed some of the QCTPs are advertised with US appended to their description.
 
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PeterT said:
Really Tom? I hadn't realized that. In fact KBC sent me a very nice Aloris parting tool holder by mistake (or maybe it was a gift because the KBC China brand was out of stock..... Yaaaa.... that's what happened LOL). Anyways it fit perfect. That was many years ago though.
Click to expand...

Yes, the US made Aloris is too small for my Chinese QCTP and does not fit. The Chinese made holders are very loose on my US made other lathe QCTP. This is all recent - last few years - maybe it was different long time ago.
 
@Tom O : for holding power and if you have a good fit - the wedge wins - lots of surface area contact, support both ends of the holder. Piston style applies pressure to the center of the holder. Theoretically, you will only have the two back surfaces of the dovetail as the piston pushes out to lock things into place.

Practically, we have the dovetail at work and I have the piston at home....satisfied with both.
 
wedge is better if you have iffy holders - if you have quality holders they are about even - i.e. no difference that I can tell.

Also quality of the tool holder is more important then type.
 
Tom Kitta said:
Yes no issues interchanging - as long as you do not interchange between US made and Chinese made tool posts. US made are smaller.
Click to expand...

I have a few bxa tool holders that are a PIA to install in the QCTP. I always attributed that to quality but never thought more about it. You may have just explained it!

Thank you!

Never thought I'd ever see the day when I would actually prefer made in China.
 
That might explain why my wedge holders I picked up through wall mart are a little loose. One takes almost the full swing of the locking bar to tighten. Still seems to work though.
 
I have both piston and wedge, and the only advantage I can see for wedge is that they take undersized dovetails easier. For holding power, for the work I do, I have never seen a difference.

To open the other can of worms, because 'why not?'...

Brand name versus generic, cheap versus expensive:

I have a very cheap offshore toolpost, and moderate offshore toolpost and a genuine Aloris toolpost with Aloris holders, very cheap holders, and moderate holders. I have seen no practical difference in any of them - the very cheap ones need some work as the finishing is **** and the tightening nuts/bolts need replacing immmediately.

The Aloris seems a little more solid, and the holders have a decent heat treat. thai's it.
 
Ok I figured they were about the same but it never hurts to ask I’d like to try that threading away from a shoulder ( reverse ) but if I flipped the tool with the 4 post the cutter height would be way way low, I’m not sure if there is different inserts for this but I’d think it would have clearance problems.
 
there's two solutions to this dilemma - cut from behind by making a fixed toolpost, and making a custom holder that has a step in it...kind of like a stylized Zed.
 
Tom O said:
Ok I figured they were about the same but it never hurts to ask I’d like to try that threading away from a shoulder ( reverse ) but if I flipped the tool with the 4 post the cutter height would be way way low, I’m not sure if there is different inserts for this but I’d think it would have clearance problems.
Click to expand...

What is this threading away from a shoulder (reverse) ?
 
Tom O said:
Ok I figured they were about the same but it never hurts to ask I’d like to try that threading away from a shoulder ( reverse ) but if I flipped the tool with the 4 post the cutter height would be way way low, I’m not sure if there is different inserts for this but I’d think it would have clearance problems.
Click to expand...

Sorry @Tom O , I can't figure out what you are asking. Are you talking about cutting from the backside or from the front in reverse?
 
Here goes:

Normally you thread from the tailstock toward the headstock in forward to make a right hand thread.

Joe Pieccyzinski among others suggests that you thread away from the headstock to prevent crashes, etc. to do this, and still get a right hand thread, you have to run the lathe in reverse, you thread away from the headstock, but this involves turning your tuning tool upside down - if the tool is on the front of the work.

Th alternative method, which is used my model makers in the UK a lot, is to make a new tool holder behind the work, still on the carriage,, to hold the tool holder. This is also used for cutting off. but in the threading mode, is used for threading away from the chuck.

I hope I've clarified things a little.
 
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