Today we are going to cover a purchase of ours from a few years ago, the Accusize Industrial Tools 3/8” Shank 7 Pc Indexable Carbide Turning Tool Set in Fitted Box, 2387-2003. These were initially purchased as part of the Atlas Craftsman 618 Lathe Treadmill motor conversion project that we also changed to a quick change OXA tool post from Shar’s tooling to accommodate the carbide tooling.
The kit comes in a nice black plastic with aluminum edged, 8.25” x 5.75” x 2.125” foam lined hard case with a chart showing tool speeds, feeds and replacement insert numbers, Allen keys and spare screws for the carbide inserts. The tools have a black oxide finish and have a smooth good quality surface finish for their price point. Some of the tooling we have that is in this price range is truly terrible, the surface finish is bad, the coating is bad, the insert threaded hole tolerance is bad, you name it. These tools are great quality for the money.
Tool Posts
The change to a quick change tool post is a must with the change to carbide tooling as the rake is built into carbide inserts and the tool body is meant to be on flat plane at the correct height to the centreline which is fully adjustable on a Quick Change tool post.
For a 6-9” lathe an OXA tool post is used as shown below.
For a 6-12” lathe an AXA Tool Post is used as shown below.
For a 10-15” lathe an BXA tool post is used as shown below.
For a 13-18” lathe an CXA Tool post is used as shown below.
This carbide tooling has now been used on both that 618 Lathe and our Atlas 3996 12 x 36 Lathe and has worked flawlessly on both machine sizes. These carbide tools have now been used on hundreds of machining operations by us over the past few years and they are absolutely outstanding for offshore carbide. We definitely recommend these as a must have for the home machinist. Looking at the tools it is hard to establish how long they are, here is a shot by a ruler.
The are two negatives, one is not with these tools, it is Carbide in general, it prefers cuts deeper than .010”, when sneaking up on a critical final size you had best do your math right to get the final cut correct.
The other negative is, the only tool we were not impressed with in this kit is the parting tool, you can see a side profile of it below. This tool should be beefier for small shank tooling and it will only allow you to part off a .850” diameter. By offering this tooling in this shank size you know it is being used on a small hobby lathe. Small hobby lathes are springy by nature, carbide does not like springy, tooling must be rigid or bad things happen. The Accusize carbide tools are great for the money. The part numbers of the tools as well as the inserts included in the kit is below for reference.
Replacement Inserts
Replacement inserts are available here.
SWGCR06-2J – Left hand shoulder 90°
Insert: WCMT22
Accusize part number: 2139-1020
SDJCR-06-2J – Left hand 93° shoulder
Insert: DCMT21.5
Accusize part number: 2104-1010
SCLCR-06-2J – Left hand 95° shoulder
Insert: CCMT21.5
Accusize part number: 2200-1008
SCLCL-06-2J – Right hand 95° shoulder
Insert: CCMT21.5
Accusize part number: 2200-1008
SDNCN-06-2J – 62.5°
Insert: DCMT21.5
Accusize part number: 2104-1010
SER0375J11 – 60° Threading
Insert: 11ER A60
Accusize part number: 2652-0015
MGEHR06-2J – Parting tool
Insert: MGMN200-M
Accusize part number: 2403-4022
You should buy a set as sometimes stuff happens and you need a new insert and it sucks having to stop a project until new ones arrive. We have managed to break a few inserts, 90% of the issues were created by us doing something dumb, only 10% of the issues were bad carbide. That’s a pretty good ratio for carbide that is so cost effective.
Upgraded Parting Tool
You can buy a heavy duty part off tool from Accusize separately, which is what we did. The part is Accusize Industrial Tools 3/8” by 1/2” Heavy Duty Indexable Grooving/Parting Holder with a Gtn-2 Tin Coated Carbide Insert, 2415-5022. It is much beefier and more in line with the quality of the rest of this kit. The inserts don’t break from tool flex when using this tool versus the original one.
Conclusion
To buy a non chinese carbide tool kit like this would be 5 times this price or more depending on what brand you buy. For the home machinist that is just way too much money and totally unnecessary. This works great, and allows you to spend money on other tooling to allow you to make more stuff. Win, win situation.
Try a set, you will be surprised and happy you bought them!