The Home Machinist!

Understood, but don't fall in to the trap whereby you think a grinding wheel is a grinding wheel and can be used across the board. That will lead you to more frustration. HSS requires a soft wheel that isn't suited *** at all *** for grinding mild steel. A grinder that is intended for use in weldin...

The Amazon set appears to use standard inserts, which is good, since there are usually some good deals on inserts on eBay. Search CCMT 21.51 ad see. From right to left: WNMG, VCMT, CCMT, CCMT, VCMT. I'd have to look up the threading tool insert, and the parting tool insert I'm not sure about either...

The holder I have right now seems limited to 1/2" shanks. I'm not ready (budget) to buy a different holder (eg: QC) yet. Amazon has an amazing selection of (probably garbage) indexed tools and tips. Smithy appears to be out of stock on their own inserts: https://smithy.com/products/tin-coated- ...

I would caution you against one thing. Years ago, when I resided in Utah, a fellow club member asked me to stop by to see why the insert tooling he had purchased didn't work as he hoped. Keeping in mind that I do not bad-mouth things made in China simply because they're made in China, what I discov...

I don't think so, not with the equipment you have at your disposal. Procedure is likely more important than tool type. The only change I'd make in your situation would be to use an insert that offered greater strength-- a parallelogram instead of a triangle, but you can accomplish the task adequate...

No. Exactly the opposite. Set the tool as if you're going to take a turning cut, so you move towards B, not A. The 10° angle I spoke of would be such that the tip of the tool is closest to the face, while the heel of the tool is a small distance farther out. Experiement a little. You may find that ...

Thanks so much for the response. I'm still a little confused, so I attached an annotated image. It sounds like you are saying you want me to rotate the cutting tool HOLDER towards A, which would make for a shallower angle of attack against the interior of the gear (on the splined surface). Is that a...

Torch pretty much nailed it! If gears used in transmissions weren't hardened they wouldn't be up to the assigned task. I suspect that you're pretty much locked in to using carbide, although his recommendation to use a toolpost grinder grind is very good, assuming you have access to one, or you're a...

These machines are not really the most rigid for carbide tooling. Carbide is typically ground with negative rake. You may be better off with a high quality cobalt HSS like M42 (8% cobalt) ground with a slighly positive rake. Does a file cut into it or just skate off? That will give you a rough idea...

I inherited this Smithy 1220-XL from a friend who wanted it out of his basement. This is the first time I'm using it for a project, and I've chosen badly. I've looked through the user manual for the 1220, watched a bunch of videos on facing, and read a few things, but I'm still struggling a bit. A f...