Carbide in tangential cutter.
Carbide in tangential cutter.
I have a cheap Indian 16x48 2 hp lathe. I spent the money to buy a diamond tool holder after watching the youtube, then barely used it. Recently I milled the shank of a brazed carbide to 1/4" and ground it on the jig that came with the holder. It made a very useful tool, only problem is no chip breaker, but a minute with the dremel with a diamond point fixed that. Essentially it is a carbide insert system now, and with a jig to sharpen the carbides, it runs very cheap., I was working it a bit hard the other day and melted the brass out of it.. But that was pilot error. It cuts nice and bright, and will take fairly heavy cuts.