mike_Webb

I have a Team Orion Motor Lathe and my carbide bit finally is dull after about 25 cuts. I had heard about McMaster-Carr having carbide bits so I bought 2 of them and when I got them the tips are more dull then my orion bit. I adjusted the lathe for the new bit with the shim and everything but it gives a crappy cut. I put my old bit back in to give it at least a good cut and it is a big improvement over the McMaster Bits.

Anyone know of a good place to buy cheap Carbide bits that are sharp? I can easliy push my Orion Bit through Drywall but when I do it with the McMaster Bit it just dents the drywall. I guess I might have to buy a diamond hone so that I can sharpen the orion bit.

I got the AR4 Bit from McMaster-Carr

Thanks

Mike Webb

patcollins

The bits dont come sharpened btw.

mike_Webb

Why do they not come sharpened?

motoxr

i have those bits for 5 bux a piece that are shapened and work very well on these lathes. i can send u some for 5 bones plus a dollar and a half shipping. the bits should come sharpened. thats why there is a little wax coating on the tip of the tool. to keep from chipping tip. i can take paypal as well. lmk. josh oh and i can sell diamond tipped units for 75 plus shipping. will oulast a carbide tip 300x. cya

patcollins

Because carbide is so hard its also brittle and a sharp point can easily get broken off in shipping. They dont cost enough to warrent packing them individually they just throw them in a box to ship a case of them. Thats why the tool bit factory doesnt sharpen them.

rto997

Hey I purchased some from there and they worked great!! four bucks a pop!!! Well worth it!! And they come packaged with the tips protected!!! I think the prob you may be having is that you may have gotten the wrong side one for your lathe!!

motoxr

no way man. im a machinist, ive ordered on to the numbers of hundreds of them, they do come sharp, and the should have a wax coating that protects the tip from damage. if u had to sharpen them all the time when they were new, it wouldnt be cost efficient tooo even mess with buying them. but anyway they should be sharp when the get to you. you should do yoursel a favor and get a polycrystaline diamond tip for like 51 bux and be done with it. 300x the life of carbide!

Trips

iTrader: (16)

Mike,

If I'm not mistaken, you need an AL4 for the Orion lathe.

Trips

mike_Webb

Thanks guys. My Tips did come with the Wax on it and a guy down the street is a machinist so I gave the tip to him. He said that they both were not sharp so he took them to work and sharpened them for me. They now work great.

Tripps-

Thanks fr the response but it is a AR4. Maybe the Orion came with AL4 but when I bought it off E-Bay it came with the AR4 Blade. When Looking at the Tip in front of you the Cuttling Blade is on the Left pointing Down. That is the same thing the AR4 blade is doing.

Thanks

Mike Webb

motoxr

i had been using the carbide for a while, got sick of replacing them after doing 5 or six comms. they dull up too quick.

patcollins

Sounds like you got the wrong bit, it should really be flat instead of pointing downward. Its not a knife.

mike_Webb

What I meant is that the Cutting Part is on the Left hand side of the Bit and at the bottom of the bit is where they little part that is sharp that skims the Comm. My neighbor says that it is a 8degree angle going from the right side of the bit to the left side. On the one that came with my Comm Cutter it is a 30degree angle... which is no big deal he said.

Thanks

Mike Webb

Trips

iTrader: (16)

Mike, I checked just to be sure, and the Orion lathe does need an AL4 bit, the same as the Cobra and Hudy lathes.

If you're runing an AR4 you've got the bit installed 90 degrees off or it wouldn't work at all. The "flat" part of the bit should face down, with the pointed side to the left. The arm you're truing should spin away from you in the lathe. If this isn't the case you could be getting better cuts.

An AR4 bit would cut from right to left if it were installed right side up, but our lathes all have the bit upside down, thus the AL4 to cut from right to left. If you were to ask a machinist, he'd probably think the AR4 is the proper bit because most machinists are accustomed to the workpiece turning toward them rather than away like our comm lathes do.

Trips

mike_Webb

Here is a picture of my lathe right now. Maybe the guy when he sent it to me put the bit in backwards. The bit now is the Orion bit and the McMaster bit fits in the same way.



Thanks for the help guys.

Mike Webb

Trips

iTrader: (16)

That sure looks like an AL4 in there... Same as mine:



Trips