Turning down the shank of dovetail cutter

[AdeV]

Thanks! One question though; how do you ensure that the tool doesn't move side way while cutting?

The idea, I think, is that you screw that bolt down sufficiently hard that the cutter simply cannot move, except under exceptional forces - which you shouldn't encounter as you'll stall the lathe first.

The one issue I have with Bernd's setup as pictured (although I appreciate it's only an example), is that the bulk of the hold-down force will be over the bar to the left of the strap piece, and not over the cutter... Ideally, you want the bolt as close to the cutter as possible. If you're worried about movement, add a second clamp on the other side for extra stabilty, a bit like the attached C-o-C drawing.

[Bernd]

AdeV got it right. The bad part about locating the the hold down bolt will be the point at which the slots in the table will line up with the setup you will need.

It can be moved around untill the ideal condtion is found as Ade V's drawing shows and should be done like that if it is possible. Sometimes it's not. Which could be the case of the Sherline table and were the t-slots are located.

Bernd

[wongster]

Thanks AdeV and Bernd.  I was looking at the Sherline cross slide to see if I have sufficient space between the 2 slots for this setup.  The rocker toolpost solved the problem for me but adjusting tool height was rather a pain.

One more item to my knowledge bank.

Regards,
Wong