You’ll also get a little humor along the way – something that is usually missing from most machining-related videos. What stones do you have in your toolbox? Feel free to add your “two cents” by visiting the forum topic related to this video.

Enjoy!

To leave a comment join the forum discussion on this post

Keep in mind, this list is intended for the beginner. Someone who has just purchased a shiny new lathe or mill and has no idea what tools they need to buy to go along with it.

I’ll try to list the most important items in each category first. In some cases I’ll provide links to further explanation on some items (like which brands to look for, which size, etc).

Safety Equipment:

• Eye Protection
• Ear Protection
• Steel Toe (or thick leather) shoes with a hard sole (to prevent chips from poking through).
• No Gloves, Jewelery (rings, necklaces, watches, etc), Long Hair, Long Sleeves – nothing that could get caught in moving machinery.
  • If you have long hair, get a hat to tuck it under. “Pony Tails” can still get caught.

Hand Tools:

• Calculator (any cheap scientific that has Sin, Cos, and Tan functions)
• Screwdrivers (#2 Phillips, 4″ Flat)
• Pliers
  • Needle Nose
  • Diagonal Cutting Pliers
  • Channel Lock Pliers
• Hex Keys (metric and fractional sizes)
• Files
  • #2 Smooth Cut Mill Bastard
  • Jewelers Files
  • File Card
• Scribe (carbide tipped)
• Deburring Tools (Noga or Vargus brands are good)
• “Fishtail” (for setting up threading operations)
• Thread Pitch Gage (for measuring threads)

Measuring Equipment

• 6″ Scale (5R or 16R with 100th’s)
• 6″ Caliper (vernier, dial, or digital – buy a cheap Harbor Freight one, if you need better accuracy you should be using a micrometer anyway).
• 1″ Micrometer (vernier – Etalon, Starrett, Browne and Sharp, and Mititoyu are all good brands – buy a good quality used micrometer off of ebay).
• Magnetic (“Mag”) Base (Noga is a good brand)
• Test Indicator (Interapid, Browne and Sharp, or Mititoyu brand)
• Travel Dial Indicator (1″ – buy a cheap one in case you destroy it. Harbor Freight is fine).

Lathe Tool Bits:

• High Speed Steel (HSS) blanks that can be ground to any shape (you’ll need a bench grinder if you plan on grinding your own tools).
• Indexable Inserts
• Carbide Tipped
• Boring Bar

Mill Tool Bits:

• End Mills (assorted sizes to fit your needs)
  • 2 flutes (for soft metals like aluminum)
  • 4 flutes (for harder metals like steel)

Tool Boxes:

• Kobalt/Craftsman (this is the minimum quality tool box you could choose. You’ll soon find that the drawers on these mechanic-style tool boxes are far too large for your small tools. Avoid cheap brands like Husky or Harbor Freight).
• Kennedy (better quality, smaller drawers which is ideal for all the small tools you’ll acquire).
• Gerstner (best quality, but expensive. If you plan on making this a lifelong hobby or profession, consider a good quality wooden tool chest that will help protect your tools from rust).

To leave a comment join the forum discussion on this post