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Making a Handy Lathe Chamfering Tool:



One of my most-used lathe tools, which I'd set up years ago was this, a standard toolblock with a couple
of 90-degree-ground cutters, one at each end. This is my chamfering tool, used to lightly break the corner
of parts as they're still in the machine, and a bit safer than trying to use a file. Being "double ended" like
that, you could chamfer both sides of a groove, left and right shoulders, as well as ends and the
inside of tubes or bored features.

The main problem I had with this, was that last part- when trying to do the inside corner of a bore,
unless you were careful, you could bang the body of the cutter- that is, the part below the
cutting face could make contact with the work, which might damage it.



I finally came up with a better solution, and bought a 5" long stick of 3/8" round High Speed Steel.
I formed a 90-degree point on the end by chucking it in an electric drill and spinning it against a bench
grinding wheel. With a little care and a good dress on the wheel, I got a fairy smooth point.

After that, I clamped it in a 5C collet block, and ran it through my surface grinder, taking each point
down to slightly below centerline.



That made sure they're the exact same height, and level and parallel to each other.



After that, it was a simple matter of putting that in a spare toolholder-
one of the ones with the groove for holding round shanks...



And then, it's an easy job to plunk it into place after facing a part,
and give each edge a quick light chamfer to break the edge.



Of course, being double-ended means I can do almost any edge on a part- left and right shoulders,
both edges of a groove, outer corners, bores and tubes, etc.

There's enough rod I can resharpen it a couple of times- either by grinding the flats again (going even
more below center won't hurt) or using the tool-post grinder to reshape the conical part.
But for mostly aluminum, the edges will last several years at a time, anyway.






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Information contained in these pages is for reference and entertainment purposes only.  Our methods are not always the best,
quickest, safest, or even the correct ones. It's up to you to know how to use your own machines and tools.
Keep your fingers away from the spinny blades o' death and you should be all right.