[singlepic id=316 w=360 float=left]Last night I decided to get my Quick Change Toolpost installed on the lathe.  A Quick Change Toolpost (QCTP) allows one to quickly swap cutting tools on a lathe, and perhaps more importantly, allows repeatable height adjustment of each tool with a thumbscrew.  With the four-way turret toolpost that came with the lathe, each tool bit had to be individually shimmed to bring the cutter up to the center line of the spindle.  This is a royal pain in the neck, and moreover being limited to only 4 tools without a laborious swap is too limiting for such a versatile machine.

Toolposts typically ship with a blank block of steel, which you machine to fit the T-slot on your compound.  Such was the case with my kit, so I set to work with my CNC mill in semi-manual mode and machined the blank down to fit the slot.  The fit is a little snug, so I might go back and clean it up a bit, but otherwise it seems to work well.  Now I’m all set to get started with the machine!

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