Friday, March 3, 2017

Making a Sandvik Coromant TopLok 3CL Clip

Difficulty Level (Easy, Medium, Hard, Insane):
Medium

Process:
I'm doing this blog only because I've been searching for an image for a 3CL TopLok (Top-Lok, Top Lok, Top Lock, Top-Lock, TopLock) clip for my carbide inserts for a long time and just could not find anything decent.

I ended up going to Joe from Big Joe's machine shop down the road to ask him if he had any 3CL clips laying around and he actually did. I asked him if he would let me borrow it for the weekend and he was ok with it since he didn't even have a tool holder for it.

Tonight, I took some O1 tool steel and machined it down to size, heated it to a cherry red and quenched it in oil. Then I tempered it to about 425 degrees (F) by heating it over my oxy/acetylene torch until it turned a light straw yellow color.

Now, all I have to make is the actual holder and I'll finally be able to use those inserts!

Documents:
Top-Lok PDF (from sandvik website)

Pictures:
















Tools:
Metal lathe & accessories
Metal band saw
Oxy/acetylene torch

Materials:
1" of 3/4" O1 tool steel
Old motor oil

Cost:
$0

Time:
2-3hrs

Savings:
Not sure

Conclusion:
It looks wonderful. Can't wait to use it!

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