Author Topic: My slager 12x36 lathe (Read 46129 times)

Trion · « **on:** December 06, 2009, 07:21:38 AM »

Hello guys. This is my first post on this forum, so it's sort of an introduction. But since I'll mostly be writing about ways to improve my lathe, I might just aswell start here.

Quick info on me I'm a machine engineer student in the beginning of my twenties and have absolutely no experience in machining. I have read a bit about turning, and recently tried a bit on the lathe. My other projects are a pair of Nissan Silvia's, and I hope to eventually be able to make some parts for them on the lathe.

Now over to the machine. It is my first lathe, and I have had her for a couple of months, but until recently never found anyone with a similar machine. After my new discoveries, this seems to be another Lantaine copy, only mine is form 1984. In other words it is the Grizzly, HF and Jet lathes older brother.

Spec:
3hp 220V engine
12x36"
Belt drive headstock
Coolant system

How it looked when i got it

And the accessories that came with it

As said, it is from 1984, but it has only had two owners, and the previous owner insisted on it not having been used more than 50 hours. I'm not too familiar with lathes and how they wear, to be able to tell if this is true. But from looking at it, it seems to have mostly rusted and collected dust. As a note, it has the "non-dividable" headstock belts, and judging by the work amount of replacing these i guess they are the oem pieces. - You would not believe my relief when i discovered these red "disconnectable" belts!

Also, the external jaws for the 3 jaw are still in their original bag with this thick chineese grease on them!

Sorry for the poor pictures, I still lack a bit of light around the machine

First I made a small tool board with the most necessary items

Then removed the top slide, to give it a good cleaning and lube

Soon afterwards the cross slide went aswell

Assembly

Next project was making it possible to get the machine properly level, so I jacked it up and put it on some wooden blocks. (For those of you familiar with nissans, that is a Silvia s13 upside down in the left of the picture

)

Chucked up an old piston, and got the nice metal to the surface

Soon after a few pistons and some threaded bar was made into adjustable feet

I didn't get the lathe high enough to get a 22mm drill in, so i opted for the second best solution, to weld on some flat steel

Soon after, she was standing taller than ever, and the possiblity of getting her level is now a fact. Now i need a machinist level to adjust her properly. I have read the grizzly one is supposed to be pretty good, so I'll be buying that.

I don't like the plastic handwheel for the main travel, but bogstandard showed a nice way of making an aluminium handle in another thread regarding his mill.

When turning the pistons down, i discovered some runout in the chuck

So i pulled the chuck and measured the runout of the spindle. It was about 0,005mm (~0.0002") both radially and axially.

The accuracy of the spindle seemed good enough, so it had to be either the chuck or the face plate. Since both were full of old oil and some rust, i disassembled them for a proper cleaning. Here's the face plate

I monted the faceplate and measured the runout, and it was horrible. Think it was about 0,05mm (0,002"). I should probably have turned it down right there, but lacking proper turning tools, not having a saddle lock and not beeing sure that the headstock is in alignment with the bed, I decided to wait.

Instead, i disassembled the chuck

Then the batteries on the camera died..

Here are some pictures of it all assembled again

So I tried grinding my only hss tool, and after many tries, got a result which i was happy with

I also tried single point threading for the first time ever. Quite pleased with the result, considering never having done it before, and that the rod was extended about 15cm (4") from the chuck

Made some coarser threads closer to the chuck. I'm not saying there isn't room for improvement though. For instance, i forgot to check if i had chosen the correct pitch to the diameter, so ofcourse i made the threads the wrong pitch and it was impossible to test them with a nut

When drilling i have noticed that the drill can wobble quite a bit. It almost seemed to be too much flex for a 13mm (0,5") drill, so I got suspicious about the tailstock, and started to measure.

When pusing upwards there was wuite a bit of movement on the dial indicator..

Here are the results of the measurement:
- Tailstock extended to minium, 20mm (0,79") there was 0,04mm (0,0016") play up/down
- Tailstock extended to maximum, 100mm (4") there was 0,15mm (0,006") play
- Measured on outer edge of drill chuck at 100mm extension, there was a whopping 0,5mm (0,02") play.

Something has to be done with the tailstock. I am thinking drilling out to a 20-30mm depth and inserting a bushing. But I'm not too thrilled about somehow mounting the upper part of the tailstock on a face plate and having it spin at a couple of 100rpm. If so, i think I'd have to get a boring head, mount that in the chuck, and bore it out. Opinions and suggestions are well appreciated.

When I'm first around finding things that need to be improved, I thoug I'd just aswell see how the headstock is aligned to the bed, so i chucked up a piece of brass (actually my only piece of brass

) and turned it on the slowest feed with my recently sharpened HSS tool.

Pulled out the micrometer and mesured along the rod

The results:
- Neares to the chuck Ø11,62mm (0,4575")
- 50mm (2") from the chuck Ø11,63mm (0,4579")
- 100mm (4") from the chuck Ø11,69mm (0,4602")

So I'm quite certain that the headstock is not paralell to the bed..

To do list:
- Buy proper tooling, some hss and some carbide. I have become a fan of TNMG inserts and will be ordering most of my tool holders to to suit the TNMG 33* inserts.
- Stiffen lathe feet
- Buy machine level and level the bed
- Get the headstock alligned to beds
- Turn face place, and possibly grind inside of jaws -will have to make tool post grinder first
- Sort out tailstock, possibly add a bushing. And ofcourse adjust to headstock
- Get a quick change tool post, thinking Phase II Wedge type, BXA (200)
- Make splash guard behind the lathe, to protect the wall, and to have a nice place for various tools
- Make a transparent cover to mount on the main slide, to prevent a mess when using coolant

sbwhart · « **Reply #1 on:** December 06, 2009, 07:46:17 AM »

Welcome aboard the cube

Trion.

That looks a very nice machine you've got there, and you seem to be doing a good job at getting it it tuned.

Look forward to seeing some good work you.

Have fun

Stew

jim · « **Reply #2 on:** December 06, 2009, 10:06:05 AM »

looking good

best use i've ever seen for old pistons

looking forward to more posts

bogstandard · « **Reply #3 on:** December 06, 2009, 12:12:18 PM »

Trion,

Looks like you are giving that machine a good dose of looking at, and you will find that things start to get a lot better and easier the more you play with it.

Even though you say your headstock is out of alignment, I could almost guarantee that it isn't.

The more you have sticking out of the chuck, especially a thin piece as you used, the more the material will flex away from the cutting tool. That is why you got a smaller reading nearer the chuck than the one further away. That is the reason you should support the free end of the metal by using a centre in the tailstock or a fixed or travelling steady.

Just take it carefully, and master one bit at a time, then after a short while, you will start to find your machining will rapidly become a lot better.

Bogs

dsquire · « **Reply #4 on:** December 06, 2009, 02:50:41 PM »

Trion

Welcome to MadModder.

What a great first post you have made. It looks like you have the situation well in hand and will have it all ship shape before long. I'll be along for the ride watching you lathe and shop develop. If you have any questions I am sure one of the members will be glad to try and help.

Cheers

Don

Trion · « **Reply #5 on:** December 06, 2009, 04:59:52 PM »

Thanks for the kind words gentlemen, I will keep you updated

Now I only have 3 more exams, before my christmas holidays begin. Then there will be several more updates and hopefully some new tools coming in aswell, as I'm really running at the bare minimum now. As a matter of fact, my only tools are a drill chuck for the tailstock and a pair of HSS turning tools, one internal one external. Oh, i almost forgot my precious cut-off tool, well actually, it's just a hack saw..

bogstandard: I was a bit uncertain if the extending length would matter that much with a sharp tool and very slow feed, but if you say so, I'll take your word for it. A centrepoint in the tailstock would probably do it some good, but unfortunately i dont have one. That is also coming in with my major tooling investment. But then there is the play in the tailstock. If it would be at the shortest extension (20mm) there would be 0,04mm play. Worst case scenario, that can result in the work moving 0,04mm from the tool, giving 0,08mm diameter increase. The increase in diameter from close to chuck, to end of bar was only 0,07mm, so in my mind the centerpoint would'nt really do any difference. -that is theoretically, i have no experience in how the actual effects are!

Regarding my shopping, pricewise i have found grizzly to seem like an ok place to buy. I found another site listing the same tools, also describing what inserts they are made for, so that i can buy the cheap grizzly tool holders and fit proper inserts from either ebay or carbidedepot. Any reasons why I should not buy grizzly tooling, or suggestions for places with similar prices in europe?

Thanks!

CrewCab · « **Reply #6 on:** December 06, 2009, 05:32:35 PM »

Welcome Trion, good to hear about your exploits

CC

bogstandard · « **Reply #7 on:** December 06, 2009, 05:34:35 PM »

Trion,

The figures you are finding are not the end of the world in the machining world, so wait until you have a bit more experience under your belt, and then see if it improves, as your skill improves.

As far as I know, the head on your lathe can be swung to correct a slightly out of alignment head, I think it is very similar to the setup on my lathe. It is also a fairly easy, but a very time consuming process, with component removal, adjust, rebuild, try, and if still not correct, start again. Once it is perfect, then the same sort of thing would need to be done to realign the tailstock to the new head setting.

Just take it steady it for the moment.

Bogs

sbwhart · « **Reply #8 on:** December 07, 2009, 03:11:55 AM »

Quote from: Trion on December 06, 2009, 04:59:52 PM

Regarding my shopping, pricewise i have found grizzly to seem like an ok place to buy. I found another site listing the same tools, also describing what inserts they are made for, so that i can buy the cheap grizzly tool holders and fit proper inserts from either ebay or carbidedepot. Any reasons why I should not buy grizzly tooling, or suggestions for places with similar prices in europe?

Thanks!

Hi Trion

You could try these well tested suppliers in the UK

http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/

http://www.rdgtools.co.uk/

http://www.chronos.ltd.uk/

http://www.chesteruk.net/

http://www.glostertooling.co.uk/

http://www.axminster.co.uk/

http://www.mscjlindustrial.co.uk/CGI/INPDFF?PMCTLG=00&PMPAGE=622&PMITEM=BFIFX-10700M

http://www.warco.co.uk/index.aspx

That should keep you occupied for some time

Have fun

Stew

Trion · « **Reply #9 on:** December 07, 2009, 11:52:45 AM »

Thanks guys!

Bogstandard: I'm a bit of a perfectionist and really like everything to be as good as possible before i actually start spending time making important parts. But that alignment job is sounding like an awful lot of work. I will have to get a beefier rod and remeasure. Thanks for the advice!

Stew: Nice list! I have already gone through a few of the shops, so far none of them seem to be as cheap as grizzly, but hey, I guess you get what you pay for

brucealmitey · « **Reply #10 on:** December 12, 2009, 06:59:08 PM »

Hello everyone I have just purchased a 12X36 lathe and was looking at projects to make and noticed your slager lathe it is exactely like mine and it is a royal. Anyone out there know where I can find a manual.

Trion · « **Reply #11 on:** December 13, 2009, 04:22:48 PM »

Congratulations on the new lathe!

I have downloaded manuals from grizzly, they have a belt driven lathe but not exactly the same. http://grizzly.com/products/G9249
I think our lathes are originally a copy of a lathe brand called Lantaine, here's a link to some manuals on metalillness forum http://bbssystem.com/viewtopic.php?t=608

Hope this helps!
It would be fun to see some picures of you lathe, to compare if it's exactly the same. I have seen a very simliar Jet lathe, but handwheels and some other stuff were different.

Regards
Jon

brucealmitey · « **Reply #12 on:** December 15, 2009, 02:29:57 AM »

jon you guys are realy cool. I looked through the files and downloaded them to my computer they will be very helpfull.
Ill try to post some pics in the near future. thanks again. Bruce

Trion · « **Reply #13 on:** December 15, 2009, 12:18:13 PM »

Just glad to help

Yesterday I had my last exam before cristmas, so this means schools out until sometime january

I noticed that I hadn't posted pictures of all the places i had cleaned and lubed here, so here are some more.

If someone should be interrested, here are the charts on the lathe:

Made in July 1984

Threading the american way

And the right way

I think this is for use with the threading dial

My main slide is annoying me a bit though, it has graduations in 0,14mm. That's a bout as useless as you get it. DRO, here I come..

Yesterday I found myself a new best friend. He has a big water cuter, and happens to have A LOT of "scrap" cuttings. So i paid him every krone (norwegian currency) I had in my wallet, about 40£ and loaded up the old passat with all the steel, stainless and alu i could find

My lathe is standing there, clueless of what is coming

After some sweat and blood, my lathe's new metal friends found their place

I organized it with the most usefull stuff on top of the coolant tank, and the more milling related or humongous bits beneath. On top of the coolant tank you have stainless to the left, then regular steel and aluminium to the right

To show you why I am so happy, this was my previous metal box..

I had never had stainless before, so i tried tuning it with my only external tool, which happens to be HSS. It actually went quite well!

But as with everything here in life, there is a catch. Since the pieces have been cut with a water cutter, each piece has a ~2mm deep it's outer radius which has to be turned away before the piece is usable..

Then I figured that since I now have so much nice round metal, though most is not very long, it would be a nice time to start thinking about a ball turner. The easiest would be to fit it instead of the toolpost, but as you see, there were some clearance issues..

So I removed the top slide and moved the cross slide until it was prettymuch under center

As you can see, the slide is still about 50% engaged in the dovetails, but worse, an opening into the acme screw is present. I hope the engagement length is still good enough to be able to use it in this position. The hole will be covered with a plate of some sort

Found myself a piece of stainless, thinking I'm going to make a good permanent tool holder that will last forever.. (in retrospect, i regret using stainless of this size, as it took ages to machine without dulling my HSS tool, and since I still haven't bought coolant, i had to use a ton of transmission oil to cool the bit on the first few cm of the facing cuts. If someone should be wondering about coolants, i can tell this much, transmission oil is the least smoking of engine oil and air compressor oil, but all of them are actually sh*t)

Not knowing of the coming problems, I dug out my UNUSED external chuck jaws. (those of you who actually read what I write, should be amazed considering the machines age

)

Everything has a downside, and this time it was my conscience (yes, I had to look that up in a dictionary) not letting me use the new jaws before I had cleaned of the hard oil the china men put on before it was shipped, some 25 years ago..

Then it was just a matter of chucking the piece up and getting ready to turn. 6 regrinds and a dozen drive belt speed changes later, it began to look like something

Here is me trying some machining pictures with manual focus and manual light settings on a D50

End product as of yesterday evening. I hope to be able to continue tonight, just have to clean the apartement, make dinner and buy cristmas presents first

dsquire · « **Reply #14 on:** December 15, 2009, 02:57:15 PM »

Jon

Very impressive. I love all the detail shots of the lathe and your new collection of assorted metal. It looks like quite a score.

If you start building engines I see lots of flywheel material. Hope all your exams went well and that you will be able to relax and get lot of play time in the shop. I look forward to watching your ball turner take shape.

Cheers

Don

NickG · « **Reply #15 on:** December 15, 2009, 05:47:50 PM »

Jon,

Nice machine and nice pics, thanks for sharing. Some pretty useful looking off cuts too! Will be nice to see your first project underway. Don't do too much in the workshop

at the expense of revision

though

Guess some of your revision is in the workshop though - how cool is that!

Nick

Trion · « **Reply #16 on:** December 15, 2009, 06:20:56 PM »

Thanks for the kind words! My exams went quite well, though it was a bit stressing to have 6 of them during the last month

Yeah, I'm very satisfied with my new metal assortment, will definetely be going back to get some more on a another occasion!

Regarding the ball turner, I'm having second thoughts about having the cross slide as part of the bearing surface. I really don't want to wear this out by swinging the ball turner back and forth. Think I'm going to mount it on a plate which is held to the cross slide. That should also allow me to move the swing point further towards centre, making it possible to retract the cross slide enough to close the gap over the acme screw.
Another problem that has showed up on the horizon, is the need to mill the slot for the tool holder. As I see it, I've got two options, make a higher offer on that nice lumpy TOS mill I'm looking at, or have someone help me mill it. You could say it's a battle between mind and wallet..

Trion · « **Reply #17 on:** December 17, 2009, 04:27:23 PM »

I just realised something, which I seem to realise at this time each year, shopping is not for me! I know of nothing more exhausting than an afternoon wasted in a mall! Luckily I managed to sqeeze in a few hours in the workshop today, to heal my wounds after yesterdays struggle..

Made the final facing cut on the stainless plate. Not quite sure where I'll use it, since i changed my ball turner plans. But it won't go to waste!

I dug out my HSS internal tool and started the everlasting process of opening up the centre hole. My biggest drill is 15,5mm (0,61") and the internal turning tool doesn't properly fit into a hole smaller than 25mm (1"), so I ended up with two different cut series before i managed to get the hole to proper size to get the tool in

After some further enlargement, the hole was big enoug to fit the inside jaws of the chuck

So I removed the plate from the chuck. I'm actually very amazed with the result, never thought I'd get this kind of surface finish straight of the machine with self ground tools

Then I mounted the plate backwards in the chuck. Note to self: dig out the dial gauge and align the part properly next time!

I turned down the speed qute a lot and gave the outer surface a few deep roughening cuts at a slow feed. Eventually I was able to machine along the entire outer surface

Some cutting going on

And the surface after the finishing cut. Will have to redo this because I just noticed that the machined surface which now is to the rear, was wobbling a bit when the part was turned

Trion · « **Reply #18 on:** December 20, 2009, 05:40:46 AM »

Friday, I got word that there was a big workshop sale from a manufacturing/automation company nearby. So I took a long lunch from work and went to see. Now I have mixed feelings that I didn't bring more money, because they had everything!
Drills, taps, milling tools, turning tools, loads of hand tools, pneumatic tools, several cranes and loads of automation stuff like air cylinders, valves etc. I even found a pair of 320V dc brushless servo motors, but figured that I'm never going to get 320V here, so I left them there.
Anyways, here's what I got

Negotiated the price down from 350 to 240£ (400$). It still is a fair amount of cash, but there are quite a few tools aswell! I think I'm going to give the Glanze tooling set a pass for now!

Amongs litterarely hundreds of turning tools (most were 25x25mm) I found a iscar parting blade with holder

(the cutting tool on the left has a MT2 shank...)

Some grooving tools, 16 and 26mm shank

Other 16mm tools. Luckily almost all of them use small triangle inserts of the same size. Amongst the inserts i brought with me i found some triangle ones with proper size, unfortunately they had a mounting hole in the middle. But it was possible to use them with the tool holders!

A Röhm drill chuck, a very good german brand which makes a lot of lathe chucks aswell

A couple of reamers, some were still in the box

Milling stuff:
I think this is some sort of edge finder, made in sweden came with calibration instructions aswell. Anyone have experience with this?

And some milling tools, as far as I can recall, all the indexable ones are seco

After the new tools had been organized i figured it would be a good time to try using carbide inserts. Mounted a holder in the toolpost and gave the stainless piece from last time a go

It made an almost mirror like finish on the outside, so I hogged a nice deep cut on the face aswell. This is not even a finishing cut!

I then tried turning some aluminium, here with something that looks like a 1,5-2mm pass. Regardless of the humongous cut (in HSS terms anyways) the surface was pretty nice!

I then figured I'd go back to working on my ball turner. But my new plans involved a plate, so i had to dig out one of the 4 jaw chucks. Looked like a right mess!

Pulled it apart

Cleaned of the worst gunk

But when I tried to assemble it, I noticed a gap between the rear of the chuck and the back plate

The back plate was mounted in the lathe and I looked for run-out. There was actually major runout on all surfaces, regardless of the way it was mounted to the spindle. Out came the carbide tool again, and away went the material

First two faces turned. I don't have a slide lock screw, so I had to hold the handle for the main slide all the time

Then it was time to cut the surface which initially had created the gap. Notice the cloth to protect the ways from the nasty cast dust

Back plate all trued up, it was time to get the chuck back on again

I learnt my lesson the hard way. After dropping the chuck on the ways, fortunately no damage, I found some wood for further protection..

Chuck mounted up, but still very rusty

Out came a long piece of sand paper, and away the rust went

Since I also had turned the face which centers the chuck (it also had major run-out) there was now some room for it to wobble upon assembly. I therefore loosened the mounting bolts, tightened them "snug" and adjusted the chuck until i got 0,01mm runout (0,0004")

Eventually I was ready to mount the intended plate, and trued it up to be quite on center and the surface had a run-out of about 0,08mm (0,003") before I got on with the cutting.

Remembering someone saying carbide isn't for interrupted cuts, i got on with the HSS cutter instead

Forgot to take pictures of the faced plate, but it looked pretty well! Afterwards i turned the plate in the chuck, and moved it out of center. This time i relied on my recently turned surface beeing paralell with the face of the jaws. I then drilled a hole (a proper size countersink makes a good centre point drill!) and turned a face for the ball turner to sit on

Turned the part again, here's the recently turned face, after a bit of 320 wet sanding. I made a countersink for an M8 DIN 7991 bolt, yes my countersink tool is very dull! Then i rechucked the plate and made a mounting hole for the centering piece to sit in the hole where the top slide normally is

Finished plate

Next was getting the 3 jaw back on and making the centering piece. Seems like the carbide tool didn't mind the interrupted cuts made from the water jets starting point!

After having faced it, I found some taps and tapped the hole to M8. Here the hole is 5mm and there are M6 taps, but I had a change of heart..

To be able to turn the entire outer surface i tried some unconventional mounting. Put a M8 bolt in the part, chucked up the bolt, tightened the part to the surface of the chuck jaws, tightened up the chuck, added a securing nut aaaand supported the lot with my new dead centre

I had done a bit of bogstandarding (thinking ahead), and made noth on the part so that I had a conservative 2m gap between the end of the face and the chuck jaws. Some passes later it looked like this

Further processing awaits

Darren · « **Reply #19 on:** December 20, 2009, 06:25:14 AM »

You got some nice tools there, I see you are liking the carbide ones already ...

NickG · « **Reply #20 on:** December 20, 2009, 08:55:00 AM »

Nice work Trion.

You can tell the difference with a good quality lathe! I haven't tried carbide tools on my lathe yet, but if santa brings me one of the things on my list I might be swayed down that route! The only thing is I might not have the necessary speed for it.

Nick

jim · « **Reply #21 on:** December 20, 2009, 10:06:24 AM »

thats a very impresive haul of tooling and material!

HSS is ok on stainless (i do a lot of stainless at home and sharp HSS is my first choice)

i'm looking forward to more of your posts, the pictures are good

kvom · « **Reply #22 on:** December 20, 2009, 10:29:39 AM »

Nice thread.

I noticed that the HSS tool was protruding quite a bit for the facing cuts, so that might have contributed to some surface irregularities. The carbide holder looks a lot more rigid, as well as allowing greater DOC.

The piston levelers are pretty sweet.

Trion · « **Reply #23 on:** December 22, 2009, 10:33:04 AM »

Darren: Yeah, carbide is some good stuff

Nick: Thanks! Regarding speeds, when turning with carbide I'm still running on the 6" pulley instead of the 5", so when looking at the speed chart i have had a maximum of 680 rpm. I'm sure your lathe will do that!

Jim: Thanks for the kind words. As of yet, my camera has gone missing. The turning part of the ball turner is now finished, now I need to get it milled somewhere

kvom: Thanks, that's a good point. I didn't take pictures of them, but when I bought all the tools, i got about 30-40 HSS tools aswell. Many are of the more beefier type, that don't need an extra holder. Next time I don't feel like using carbide (might take a while

), I'll try some HSS tools with less protrusion.

NickG · « **Reply #24 on:** December 22, 2009, 11:18:46 AM »

Mine will do 720rpm but the stuff you were doing was very large diameter so would probably need faster for small dia's

Nick

Trion · « **Reply #25 on:** December 23, 2009, 11:40:53 AM »

Good point!
Note to self: Don't jump to conclusions before you've thought things through properly!

Bte. the smallest piece I have turnet at that speed is about 40mm diameter, I'm not sure if that's small by your scale.

NickG · « **Reply #26 on:** December 24, 2009, 04:00:37 AM »

3mm dia is small for me but I know some people over on HMEM are doing 1/2 and 1/4 scale versions of elmers "Tiny" - now that is small!

Nick

Trion · « **Reply #27 on:** December 31, 2009, 11:08:57 AM »

Finally things are settling down. Christmas has been celebrated and I'm back from my trip to visit family in Germany. I have got to say this; everyone has heard of the bombing attempt of the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, right? We were in Schiphol, Amsterdams airport, at the very same day as the flight left for Detroit. We might even have seen the guy who did it!!

Now, beeing from a small town in Norway, I never thought I'd get this close to terrorism. But what can one do about it? Next time we go through security, I won't be surprised if I'm asked to dress butt naked..

Anyways, back to the garage, which today had a chilling -1 degree celsius (30.2 fahrenheit)

But considering the complete lack of insulation and the chilling outside temperatures, it's really not that bad!
(I wouldn't have known the outside temperature, if I hadn't been driving my mothers car. Which again was caused by me beeing an idiot and not having the proper amount of glycol in my Passat's coolant system. Let's just say I opened the hood, squeezed the radiator hose, and it was frozen solid.. Luckily, there seems to have been no damage

)
PS: 10 invisible points to the person who guesses what car the picture was taken in!

Other good news... My chrismas gifts! You wouldn't believe my girlfirend, she went shopping with her father to the local high quality tool store, and they both bought me christmas presents there!

So I got three new lovely looking Domer drills! MK2 shank, same as the lathe tailstock, ofcourse!

A 10mm H7 reamer, 90 degree countersink and a pair of thin welding gloves for my TIG welder

Enough off topic..

Finally some pictures of my ball turner project, awaiting milling. This is the upside, and the big lump is going to be milled for the tool holder.

Downside

Happy new year to you all!
Jon

NickG · « **Reply #28 on:** December 31, 2009, 12:30:11 PM »

Wow, I thought it was cold here!

ksouers · « **Reply #29 on:** December 31, 2009, 06:27:03 PM »

Quote

PS: 10 invisible points to the person who guesses what car the picture was taken in!

First guess is a Fiat.
Second is an Alfa.

Third: It couldn't really be a Ferrari, could it?

NickG · « **Reply #30 on:** January 01, 2010, 05:52:49 AM »

not alfa or ferrari - speedo doesn't go up far enough

Trion · « **Reply #31 on:** January 02, 2010, 04:51:49 AM »

Nick: Good point!

ksouers: I see you are guessing on the brand of the display, but would I really be driving a ferrari on bumpy snow covered roads?

It's not a Fiat or an Alfa either. No... It's a Mercedes A-class, the worst car ever built!

wanabemachinist · « **Reply #32 on:** February 17, 2010, 01:32:54 AM »

based on the pictures you have shown of your lathe, I have a 1978 Luc cut 11X36 which is identical to yours. The only difference I see is the forward/reverse switch. most likely the castings came from one factory and rebadged by many different companys over a few years. Mine is shown as being made in Taiwan which is pretty common for lathes of this type

Trion · « **Reply #33 on:** February 17, 2010, 04:04:54 AM »

Hi, good to hear about someone else with the same machine. I'm not surprised that the machines were rebadged, back then it was much more difficult to discover that kind of things. I have seen a few other slager machines, amongst others a drill press, but only in Norway. When I google the brand, I can't find anything but my own posts

Regarding the lathe, Do you reccomend any improvements, or know of any weaknesses I should look out for? Would be nice to see pictures of your machine

wanabemachinist · « **Reply #34 on:** February 17, 2010, 11:14:02 PM »

I have only just got mine so I am getting adjusted to it and making some tool holders and boring bar holders. From my past life I have a lot of cemented carbide tool bits so I need a few holders. Shimming these tool bits in the 4 way holder supplied on the machine is getting boring. At this point I have no idea about posting pictures as I have just joined this site

Stilldrillin · « **Reply #35 on:** February 18, 2010, 03:20:07 AM »

Quote from: wanabemachinist on February 17, 2010, 11:14:02 PM

I have only just got mine so I am getting adjusted to it and making some tool holders and boring bar holders. From my past life I have a lot of cemented carbide tool bits so I need a few holders. Shimming these tool bits in the 4 way holder supplied on the machine is getting boring. At this point I have no idea about posting pictures as I have just joined this site

Have a look here mate.....

http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=607.0

David D

Trion · « **Reply #36 on:** March 02, 2010, 11:31:58 AM »

Minor update: I have bought myself a new external tool holder, to complete my collection for TPMR inserts. Until now I never had a tool which actually was made for external turning, somehow all the other external ones were for facing!

And ofcourse with a few new inserts aswell

gt2ride · « **Reply #37 on:** March 04, 2010, 10:12:52 PM »

Trion Here is my Trans World Steel lathe. It looks the same as your lathe. I bought it new in 83. It also came with the little red tool box. I have also replaced the V belt with a segmented belt.
This is my favor lathe to cut single point threads. I have ten other lathes from SB Boxford LeBlond and more. That says a lot for this lathe. I have the manual also but there is not a lot to it.

gt2ride from Leavenworth Kansas US

Trion · « **Reply #38 on:** March 05, 2010, 06:11:07 AM »

Nice lathe there!

I'm astonished to hear that you like it that good. I have noticed that there is quite a bit of runout on the threading bar, but I'm not sure how much that affects the threading.
I can detect a few differences between our machines though. Your handles have a cover over the dials, and your cross slide has T-slots over the surface, while mine is plain. I am considering drililng a few mounting holes on the cross slide for a ball turner of new design.

What make is yuor 5C collet holder?

gt2ride · « **Reply #39 on:** March 05, 2010, 08:44:36 AM »

The cover on the handles provide duel calibration. They are mm and in. The T slots are nice. I can mount a ball turner or a grinder with no problem.
The collet holder is home made. Just made an adapter and used a draw bar.
I cut a lot of 2-56 threads on the lathe. Set the crossfeed to 0 and use the compond to feed. Engage the half nut then use the belt tighten handle to clutch. When I get to the end clutch and back out with the crossfeed. I can cut at a lot higher speed.

Trion · « **Reply #40 on:** March 12, 2010, 03:12:08 PM »

Thanks. Will try that one day when I get some spare time!

Today I got myself a bit more metal to work on. I got several shorter bits laying in the background, and these three monsters. The smallest one is 40, middle is 80 and the biggest is Ø120mm, they are all aluminium

Trion · « **Reply #41 on:** October 17, 2010, 02:50:14 PM »

About time for a small update here aswell.
Recently, the lathe has only been oiled and used. The ball turner plans have been scrapped, I want to make something much neater and sturdier. But yesterday I managed to make one of those small things that make a lathe easier to use:

My version of a carriage end stop. I see already that it can definetely be improved. The clamping really isn't much to brag about, but it works if one is being careful. The dial indicator mount could also be improved, as it now only relies on the bore being a bit smaller than 8,00mm. It would also be very nice to have a micrometer screw, to be able to accurately adjust the stop. But it works for now and is better than nothing

Trion · « **Reply #42 on:** January 23, 2011, 04:08:15 AM »

The X-axis graduation on my lathe is useless. One full revolution equals 14,25mm of travel, making each line 0,143mm apart. This has annoyed me for quite some time and made me feel that I could not get any kind of precision on the X-axis. On a side note, the Y-axis is graduated 0,02mm per line and is very useful.

So yesterday morning I had an idea, what if I could use my spare digital caliper something like this

On the shaper I cut a groove for the thin end of the caliper to rest in.

And back on the shaper I started making the holder for the caliper top, but my shaper vise is too flimsy so every 5 minutes I took a too large cut and pushed the part out of the vise. So I moved over to the mill and got the job done in a matter of few minutes

I also tapped a M6 hole in the lathe saddle, and there we are

I recall someone saying I should check out what my lathe could do by turning a bar held in the chuck and measure the taper. My last attempt with brass was inconclusive, so I tried again with some steel. The first test was done with my regular TPMR carbide tool and several passes to avoid springing in the bar. The second attempt was made with a fresh ground HSS tool and also had a few passes to make sure everything was in order.

For those struggling to read my hand writing:
First bar, carbide tooling:
Length - Diameter
0 - 15,31
20 - 15,31
40 - 15,33
60 - 15,34
80 - 15,37

Second bar, HSS tool:
Length - Diameter
0 - 17,79
20 - 17,81
40 - 17,83
60 - 17,84
80 - 17,86

I feel these results are not good enough for what I would like to manage, but being a newbie I would much appreciate feedback from more experienced machinists. Is this normal for a manual lathe with very little usage? Is there a way to make the lathe turn straighter?

Bogstandard · « **Reply #43 on:** January 23, 2011, 04:44:48 AM »

To get a more accurate result, instead of using steel, use ali or brass, that will cut a lot easier and won't flex as much.

With your new gotten long bit of ali (40mm), cut off 6" (150mm) and mount that in your chuck. Using a razor sharp HSS cutting tool (carbide is actually blunt in comparison) and do a clean up skim.

Then put a cut on of say a couple of thou (0,05mm), slow power cut from the end to near your chuck. Then measure up. That should show you how tapered you are cutting.

I always use brass for my test bar, as that cuts even easier than ali.

Bogs

GerryB · « **Reply #44 on:** January 23, 2011, 07:49:34 PM »

G.Day Trion,
I like the way you are going about setting up your Machines.
One thing you may find useful is a piece of kit that we used many moons ago.
It was a Dumbbell shaped hunk of Mild Steel about a foot long and (Originally) 2' in dia.
One end had a 1'' Dia protuberance about 2" which was held in the chuck.
The unit was then spun at a slow rate and a very light cut was taken on one of the 2 ends.
Then without moving the setting of the cutter a cut was made on the other end.
These 2 ends were now measured and adjustments made to correct any fault.
After adjustments were made a further trial cut was made on the Dumbbell.
No support was given to the end of the Dumbbell as this would have upset the results.
The whole operation was trial and effort but it worked quite well.
The Foreman then hid the Dumbbell in his office.
You could make your own Dumbbell be securing two discs on a 1" or 25mm dia. steel bar about 12" long.
The wheels can be of a material of your choice but of course must be secure.
Remember that one wheel has to be about 2" in from one end.
Hope this is helpful.
GerryB

Trion · « **Reply #45 on:** January 24, 2011, 03:02:15 AM »

Thanks for the reply guys, really like the dumbbell idea! Will keep this in mind when i progress, but I'm afraid I'm coming a bit short on the tooling end.
This is what I am struggling with when it comes to machines and tooling. The necessary tool for the operation is rarely or never in my collection. Say in the case of the lathe, a proper machinist level would be good. Not to mention a set of larger micrometers, to be able to measure parts larger than 25mm

Bogs, can I use a ~25mm brass bar, or should it be as large as 40mm?

Bogstandard · « **Reply #46 on:** January 24, 2011, 04:09:22 AM »

Trion,

That would be just fine. But take everything very steady, fine cuts and DON'T lean on or even touch the machine as it is cutting. Just press the lever at the start and release it at the end.

That will tell you if your head is cutting tapered or not.

Later, when you get some more tooling, you will be able to bring your tailstock into play, and then by turning a piece between centres, the tailstock can be brought into perfect alignment.

Don't rush things when aligning a machine tool, just take it smoothly and steady and the machine will tell you if it is out of alignment or not, just by doing little checks like above.

Bogs

toolman · « **Reply #47 on:** January 25, 2011, 11:19:05 PM »

G'Day Trion,
Greetings from down under. (Melbourne)
Congratulations on your work so far.
I own a similar 12x36 lathe, mine is badged as a Honden, it is a gap bed, imperial version with a 3MT tailstock, it was built in Nov 1990 but sat unused in storage for 20 years until I purchased it in April 2010. To date it has been fitted with a 1.5 Hp D.C. variable speed motor, Easson ES8 DRO & AXA toolpost.
I used one of these lathes in a previous job 15 years ago and found it to be a sturdy, accurate machine, however, they do have their issues, mainly lubrication related.
If you remove the front cover of the screw cutting gearbox (5 cap screws) you will see that the gears and bushes at the input end receive virtually no lubrication, my intention is add a reservoir and series of pipes to each gear, in the mean time I remove the cover about once a week and manually oil everything (I have rebuilt the gearbox on a similar lathe and would rather not do it again).
The other area of concern is the bronze gear between the worm on the power feed shaft and the apron (see photo), it is nicely hidden away and normally receives no lubrication and eventually fails, my intention is to add an oil cup and pipe. In the short term I leave the threading dial off and oil it daily.
My lathe as received had incredibly noisy tumbler gears due to excessive clearance and as I use the it at night in a home workshop this was a real problem, the solution was to turn up new gear mountings with the center spigot .015" eccentric which allowed the gears to be rotated into correct clearance, this reduced the noise by about 90%.
Another mod to improve surface finish was to add a 50 tooth gear to the gearbox input and run a 30/127 x 120/50 gear train, this gives a lowest feed rate of .0014"/rev rather than the standard .0028"/rev (not exactly toolroom standards but an improvement). Fitting the DRO was a time consuming exercise, but makes the machine so much more user friendly and productive I can't recommend it highly enough.
I hope I haven't focused on negative aspects too much as that was not my intention (I wouldn't have bought one if I thought they were that bad).
Regards and keep on turning,
Martin (Toolman)

krv3000 · « **Reply #48 on:** January 26, 2011, 06:03:57 AM »

well all i can say is oooooo

Trion · « **Reply #49 on:** January 28, 2011, 04:14:16 AM »

Thanks bogs, will keep that in mind! I actually have a centre for the spindle end and one for the tailstock. I even got a few lathe dogs too. When I have figured out the headstock alignment, I'll turn my focus towards this.

toolman, nice lathe you got there.

Looks so much tidier than mine! Why AXA toolpost? I thought BXA was the recommended size for that type of machine.
I like the lubrication tips, just had a look a the bronze gear on the power feed, looked completely dry!
I'm not sure what you mean by removing the cover of the screw cutting gearbox. On mine you can take of a "lid" and there are small holes you can drip oil onto the gears. I have also thought about a lubrication system, doesn't really have to be anything fancier than a couple of pneumatic fittings and some hoses. But, that is a project further down the road.
When speaking of tumbler gears, are you talking about the back gears for low spindle speed? Those make a bit of noise on mine too, but not comparable to the feed gears. At full speed the whining sound is almost unbearable, so I'm very hesitant to use feed on small diameter parts. I might have to look into that some day!
I am no expereinced machinist, but I have allways thought that the feed selection was very good on my machine. At the lowest feed setting it literally takes forever to cut something. I use the second lowest feed when parting of with a HSS tool.

Trion · « **Reply #50 on:** February 01, 2011, 02:09:07 AM »

Here's my second attempt of checking for taper. 19mm mm brass bar

A razor sharp hss tool (so sharp that I actually cut myself on it), gave this silly amount of chatter. I tried speeds from 200-800rpm and allways using the lowest feed and very small cuts, nothing helped.

Tool ground almost like a hook, as I heard this would be best for gummy materials

Top view, there is a slight radius on the tip.

Then I decided to try a uncoated carbide tool at some higher speed. Initially it was chattering just like the HSS one, but with a bit of WD40 it instantly improved

The finish near the chuck was very good, but you can already see the starting chatter to the right in the picture

Chatter is starting about 30mm out from the chuck

Here's the starting end

After making two passes back and forth with the slowest feed and locked cross slide and compound slide, I measured the bar.

Results:
0mm - 17,465
20mm - 17,48
40mm - 17,50
60mm - 17,52
80mm - 17,535
100mm - 17,56

I am thinking there is some issue with rigidity in the machine. When turning you can see long chips laying on the chip pan bounce to the frequency of the lathe. I have tightened the gibs for saddle, cross slide and compound slide, and two of them were also locked during the test. This has me thinking in the direction of spindle bearings, but I'm really not sure.

Swarfing · « **Reply #51 on:** February 01, 2011, 12:04:33 PM »

I would suggest that the work piece may need to be supported really. The other option would be to use a straight cut angle bit of tool steel? worth a go anyway.

Trion · « **Reply #52 on:** February 04, 2011, 03:13:30 AM »

I thought the whole point of the exercise was to turn the shaft while it is only supported by the chuck, in order to check spindle alignment.
I am not sure what you are meaning when speaking of a straight cut angle bit of tool steel.

Swarfing · « **Reply #53 on:** February 04, 2011, 07:08:14 AM »

Sorry Trion a state of 'you should have read the whole post' crept in with me and i see your point

Using the slightly round ended cutter will give some deflection hence the chatter marks. With a square ended cutter with slight rake back to the side will pull into the material more whilst cutting. The finish will not be so good though and sorry for the mix up.

Paul

SemiSkilled · « **Reply #54 on:** February 04, 2011, 05:04:14 PM »

A bit on the dumbell test,

Lee

Trion · « **Reply #55 on:** February 06, 2011, 04:56:32 AM »

Swarfing: Haha, now I see the misunderstanding! I was beginning to think I had gotten it all wrong

I think I get your point regarding the cutter. I´ll try to grind one without nose radius, I still have a lot to learn on tool grinding

SemiSkilled: Thanks for the pictures. Seems like a very interesting book!

Bogstandard · « **Reply #56 on:** February 06, 2011, 08:02:48 AM »

Trion,

That really looks like a speed induced chatter, running too fast, and setting up resonating vibrations,

Try say a 0.05mm cut, slow feed and speed. If your cutter is razor sharp, as it should be, and close in to the toolpost, and you have lubed up the machine, then that should cut perfectly from about 75 to 100mm out from the chuck, using say 15mm stock brass.

If that doesn't do it, then you are into real guesstimations, as without actually being there, anything else would be pure guesswork.

Bogs

Thomas · « **Reply #57 on:** February 06, 2011, 03:13:08 PM »

Hello Trion!

A fellow Norwegian guy here who just signed up to the Mad Modder forum.
Happy to see there are other guys from Norway here, yay!

It seems like you got a nice lathe there.
Where in Norway are you btw?

Regarding your lathe alignment test, you say you're using a brass bar, but it looks more like red bronze or something much gummier than brass (you said yourself it was gummy).
This is your picture of the test bar, look how red the metal is, and how it curls up where the cut ends:

Get some "real" brass, it should be yellow/golden, and it's definitely not gummy.
And with brass you should use a hss tool with no top rake, it should be flat on top (no hook).

Plus for the alignment test at least, grind it with no/little radius. That will lessen the chance of chattering.

Hilsen Thomas
Fra Asker, Norge

toolman · « **Reply #58 on:** February 07, 2011, 12:51:53 AM »

Hi Trion,
Sorry about the delay in getting back to you,things have been a bit busy here, the torrential rain we have had in Melbourne flooded my workshop, fortunately no serious damage but a good excuse to have a serious cleanup
R.E. Toolposts : the 12 inch lathe seems to be the crossover point between the AXA and the BXA toolpost. I chose the AXA as its smaller size makes it more maneuverable in tight tooling setups and to date it has been rigid enough for everything I have required it to do, but then I only use sharp positive rake tooling, negative rake tooling might be a different story.

R.E.: Gearbox lubrication: Fig 1 shows what I mean by removing the front cover, it may seem like overkill to remove the cover once a week but with a 5mm Hex key in a cordless drill it takes about 3 minutes
and I know I'm not in for nasty surprises in years to come (been there, done that).

R.E. Tumbler Gears: Fig 2 shows the 22 and 28 tooth gears I'm talking about (the term tumbler gears is generic description and probably shows my age).

R.E. Feed Rates: I would not suggest for a moment that all turning be done at fine feed rates, most of my general turning is done at rates of anywhere between .005" and .025"/rev depending on material, diameter and tooling, but for certain jobs such as machine tool accessories or specialized hand tools where surface finish is important I use the finest feed available. Fig 3 shows a 200mm length of 30mm Mild Steel finish turned at .0014"/rev, yes it is a slow process but on items that I intend to use for years I feel it is worth the effort.

Regarding your concerns about Headstock alignment, is it possible to hire a test bar bar from a machine tool dealer in your area ? they are available for purchase but here in Australia they cost about $ 150 AUD a lot of money for some thing you will only use a few times.
Regards,
Martin

Trion · « **Reply #59 on:** February 13, 2011, 04:01:57 AM »

Thanks for the reply guys!

Bogs: I did take fine cuts like 5/100mm as slow as 200rpm, but this far out from the chuck there was no hope. Actually, when the machine wasn't running I could see the bar bend as i touched up on it with the tool. I had a thought fly through my mind, that it was like trying to turn a rubber bar

Thomas: Yay, another Norwegian!

I´m from a town outside of Stavanger. You might have caught me here, that might very well be something else than brass. That should explain why it made those long curly chips

Thanks for the tips on tool grinding, will keep that in mind when I get hold of some real brass

Toolman: No worries, just glad to hear your shop is undamaged.

Ok, I still think I´m going for the BXA as I rarely fiddle around with the smaller stuff, but it is nice to know ones options. I see what you mean regarding oiling, I have squirted in a bit of oil underneath the cover but I guess it is about time to take it of and oil the parts properly. Your eccentric gear bushings look nice, another project I´d like to take on some day!
I don´t either turn at the slowest federate all the time, I meant to say when finishing I have always thought it to be more than slow enough. Though the finish on the bar in your picture is like nothing I´ve ever made!

I do not know of any machine dealers in the area, but i will check it out. The most recent dumbbell illustration showed using a 1" bar, so I should be ok with my micrometer. Just need some more shop time to finish my current project and get along with the alignment again.

Trion · « **Reply #60 on:** March 19, 2011, 06:29:43 PM »

The checking of the lathe is currently on hold as it still is a bit intimidating. The machine is working for what i need it to do so I have used it a bit lately. A while ago I made a splash cover, after having been sprayed with coolant as the coolant reached the chuck..

It is not very nice. I'll make a better (and transparent) one someday!

A long time ago I started on somethign resembling a ball turner. Those plans were not thought through enough and have been discarded. In the meanwhile I have seen loads of good solutions to make ball turners. With a new lathe on the way, I wanted to make something rigid that would fit both lathes without problems. Therefore I have decided upon a horizontal shaft perpendicular to the lathe axis, holding something like a boring head. By altering the tool height or adjusting the boring head I can make concave and convex radiuses. When removing the boring head I have a ball bearing spindle perpendicular to the lathe axis, add a jacobs chuck and a power drill and it becomes a lathe cross-drill - i hope..

So I started by making a C-o-c

Found a suiting piece

Cut it to length on my beloved bandsaw

It just fitted through the chuck bore

Centre drilled the tip and brought out the live centre

I needed to remove about 12mm of the diameter, so I tried different speeds, feeds and depth of cuts to find the most efficient solution. I was always pushing it close to the point of resonance, but as I got closer to the chuck I could gradually increase the depth of cut

Roughing out the basic shape

When I began some light semi-finishing passes I measured the chuck and tailstock diameter. The difference was 0,12mm, so I moved the tailstock 0,06mm towards me. A few iterations and the diameter was within what I can measure accurately with my digital vernier

Here's how I left it today. Two bearing surfaces turned to 30,03mm, while the bearing has an ID of 30,01 (digital vernier measurements mind you). The black region is where I plan on making a M30x1,0 thread, used for tightening of the angular contact ball bearings that are going to support the shaft. I think it's going to be beefy enough!

I still have a lot to learn on getting beautiful surface finish!

Trion · « **Reply #61 on:** March 21, 2011, 06:41:37 PM »

Yesterday I cut the thread, M30x1,0

Then it was time for the bearing housing. I found a suiting piece of mystery steel

And cleaned it up a bit

Before i could make a proper c-o-c

I want it to be a one-piece construction. To allow for mounting of the shaft, it must be eccentric, so out came the 4-jaw

Before I started turning, I was thinking about the feed gearbox oil issue mentioned by toolman, and decided to resolve this first.

A hole was drilled, and there you have the extra gear oiling hole.

I used a lot of WD 40 when drilling so that all the swarf became wet and got stuck to the cloth, trying to minimize the dust in the gears

Eccentric turning sure takes a while!

Next operation was to start boring out the bearing and shaft bore. This is probably overkill, but I wanted to use my steady rest. Unfortunately it wasn't big enough!

So the boring commenced without the steady. The hole is 100mm long, I don't have so long small drills, so I drilled as far as i could get with a 6mm drill. The rest was left to a long 10mm one, which had to suffer through lengths of steel

That's about where it stands today. The hole is going to be drilled out to 30mm, then I'll use a boring bar to open it to 31mm and make it concentric for alignment when I flip it over in the chuck. I'll also bore out for the bearing in the same setup.

Trion · « **Reply #62 on:** March 22, 2011, 04:01:40 PM »

I continued some more on the project today

I drilled the hole to 30mm, and prepared for boring

I had to use coolant because chips were getting captured between the boring bar and the hole wall. This made a large spray of coolant around the entire machine, so I had to adapt some covers to avoid getting wet

A while later the 31mm bore and 62mm bearing seat was finished. Not superb surface finish, but it is smooth to the touch

Trion · « **Reply #63 on:** March 24, 2011, 04:04:08 AM »

Yesterday I finished the reliefs around the bearing surface, to allow for tightening of the bearing and letting grease get in. The bearing is 16mm wide while the seat is 28,5mm deep, so I bored 11,5mm to a slight oversize so the bearing slides nicely in until it reaches the "press fit"

Then I flipped the part over, indicated it by the hole i had bored through until it was within 0,005mm. Then I got cutting and have now finished the second bearing seat. This also needs relief cuts.

Trion · « **Reply #64 on:** March 25, 2011, 03:55:19 AM »

And it goes on.. Turning the bearing seat on the opposite end

Yesterday I rediscovered HSS!
While roughing out the outside diameter in interrupted cuts I stalled the machine several times and was allways struggling with chatter unless i made 0,4mm deep cuts or smaller. When I drilled the 30mm hole I was using a HSS drill and had a massive metal removal rate, so I figured I'd give a bit of HSS tooling a go at a lower speed. And wouldn't you know, It took up to 2,4mm deep cuts (that is 4,8mm off the diameter) at a feed the carbide tools never would have managed!

Ofcourse, the carbide would probably be able to remove more metal on a sturdier machine, but for my little lathe HSS was just fine

And here we have the bearing housing finished turning

Bearing housing and shaft meet. I will not press in the bearings before I have finished machining all parts.

I have not decided on how I am going to make the mounting flange on the bearing housing. I am tempted to make it a dovetail to suit a BXA QCTP that I am planning to buy. But I could also just mill out a flat on it and call it a day.. I also need to decide how I want to mount the boring head to the shaft, as it would be very nice to be able to replace the boring head for a jacobs drill chuck for drilling operations.

rvt · « **Reply #65 on:** March 26, 2011, 09:28:57 AM »

Brilliant documentation, thanks for sharing it all! I'm very jealous

Miner · « **Reply #66 on:** April 08, 2011, 06:52:25 PM »

Trion,
Due to my time away from home I just read this. I haven't read every single post. so some, Or all of this may have already been pointed out.

Your first pictures show a tool tip that's obviously not set at the lathes centerline.

Your tool chatter problem while checking the headstock alignment? If? you were using free maching material, An ultra sharp tool, And all slides adjusted properly, The standards for part projection from a lathe chuck for unsupported material at the free end are around 2-3 times the materials diameter. And that's MAXIMUM.

Lathe leveling, And the need for a machinist's level? I've got enough trys at this that a dead level lathe is just an easy way to get you to a starting point. A dead level lathe is just a static condition. Aligning a lathe to turn parts to the same dimension end to end requires as you've done, Testing under cutting conditions. Due to tollerances required for the lathes parts to even move while cutting, Inacuracys while machining and grinding the parts for your lathe, Ect. Further adjustments away from dead level would be expected. Probably by now you realise this already.

I like your lathe, For it's age and what I can see in the pictures it looks to be in great shape.

Pete

Rob.Wilson · « **Reply #67 on:** April 09, 2011, 03:42:21 AM »

Hi Trion

Wow thats a great lathe you have there

good to see you have it up and running

Rob

I must get round to making a chuck guard for my lathe

Trion · « **Reply #68 on:** April 10, 2011, 05:32:28 PM »

Thanks lads!

Miner, when checking headstock alignment I was clearly using the wrong material, too long protrusion and the wrong cutting tool. How much more could i get wrong? Maybe run the lathe in reverse

I did think though, that it would be possible to use a longer protrusion than 4xmaterial diameter if one was only taking very, very light cuts.
As you point out, proper lathe leveling should also have been done before any attempts were made to tweak the machine. One of the reasons why I'm fooling around with other stuff at the moment.

I must say I begin to appreciate the lathe more every time I stumble across a worn beaten old machine which requires a wrench to move the handles. Hell I recently even had to clean of dragon fat from the underside of the bed, where the tailstock clamp sits. That is, some 22 years after the machine left the factory!!

Rob, looking forward to your chuck guard. I'm expecting it to be better and nicer than mine in many ways!

News:

Author Topic: My slager 12x36 lathe (Read 46129 times)

bogstandard

bogstandard

Rob.Wilson