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Gingery Lathe and Accessories

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vtsteam:
And the second pass.

andyf:
This is fascinating! Can hardly wait for tomorrow's episode.  Shame you aren't putting it out as a DVD.

Andy

vtsteam:
Thanks AndyF ten years ago I thought I would write a book about it, which is why I have so many photos, but I never followed up on it. After joining you fine folks, it seemed a shame to just keep the photos unpublished just for a book I had never written.

I could still write one anyway, I guess. More step by step, like the Gingery books -- I would have to measure everything, and make drawings, and write instructions beyond what is just sampled here. And then look for a publisher somehow. Lindsay Books is no longer in business as a publisher -- and that was who I had thought it would suit best.

Maybe I could do it as just an e-book rather than a paperback. At any rate I will still post pix of interest in this thread through the end of the series. Doesn't seem to be boring anyone.

Thanks for all of your enthusiasm, guys!

vtsteam:
After milling the way location, that reference surface was bolted to an angle plate and then I faced the base of the vertical ways on the faceplate. I like these Gingery pattern angle plates because one leg is shorter and radiused -- so it can be placed closer to the edge of the faceplate, to accommodate larger work. Each long leg has one tapped hole and one through hole, for ease of bolting up. The base legs have two tapped holes. These are in line and work well with radial slots in a faceplate.

btw, the turned aluminum seems to have a good non- skid grip that I believe wouldn't necessarily be improved if it were polished steel or iron. I have a shiny purchased faceplate for my Atlas lathe, and don't like it quite as well. I may actually cast an aluminum faceplate for that lathe.

The ease of using separate mandrels for turning and milling by simply loosening two setscrews on pulleys in the headstock and transferring was becoming apparent. I liked it better than maintaining a single mandrel and removing the faceplate because it was difficult to maintain faceplate alignment -- even when marking the positions on faceplate and mandrel. After this point I started casting workholding fixtures, like faceplates, and chuck backing plates directly onto their own mandrels. They stay in perfect alignment that way, and it is therefore much quicker to change over.

vtsteam:
Now that the base is squared to the way face of the pillar (I guess that's the proper term) it is time to attach the steel slab that will be the actual way. The base is set on the lathe ways and a machinist square is used to align the steel piece. One screw holds it in place and two two small pre-drilled 3/32" holes at the top are spotted through to mark locations for drilling and tapping to accept the other attachment screws.

We are again using the actual parts we want to be in alignment as their own references -- in this case the lathe ways and the vertical ways are directly aligned with each other through the machinist square. Naturally you don't have to do it this way, and the vertical portion could be aligned with any flat surface off of the lathe. But it becomes a habit to use the actual parts for reference or metal removing operations, wherever possible -- and in many cases this does make a difference to the accuracy of operations. It's also a satisfying way to do things.

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