New garage "toy" . . . but not as big as 747Mopar's . . . and rebuilding

[conv67bdere]

I enjoyed reading about your adventure with your new lathe.

My first lathe was a 6 inch craftsman. I went through it like you are doing. It was a satisfying pleasure. --In the eighties, I bought a 12 in. craftsman with all the accessories and went through it with the same enjoyment. (used it all the time)
Ten or so years ago I found an - Emco Maximat V13--(Not enco)for sale on ebay with two hundred pounds of accessories and tooling. I won the bidding and think I got it for a bargain at 3K. It did not need to be rebuilt.


Once you get a good working lathe -and start relying on it-- you will begin to wonder how you got along without one.

BTW--I have never been trained on lathe working. It is a tool and like most tools they can do lots of stuff that is "out of the box"--Have fun and don't let the stainless string chips reach out and grab you.

View attachment 532970

Example of out of box stuff that can be done. I made this fireplace screen on my lathe out of stainless and copper wire. View attachment 532971

My friend ( who is helping me rebuild this lathe ) has one - and I've used it a couple times to make some parts, and he's used it to make several parts for me too . . . I can't wait to get this up and running and to have him teach me some of the techniques / tricks of the lathe. He had told me that he's got (2) or (3) projects that he wants me to build that will utilize many of the things that can be done on a lathe - he said he'll teach me how to do threads too . . . that is very intriguing ! ! !

I'm excited to learn more about it . . . Oh, he's talking about adding digital read outs to the lathe too . . . That sounds very cool ! ! ! !

 

[747mopar]

Lol, the way you learn cutting threads will be a walk in the park... pretty simple to do. I'd suggest running the lathe before you add a digital readout, I don't see the benefit of one on a lathe like I do on a mill... they're very handy on a mill though.

 

[ws23jrt]

Rebuilding the cross slide . . .

The cross slide has 12/1000 play in the dial . . . not too good, so my engineer friend "suggested" that the ACME screw and nut get swapped out for a ball screw and ball-nut . . . I had never heard of these terms so I had to look them up . . . All that I can say is WOW ! ! ! The play in the dial "would" be decreased to 0 . . . so I thought it was a great idea . . .

How a ball screw works:


Until . . . we started looked for one to replace the on on the lathe. The cross slide moves 1/10 of an inch per rotation - so 10 turns per inch. About the best that we can find in the ball screw is 8 turns per inch . . . so, that would mean that the markings on the dial would not be correct for the cross slide.

So . . . we might be replacing the cross slide Acme screw and Nut with new parts to get them working better - and he also suggested an Acme anti-backlash nut be added to the assembly to help assist with reducing the play in the dial . . .

Digging into this to find out what/how the upgrades will be done . . . more to follow . . .

If I may give my 2 cents here. "backlash" is something that all machine tools have. Even the "ball screw type.
When one wants to get to the bottom line of making something super precise. (which is rare and close to grinding being needed) The " backlash" in a ball screw lead is still a real amount.

Turning the micrometer dial on a machine tool is always forward and then back to the mark needed. 99% of making what we need to make is easy.
IMO investing in a ball screw device for a home hobby machine is over the top and will yield very little.

If you feel the need to make something quick and have to know where the cutting tool is you need a DRO system.--Digital read out-- It will tell you exactly where you are. However backlash is still real and you need to know which side of the lash you are on when cutting.

 

[ws23jrt]

Lol, the way you learn cutting threads will be a walk in the park... pretty simple to do. I'd suggest running the lathe before you add a digital readout, I don't see the benefit of one on a lathe like I do on a mill... they're very handy on a mill though.

I agree with you about the thought of investing in a DRO for a home hobby lathe. (the system can cost three times the cost of a small lathe). It is practical for production work only and just handy for a home shop lathe.

 

[conv67bdere]

Lathe progress . . . ( forgot to post this here with the tools update . . . )

Been getting some work done on the lathe ( when the snow is not falling and making a mess down here ) . . .

This is the backing plate from the other chuck, but the raised part in the center of this plate does not snugly fit into the depression in the back of the new Bison Chuck - so we need to make this work better . . . that's where the "new" piece of metal comes into play . . .

Here you can see the dowel pin holes that are drilled for securing this to the new plate ( call it the mid-plate ) when it's all bolted together.

This is the "new" mid-plate with the center rise larger than the Bison depression - the plan is to put it on the lathe and sneak up on the diameter to snugly fit into the back of the Bison, and keep that chuck centered and not moving when in use . . .. the square plate was cut on the band saw, to near shape, so that the final shape can be milled . . . in progress in this picture.

The final mid-plate . . . ready to be turned and fitted to the new chuck . . .

My engineer friend is teaching me all kinds of new stuff with his Bridgeport, and helping me to get this lathe dialed in and working ! ! !

I'm having a blast learning and doing all this as I get my new lathe functional and ready to go into my shop . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Lathe work and dial in continue . . . Latest update on the progress . . .

First the original backing plate was installed and faced ( it's cast iron ) . . .

So nice to see the first time that I'm actually making shavings on this lathe . . . there will be PLENTY more shavings that this lathe will create in it's future . . .

Here's the finished facing of the cast iron backing plate - this was turned flat across the front to accept the mid-plate . . .

Then the mid-plate was bolted to the original backing plate so the outer edge could be cut and faced to accept the Bison chuck . . .

Added the additional "touch" of the stamp that is used . . . BSH = Brick **** House . . . that's how we build things . . .

Got the other edge faced, and the center rise dialed in to accept the chuck . . .

And the Bison chuck is now mounted on the lathe . . . man is this a NICE piece of "machinery"

After mounting the chuck Rocky worked with me to see how well we "hope" to be able to get this thing dialed in . . .

the initial findings that we're seeing are
- - that this chuck is incredible
- - no difference regardless on which of the 3 jaw bolts are used to tighten the jaws ( that's great )
- - reproducible results every time we remounted the measuring steel rod . . .
- - got a little work to get the head squared and true . . . and then it's "game on" . . .

got some work to get this tired old lathe back into functional standards . . . but we think we've got a good machine to start ! ! !

YAY ! !

 

[khryslerkid]

Keep track of your chuck's T handle. Don't forget and leave it in the chuck and hit the start handle!

Looks like it will be a nice lathe

 

[69 GTX]

Great tool to have!

 

[Ranger16]

NICE! Another

 

[747mopar]

Nice work Larry, looks great!

 

[69 GTX]

Getting the tailshaft dialed in is a pain, but once done your set. Most peopLe don't realize that.

 

[conv67bdere]

Very interesting day in the shop . . . working on the lathe . . .

My Engineer friend, that's helping me dial in this lathe, had back surgery last week, so all of the grunt work was on me ( so I got a very good opportunity to learn "how" this thing works . . . )
The funniest thing, in my mind, was that working on dialing in the lathe, I was using the lathe to make adjustments and get the chuck dialed in ! !

The end results on the dial-in process . . .
- the total indicated run out on the chuck is 6/10s . . . I'm jazzed ! !
- so we worked on the length of the bed and got .003 at about 30 inches . . . we got it locked all down now !
- We still have to work on getting the tail stock aligned . . . ( I'll find out just how fun that is . . . soon )

All in all, it went from a "bad" day ( 20/1000 off ) to a good day with my refusal to accept lousy readings . . . my engineer friend could not believe it when I asked him to stop out and check the results that I'd gotten . . . getting an "at-a-boy" from him means a LOT to me ! ! !

The lathe is now ready for use ( as needed ) . . . uh, after I start buying some tooling . . . ( sigh ) . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

More work on the lathe . . . now it's cleanup, and put back together ( and find out where the things are that need attention )

The oil fill indicator on the right was leaking really bad - so it's been "changed" to 3 o rings compressed in the hole . . . now to see if it holds the oil . . .

Next it's time to work on the saddle, cross slide, and compound slide - to see what's going on with them . . .

The compound slide was removed from the cross slide and taken completely apart and all the "crud" cleaned up ( you can see it on some of the parts )

After cleaning, it was all lubricated with oil and put back together - the Acme nut on in this slide was not even tightened down, and moved pretty freely, that will help to improve the precision of the lathe now that it has been tightened down ( and the whole thing moves a whole lot freely than before too )
- the "movable" indicator ( that should spin to set your zero ) was completely frozen in place and needed a very thorough cleaning and re-lube . . . works NOW !

Next - the cross slide and saddle will come off and get cleaned up - modified as needed - and put back together so it'll work "better" . . . or at least that's the plan . . .

One thing - the base of this compound slide does not appear to make contact on the complete surface of the base - so some time will be spent to get that leveled out and get it so that it will provide full contact with the saddle . . . should be a "fun" undertaking . . .

 

[747mopar]

Congrats on the successful setup work, sound like this lathe will be easy to use with all of the corrections. Keep it up!

 

[conv67bdere]

More progress on the lathe . . . the entire saddle has been taken apart and cleaned up . . .

Bought all new oilers, to replace the missing, busted, and "old" one that were on the lather - cleaning up all the parts and "hopefully" making it work better for the rest of my lifetime ! !

 

[ws23jrt]

I like following this. A good lathe is something one will wonder how they did without once it is put to work.
Piece by piece they are simple like our cars and fun to bring back to life.

 

[conv67bdere]

I like following this. A good lathe is something one will wonder how they did without once it is put to work.
Piece by piece they are simple like our cars and fun to bring back to life.
View attachment 574606

Holy Cow . . . Now I "may" be doing that, but only a piece at a time . . .

here's some more progress on the lathe too . . . while doing the cleanup I decided to put some new paint on the lathe too
( a good friend of mine once said - it's not a question of WHAT color - but a question of what shade of ORANGE it will be )

Everything taped up and sprayed with paint . . .

Then I pulled off all the tape so it would not dry in the paint - and let the saddle sit in the garage to dry . . .

Just another view of the saddle - this one was in the sunlight of the day . . .

Then I flipped it over - sound all the spots that I missed while it was upside-down and got them all painted too . . . ( sigh )

Pretty happy with the way it's turning out - and I'm looking forward to getting it all up and running in my shop. And yes, I know that I'll wonder how I lived without it for all these years once I get it functional ( well - I relied on my friend to help with my work on his lathe when needed )

DANG . . . just remembered that I have (3) other parts, that hold this saddle down, that also need to be cleaned and painted too . . . off to go and get them done too . . .

 

[ws23jrt]

Look out--I see a milling machine in your future. It to will be a machine you can't live without.
I found an old "Tree 2UVR"" machine for 2k years ago and it gets more use than my lathe. (more ridged than a Bridgeport).
With my two machines, I enjoy making and fixing stuff for friends as well as working -on the clock- for the contractor I work for.

 

[conv67bdere]

Found what I think was a great deal on some tooling ( and was recommended by my engineer friend too )

Found this off on the internet . . . https://www.zoro.com/dorian-tool-postholder-set-14-pc-sdn25-series-sdn25axa-ftb/i/G3409935/

14 piece set of Dorian Lathe tool post and tooling
- - - tool post
The following tool holders ( this is usually how I see most of the tools advertised - no tools or inserts )
- - - turning/facing tool holder
- - - turning/facing/boring tool holder
- - - Reversible Cut-Off Tool Holder
- - - O.D./I.D. Tool Holder

The following tools to be used in the above holders . . .
- - - - - - STNCR08-2J Indexable Toolholders
- - - - - - STCMB06-2 Indexable Toolholders
- - - - - - SGIH19-2 Indexable Toolholders
- - - - - - NL50R Indexable Toolholders

And the following insert to be used in the above tools
TCMT-21.51-UM-DHCP25 Inserts
TCMT-21.52-UM-DHCP25 Inserts
SGTN-2-DVP656 Inserts
TNMC-32NV-DVP656 Inserts
11IR-A60-DVP656 Inserts

And the site was running a 20% off deal ( this was included ) and the also included free shipping - my total was under $600 ( brand new parts ).

Found it on Amazon - exact same kit . . . $819 - plus tax . . . plus $3.59 shipping . . .

To me, that's over 25% off . . . and I call that a great deal ( in this day and age )

 

[conv67bdere]

Look out--I see a milling machine in your future. It to will be a machine you can't live without.
I found an old "Tree 2UVR"" machine for 2k years ago and it gets more use than my lathe. (more ridged than a Bridgeport).
With my two machines, I enjoy making and fixing stuff for friends as well as working -on the clock- for the contractor I work for.

My friend has a Bridgeport and it's DRO - and programmable ( sorta a CNC - 2 axis - with a manual 3rd axis - machine ).
He's teaching me how to use it and it's amazing !

Our plan is for me to build a bigger shop, and merge both of our shops together into one shop - he's amazing on the work that he does
( and I'm blessed to be able to learn from him )
And I'm also looking forward to the learning . . .

With the lathe, I found the funniest thing was that I was using the lathe to make adjustments to the parts for attaching the chuck so that I could get it adjusted - which finally resulted in me getting the total run out on the chuck to 6/10 . . . ( I so wanted to push it further and get it less - but that is really incredible as it sits )