Large Scale Central

Metal lathe tips?

Tools and Tips
#1

Just got home from town a few moments ago… passed a moving sale on the way in and thought I’d check it out.
I was able to purchase a mini lathe in very good condition with an assortment of tools, center drills, stand & motor for $45.00 US.
With the carbide tools and center drills I already have, I think I’ve got enough stuff to actually make something.
Metal wheels seem to be the thing that I could use most.

Anyone out the willing to pass on any tips they have,
and or experience’s they’d be willing to share?

I certainly appreciate any tips, hints, help offered.

Thanks

Dave…

#2

What brand ? I have a Sherline that I have used for a number of years. Main thing to remember with small lathes like the Sherline is the amount of material you can remove in a single pass is limited due the power available. If what you are making requires a lot of material to be removed (making a 1/2" diameter part starting with 1" stock) you will find it’s very time consuming !

If you have never used a lathe before a trip to the library for a book with some basic machining instruction would be helpful. Much of the basic lathe turning techniques are the same regardless of the size of the lathe.

#3

Gary,
Thanks for the reply.
Yes, I do have some experience with larger engine lathes. Thankfully, no NC or CNC to deal with on this one! The calipers etc that I have will work just fine. Will have to dig out my machinist’s bible and look up pulley/speed ratio’s after I find the info plate on the motor… Appears(by size) to be a 1+hp motor.
Couldn’t locate a manufacturers plate on the lathe, mostly because it’s in a not too well lit spot the tool shed. Will take a flash light and try to move it into a spot that will allow me to get a closer look at it. Like alot of other people, I’ve got tools, equipment and miscellaneous junk for a 30 X 40 work shop stuffed into a 8 x 20 shed.
From what I can see, it’s a four jaw chuck, the castings and finish are very good, superior to anything I’ve seen at H.F… It’s an older machine, an american manufacturer?
Anyway, I’m hoping that someone will be able to suggest bar stock, etc that they’ve had good results with turning wheels, any mistakes that they’ll admit to, or any tips they’re willing to pass on…
Everything’s appreciated.
Thanks again.

Dave…

#4

Hi , best of luck with the lathe .
Before you use it in earnest , try it out by turning a longish piece of already round brass , just to see how much eccentricity there is (NONE hopefully)
Start looking around for “useful scraps” and try using the lathe on them to get the "feel " of it .
By far the best metal to turn on a small lathe is brass .
Steel is ok if it is not cheap brittle stuff that passes for mild steel from the melted-down ships finding their way into the market .
Aluminium is a swine to turn , it gets very hot v quickly .
Plastic can be turned , milled , etc , but each piece has to be assessed for cutting speed .
Making wheels from scratch is a mug’s game , they are cheaper to buy , then you can “adjust” them to suit your requirements on your lathe .

You have experience working a lathe ? Remember , then —NO LOOSE CLOTHING , NECK TIES CAN KILL . Have a first aid kit handy , and if possible , have a "kill switch " and show your partner how to use it .

But above all , Enjoy Yourself .

Mike

#5

After two eye surgeries, I wear my safety glasses(I actually had them on for the last one). Nothing beats the eyedoc drilling out your eye with a dremel. Also make sure it has a dead firm bench or stand, it’s truely more accurate that way. I have a Tiag and a 9x36 Grizzley. There are some neat mini lathe sites,I’ll try to find them.

#6

One of my favorites. http://www.littlemachineshop.com/Info/MiniLatheUsersGuide.pdf

#7

Marc & Mike,
Yes, safety first!
Got my apron & safety shield, goggles, safety glasses…
enough stuff from different jobs over the years to protect myself from flying odd bits. learned about loose clothing decades ago… a Minneapolis-Moline tractor powering a drive belt for a thrashing machine… pulled that shirt off faster than I ever imagined! The thought of a dead man switch isn’t too bad of an idea… Ms.G. is off visiting our daughter and grandchildren for a couple months, so I’ll make something that will act as a dead man switch.

Still haven’t had a chance to get out to the shed and look to find the make of the lathe…
Loggers showed up yesterday & today to take down the pine trees where the new track will run. Good deal, no more raking pine straw!!! It’s been keeping me busy putting branches in burn piles out in the field.

I do have some brass in various diameters, so when the time comes I’ll give her a go with some of that. Lots of old steel in various diameters too… the old boy we bought the farmstead from left alot of metal in the shop(60 yrs of accumulation). He did alot of farm machinery repairs and fabrication… don’t think I’ll have to go off the property for anything as far as metal goes…

Neck Tie??? in this part of Texas, that’s a rope over a handy branch! ; )

#8
gloria & david said:
Just got home from town a few moments ago.. passed a moving sale on the way in and thought I'd check it out. I was able to purchase a mini lathe in very good condition with an assortment of tools, center drills, stand & motor for $45.00 US. With the carbide tools and center drills I already have, I think I've got enough stuff to actually make something. Metal wheels seem to be the thing that I could use most.

Anyone out the willing to pass on any tips they have,
and or experience’s they’d be willing to share?

I certainly appreciate any tips, hints, help offered.

Thanks

Dave…


Dave,

How big or small is this lathe? Swing? Center distance? Swing over cross slide?

Best material to test on is alu, it will show up every bit of chatter and vibration (based on 30 years of experience in the machine tool service industry :wink: ) in the spindle bearings, loose slides, leadscrews etc.

Use any of the leaded mild steels for wheels, that will give a very nice finish.

#9

Hans ,
My 50 years experience modelling using machine tools counts for nought then ? And when are you going to show us a completed model that you seem to start and then drop . Too busy being ultra sophisticated on the forum ?
Tell us all , in technical terms , what difference does it make what swing over cross slide ? Big or small ? Centre distance ? You can’t even use a miller safely , don’t get cocky now .

Mike

#10

Mike Morgan said:
Hans , My 50 years experience modelling using machine tools counts for nought then ? And when are you going to show us a completed model that you seem to start and then drop . Too busy being ultra sophisticated on the forum ? Tell us all , in technical terms , what difference does it make what swing over cross slide ? Big or small ? Centre distance ? You can’t even use a miller safely , don’t get cocky now . Mike

Mike, Mike, See that’s what you get taking things personal! :wink: Sometimes I get a feeling that I must have been teaching some of the blokes with a similar mindset to yours in my previous life. Most of them at universities, colleges and other educational institutions. Really sharp guys! Could calculate every conceivable requirement but had no inkling on how to set a turning tool to the proper height, how to calculate the proper feed for a threading head or any number of other practical things. But man, were they good. Could also drive one bonkers - I was much, much younger then and had much less patience - when the same had to be explained four different ways for them to grasp the principle. But man, were they good! On using a milling machine safely, hmmmmmmmmm I learned that in 1962 … that’s 45 years ago. Last count I’m quite a few years younger than you. :wink: :smiley: But you’re right, once in a while I dare to gamble on clamping a tricky piece. Fixing the “Ooops” was still quicker than doing it the “complicated” way. A lot easier than fixing the interior of a crummy, if you know what I mean. :slight_smile: :wink: :wink: Oooops it’s bonkers, not bunkers. Bunkers are where some people are dwelling to keep from the real world!

#11

Vee vill ask the kvestions !!!

Hans , when I sent that email that you never received , I promised we would get you learning humour . You really are not trying hard enough .

And those poor buggers that you were trying to teach , my sympathies to them .I wonder how many have lost bits of themselves since ?

Mike . Heavily edited .

#12
Mike Morgan said:
................................

And those poor buggers that you were trying to teach , my sympathies to them .I wonder how many have lost bits of themselves since ?

Mike . Heavily edited .


Don’t feel too sorry for them, they probably got shuffled off to administration, into procurement or some other such “position” where they couldn’t interfer with practical learning.

The only thing they were missing when I met them (strictly my opinion) was some technical savvy on the practical level and the ability to absorb everyday common concepts which weren’t couched in complicated formulae. You know stuff that one shouldn’t have to explain more than once. :wink: :slight_smile:

HJ

counting his fingers, toes and all his blessings (just to make sure) while having another good chuckle!

#13

Hey, you’re both wrong! Plastic is the best to practice on. Enough out of you two hacks. My 5 years of losing body parts (enough to make Frankenstien) gives me superior knowledge and the sooner you realize…

#14

Here in the UK we call it “Millwrights Fingers” .

Mike

#15
gloria & david said:
.....................................

Anyway, I’m hoping that someone will be able to suggest bar stock, etc that they’ve had good results with turning wheels, any mistakes that they’ll admit to, or any tips they’re willing to pass on…
Everything’s appreciated.
Thanks again.

Dave…


Dave,

When you’re done turning the test piece and snugged up the gibs, adjusted the split nuts (hopefully you have them on that lathe), take a piece of bar and turn any diameter for the max. distance that lathe allows you on the longitudinal travel. That’s good for checking the alignment of the headstock to the bed. If it’s tapered the headstock could be out in either plane.
Next clamp a large piece and face the end of it, that will tell you if the cross slide is perpendicular to the spindle/headstock and the bed.

For an emergency stop you could mount one of those large, locking mushroom buttons on the support bench. That way you can hit it with your hand or even with your body.

#16
Marc Bergmueller said:
Hey, you're both wrong! Plastic is the best to practice on. Enough out of you two hacks. My 5 years of losing body parts (enough to make Frankenstien) gives me superior knowledge and the sooner you realize...
Hey Marc,

You lucky duck! :smiley: :smiley: At least you’re still able to use a keyboard. :wink: :slight_smile:

BTW I wasn’t writing about practising, more interested to find out “how good is the lathe?” and for that one does certain tests. What one does with the results is a different story, :wink: :slight_smile: usually it’s “a bit of work” to get things properly aligned.

But there again one can do it with bailing wire, sawdust and shims or do it the way it should be done. I have seen some very “creative solutions” in my time, even by people who were supposedly trained as machine tool fitters. That’s the clan who does from small to large machines in high-precision to so-so precision - not to be confused with millwrights. You can tell the difference by the tools they use.

Tools - that reminds me (don’t remember if I mentioned this before) in German we call an adjustable wrench an “Engländer” (Englishman), the deeper meaning of this only dawned on me when I immigrated to Canada and got the benefit of first hand observation what the English millwrights carried in their tool box. Two hammers - large and larger, neither a soft mallet; four screwdrivers - two of them regularly used as prybars; and one adjustable wrench - largish size as all adjustables will close down to “almost closed”. :wink: :wink: :slight_smile:

#17

Now Hans, is that a metric adjustable or standard adjustable wrench?:slight_smile:

#18
Marc Bergmueller said:
Now Hans, is that a metric adjustable or standard adjustable wrench?:)
Marc,

Good one!

But believe it or not I have a small adjustable that has a metric graduation so you can set it “precisely”. Made in Germany, where else??!! :wink: :slight_smile: Make is Hazet and that stuff was invariable too expensive for any of the Brits. Very frugal lot, they are! :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

#19
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
That's the clan who does from small to large machines in high-precision to so-so precision - not to be confused with millwrights. You can tell the difference by the tools they use.

Tools - that reminds me (don’t remember if I mentioned this before) in German we call an adjustable wrench an “Engländer” (Englishman), the deeper meaning of this only dawned on me when I immigrated to Canada and got the benefit of first hand observation what the English millwrights carried in their tool box. Two hammers - large and larger, neither a soft mallet; four screwdrivers - two of them regularly used as prybars; and one adjustable wrench -


Hans,
I resemble that remark…
In the work-a-day world I AM a traveling/contract MILLWRIGHT.
In my pockets on most jobs I will have:
A pair of pump pliers(channel locks)
adjustable wrench or spud wrench, depending on job site.
flat head screwdriver
phillips head screwdriver
flashlight
tape measure

Other tools stay in my toolbox unless needed.
Precision tools stay in their box, unless they’re being used.
They’re too costly to replace if lost in a plant.

Those hammer toters you saw must have been pipe fitters!

Still haven’t gotten out to the tool shed to mess with the lathe…
Was planning on getting to it today, after I did some raking in the yard…
clean up after the loggers…
I’m thinking about covering the stumps with cement and making mesa’s out of them…

Then the big brown truck showed up…

The Aristo Rogers set that I ordered from trainworld came today…
Yes, it’s the $100.00 close out Rogers Sesame Street freight set.
I had been wanting a Rogers, and the price seemed right, the intention
was to repaint it and the rolling stock… Shouldn’t have played with it…
Heck, a new locomotive, tender, 20’ gondola & bobber caboose,
as well as a circle of track and yet another power source for the
price…
As they say about best intentions…
I guess I’ll leave it painted as it is, use the Rogers & tender to pull an assortment of freight cars.
The caboose & gondola seemed a bit small, but matched up nicely with the little HLW 040T that I have.
The 4’ diameter circle of track will go into the mining line when the new layout is put down.
Needless to say, I spent the rest of the day playing with trains!

Supposed to rain tomorrow, so maybe I’ll get out to the shed…

Dave…

#20

Hey Dave, I did one of the Sesame Rogers sets for my brother. It was a fine runing engine but a bugger to strip the paint off. Mounted a set of elk antlers on it and weather’d the heck out of it. Got it at train world myself because I had a girlfriend that lived in Brooklyn, now she’s my wife, she could never understand why I was so eager to drive 4hrs to see her.