Cheaper Chinese Lathes 38mm Spindle Bore

[rik arryParticipant @rikarry]

In my quest to find a lathe with a bigger spindle bore than myford,, I’ve just noticed that the Warco size wm180 and up similar machines now have 38mm / 1.5”  spindle bore ,, hopefully Warco will follow suite , as 15/20/21mm quite limiting.

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

Im just amazed at how big and how long these bits you guys are making.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

It is driven by the demand from gun nuts in the USA where the bigger bore ones are often marketed as “gunmaker’s lathes” for hobbyists who couldn’t afford/house a large industrial machine to get the same bore.

[bernard towers]

On bernard towers Said:

Im just amazed at how big and how long these bits you guys are making.

Having bought two new lathes, a large spindle bore would be high up the list of wants if I ever bought another. Not only does it make larger parts easier and faster, but there’s less wastage of expensive material.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

As Nick says you don’t end up with a pile of bar ends, you work on the end of a bar which gives you plenty to grip and then saw or part off so only the kerf or parting tool width goes to waste.

For someone like me who makes a lot from scratch it may be more useful than those who use castings for bigger items

As for distance between ctrs that goes hand in hand with the big bore, I tend to buy 2ft or 1m lengths which are a lot easier to put into the chuck or collet if you can put them in from the front which does require the tailstock to be far enough away.

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

So do you think that putting a 500 mm length of 35mm steel bar into your lathe chuck a good idea, especially at 700 to 1000 rpm? Not sure your parts are going to be that round.

[rik arryParticipant @rikarry]

But Delrin and Acetal and tube , don’t only use Steel on a lathe 🤔

[bernard towers]

On bernard towers Said:

So do you think that putting a 500 mm length of 35mm steel bar into your lathe chuck a good idea, especially at 700 to 1000 rpm? Not sure your parts are going to be that round.

Is the 500mm sticking out of the chuck to be worked on? If so, who is going to machine it without a steady and/or live centre? If it isn’t and the required part is short, why would you waste time and a chunk of the material cutting it off a long length before working on it? 35mm isn’t a large or rare size for me.

 

I would have been a lot happier if I could have pushed this 3/4″ square bar back into the headstock instead of having barely enough room to machine the M20 threads on each end, especially as I didn’t have any more material:

[bernard towers]

On bernard towers Said:

So do you think that putting a 500 mm length of 35mm steel bar into your lathe chuck a good idea, especially at 700 to 1000 rpm? Not sure your parts are going to be that round.

Yes, and I can get over a metre of rod into my lathe, and spin it up to 2800rpm!   Not an unusual turning operation, for example “Oil-Country” lathes are specifically made to turn long lengths of pipe, and are more likely to work that way than not.

I do it to save stock, because it much reduces the need to chop metal into itty-bitty short lengths just because the headstock bore is too small.  But it’s good for axles and anything else on the long side.   The Myford’s narrow bore headstock isn’t an advantage.

Of course you can’t just bung long work in the chuck and hope for the best.  Being bendy makes steel rod liable to kink and whip, and a metre of rod flailing at 2800 rpm at the end of a headstock is about as dangerous as it gets!   Necessary to provide some means of controlling it – I usually pass the rod through a block of wood clamped in a Workmate and carefully aligned with the spindle.

Dave

[bernard towers]

On bernard towers Said:

So do you think that putting a 500 mm length of 35mm steel bar into your lathe chuck a good idea, especially at 700 to 1000 rpm? Not sure your parts are going to be that round.

You are assuming my comments about length also apply to dia of spindle bore. As for my lathe it is only 26mm bore so can’t stick 35mm up it anyway. I do have a couple of bungs for the far end to reduce whip on longer thin material.

But what I make seem to come out round enough as my engines run, many run without even fitting the piston rings, gaskets or seals yet make compression OK which I doubt they would if my pistons were oval.

I would think anyone building a 2″ or larger traction engine, 1/2 or 1/3rd scale hit and miss engines would find a use for 38mm bore spindle. As would many users who don’t even make models but may want to fit parts for bike or car restoration or modification. G1 locos you could get away with less, though could still come in handy to face off the ends of tube for gas tanks

[Hugh Stewart-Smith 1Participant @hughstewart-smith1]

Hello Rick

We have been selling our 210D lathe with 38mm bore for the last couple of years. Our supplier is Weiss and we have a new supply arriving towards the end of next month. We supply them with or without a 2-axis DRO. They have belt drive and brushless motor and it’s one of our best selling small lathes.

If you are anywhere near London, you would be welcome to call in to view.

Hugh                                                                                                Amadeal Ltd

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

If it is of any interest, I have been usinga generic Taiwanese lathe (Chester Craftsman, or Warco BH600, Engineers ToolRoom BL12 -24 – both the latter now discontinued) since 2003.

It is a lot heavier and more rigid than the ML7, with a 2MT spindle, that preceded it.

I have swung a 24″ lengths of 1″ bar in it without problems, (A 6 ” 3 jaw, or a 8″ 4 jaw chuck, are quite hefty items) so have to disagree with one naysayer.

The largest job?  Facing a 1″ thick cast iron disc, 6.125″ diameter, and then offset in the 4 jaw to bore a 1″ hole an inch in from the edge.

(With them curled around the shop, I have twice, carefully, turned fittings on the hose for pressure washers, to restore them to working order.)

Snallest job, thinning the heads of 10BA screws!

In my book, a very useful size of spindle bore (5MT, although mostly I use tooling no larger than 3MT)  and as Jason says, no collection of short ends to go to waste.

The spindle bore suggests that such a lathe is not small, by model engineering standards, verging on small industrial, aznd will be heavy and quite rigid. Mine weighs in at 300 Kg.

You can do small work in a big ;athe, but the reverse can be difficult.

FWIW, Go for it!

Howard

 

 

[bernard towers]

On bernard towers Said:

So do you think that putting a 500 mm length of 35mm steel bar into your lathe chuck a good idea, especially at 700 to 1000 rpm? Not sure your parts are going to be that round.

I do this often without a problem. At the back of the spindle I screw on an adapter to keep the part on center and relieve the spindle bearings. The max RPM depends on the resonance that will occur.

Below a long ( 1000 mm or so) hex shaft..

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

The gunsmithing guys over the pond use a more precision gunsmith’s lathe spindle spider on that end of the spindle to hold rifle barrels dead true when machining the chamber etc on the other end. Very handy. Just a collar that clamps on the end of the spindle with four adjustable bolts to hold the job. Simple to make and could be left in place permanently for use with long bits of stock etc.

On less precision jobs, I have seen old timers stuff rags into the spindle to stop a length of bar moving around too much.

[FulmenParticipant @fulmen]

I have a spindle spider installed, comes in very handy for those long parts and doesn’t get in the way of normal operation. Highly recommended.

[Hugh Stewart-Smith 1Participant @hughstewart-smith1]

The talk of gunsmithing reminds me of a police investigation that we had a few years ago where one of our mini-lathes had been used to lethalise weapons for criminal purposes. The fellow received a sentence of 25 years at Her Majesty’s Pleasure (now His Maj………of course)

Hugh                                                                                                                Amadeal Ltd

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Hugh, wow that is some serious stuff. Very different from the other side of the pond where gunsmithing is probably (almost certainly!) a more widespread hobby than model engineering.

[Iain DownsParticipant @iaindowns78295]

If it’s of any interest Artisan Makes on YouTube makes a spindle spider in his latest video – exactly to allow use of long bar stock sticking out the back.

 

Iain

[Paul McDonoughParticipant @paulmcdonough43628]

I get the point about wasting less material, I would have to make a hole in the back of my shed if I wanted to stick anything longer than 400mm through my chuck.

[FulmenParticipant @fulmen]

I would have no problem with such a solution.

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

I had a much loved Myford super 7 for many many years BUT the small spindle bore was a pain in the ***! My Warco 290V is shall we say less finely finished but the large spindle bore is such a welcome feature of this lathe!

Tony

[egaParticipant @ega]

The demand for bigger bores has come with the need for higher speeds. There must be some limit to how fast a plain tapered bronze bearing can be run and, of course, the surface speed increases with the diameter. I think Myfords stuck with the plain bearing with their (not so) big bore machine.

[rik arryParticipant @rikarry]

How do I ask a question as your capta on website despite trying 20 times doesn’t work so can’t submit a question email address would be better also website not mobile friendly it’s a bit of a mess

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Rik as you have been able to ask how here it looks like you have now got into the site OK

[rik arryParticipant @rikarry]

soz replied to wrong comment Amadeals site I was referring to

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