Hello

[Paul MallenParticipant @paulmallen24579]

Hello, long time lurker here from the Black Country & I feel a bit of a fraud if I’m honest as I’m not an engineer & I don’t make models – I’m just a layabout who makes guitars
But – I do have a lathe which I will be quizzing everyone about as I have less than a clue…….

[Paul MallenParticipant @paulmallen24579]

[Bo’sunParticipant @bosun58570]

Guitars? Looks like a job for the four jaw chuck. Welcome aboard.

[Paul MallenParticipant @paulmallen24579]

Thanks for the welcome, i got one of them as well

[Brian HParticipant @brianh50089]

Hello Paul and welcome. No problems with not being a modeller or not being an engineer as far as most people on here are concerned.

I'm sure we would be interested in what you use your lathe etc for and how you overcome problems with manufacture.

Brian

[Paul MallenParticipant @paulmallen24579]

Hi Brian and thank you for the warm welcome, I’m surprising myself these days with what I’m managing to come up with on it as I only got it to turn some control knobs on, I’m starting to manufacture my own tuners – which is where I’m encountering some problems that I hope I can solve with the help of you good people.

Heres a link to my website if anyone’s interested

http://www.anarchyukguitars.co.uk

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Welcome!

We all have different, but broadly parallel ,interests.

With a lathe, as you are already finding, there are all sorts of things that you can do that were not possible before

Lots of help and advice on all sorts of subjects, on here if you ever need it.

Howard

[MeunierParticipant @meunier]

Welcome Paul, guitars ? you are in good company here, one of the contributors to this forum makes beautiful guitars, some with bent necks and 15 strings (chitarrones ) and lutes. search for Roderick Jenkins
DaveD

[Paul MallenParticipant @paulmallen24579]

Thank you for the warm welcomes gents, it’s good to know there are more here that do what I do, and even better to know that there are folks who may be able to shine a light on some of the things that I’m struggling with……… although that may be a task in itself lol

[Harry WilkesParticipant @harrywilkes58467]

Welcome Paul from a fellow West Mids man

H

[Mike DonnerstagParticipant @mikedonnerstag]

Welcome Paul,

I haven't been here that long either. I'm not an engineer, nor do I make models, but I restore (and will shortly make) instrument bows (violin, viola, cello and bass). I also have an unhealthily growing interest in engineering and a hunger for engineering knowledge, as well as a reverence and envy for the skills of those people who are long-time contributors to the forum.

I'm sure you'll find all kinds of useful things the engineering lathe can help you with, from making tools to making guitar string pegs.

Mike

[Thomas CooksleyParticipant @thomascooksley79020]

Hi Paul, Welcome to the forum, all sorts on here it all adds to the diversity and the great wealth of knowledge, I am sure it won't be long before someone is asking for your help.

Tom.

[Paul MallenParticipant @paulmallen24579]

Thanks again gents, Kingswinford bloke here Harry, always good to see someone who stands a chance of understanding my accent

Mike yes i find the problem solving as much fun as the actual instrument making & i have a very unhealthy obsession with making everything myself rather than buying things like machine heads, bridges & the like…..

My main frustration is screw cutting on the lathe i have – i don't know what i need & am having trouble sorting out much information on its as it all seems to be scattered over the web & not making an awful lot of sense…….

[Thomas CooksleyParticipant @thomascooksley79020]

Hi Paul, If it's an outside thread and it's a common thread you may be better off using a tail stock die holder. Much easier than setting up the change gears and doing multiple passes with a cutting tool.

Hope this helps Tom.

[Paul MallenParticipant @paulmallen24579]

Hi Thomas, thank you for the advice but it’s a lead screw I need to make & finding out how to set it up for screwcutting, don’t get me wrong it’s all good & if I can actually achieve it on the lathe I have then I’ll be well chuffed, but as it’s older than gods dog & it only came with a few wheels, its holding me back a bit

Edited By Paul Mallen on 16/08/2020 18:57:58

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

Welcome fellow luthier.

Rod

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

For smaller threads, being a coward, I rely on Taps and Dies

If you want to go into screwcutting and changewheels, two books that are useful are:

Workshop Practice Series, No.3 "Screwcutting in the Lathe" by Martin Cleeve

and more recently

"Gearing of Lathes for Screwcutting" by Brian Wood.

Having a lathe with a Norton gearbox, of course, adds another dimension to the fun!

Howard

[Paul MallenParticipant @paulmallen24579]

Thank you Rod – there are more of us!!!

Thanks Howard but unfortunately books are of no use to me – I need showing or just telling what to do as I find it very hard to follow anything in print, and having trawled through lathes.co.uk many times I just end up with a headache & even more frustrated…….

it’s strange because I have a music degree yet I don’t know above my 6 times table – I’m the forgotten generation as far as schools went as the teachers didn’t want to teach & I had no interest in anything other than metalwork & music – metalwork got stopped after my 1st year & my music teacher hated me because I’m a punk – hence why I achieved my degree to rub his nose in it. So I struggle with measurements unless it’s metric & I can’t add up to save my life……

Told you I’m special

[Phil StevensonParticipant @philstevenson54758]

Hi from yet another West Midlander who likes his guitars. I've been banging out chords for many decades but never made one until lockdown when I started on cigar box guitars. Just about finished five to date and started on numbers 6 and 7, all different in design and make up. I've discovered the Midlands is a bit of a hot-bed for CBGs (you must have come across Chicken Bone John). I'll never win any prizes for my instruments but they all work (!) and they have been great fun to make. Thank heavens I have 2 garages full of accumulated tools and machinery to help with my new found challenges in woodwork, metalwork, electronics etc. Btw, Paul, the guitars on your site look stunning.

[Paul MallenParticipant @paulmallen24579]

Hi Phil, fair play to you mate as long as you enjoy what your doing it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks of them!

I’ve never had much to do with anything other than basses & the occasional 6 string as I’ve been a bassist for about 35 years now, & I’ve never heard of who you mention – but that most likely has something to do with me being allergic to people in general, I much prefer inanimate objects to humans, there’s less arguments

Thank you for the compliment mate, it’s very much appreciated

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Paul,

The most likely way to get face to face tuition on screwcutting is to join a Model engineering Club.

What puzzles me is that you want to cut a Leadscrew. Not one for your lathe I hope.

You need to do the calculations so that the Leadscrew, of known pitch, rotates at the right speed , relative to the chuck. Stating the obvious: with a 8 tpi Leadscrew, a 1;1 ratio will cut a 8 tpi thread.

A 2:1 ratio will result in a 16 tpi thread, and so on

The fun starts trying cut a metric thread on a lathe with an Imperial Leadscrew; or vice versa.

And the techniques, depth of cuts etc; are something else to learn for your particular lathe.

In my view, you do need to study the books, to learn how to do the calculations, and to set up gear trains, as well as being guided person to person, on your machine.

Howard

[Paul MallenParticipant @paulmallen24579]

Howard, yes I have thought about seeing if there was a club in my area but this virus has to go first or a vaccine has to be made in order for me to want to congregate with any amount of people, so that’s a no-go for the time being.

No it’s not for my lathe, It’s for my own brand of guitar tuners – basically I need to be able to make a worm drive (roughly 15-20mm diameter & 5mm thick) & lead screw (roughly M8 & 12mm long) with a 1:20 ratio, 2mm pitch and 8 tpi – or something close to that, it doesn’t matter if it’s metric or imperial, I just need to be able to make them consistently & not in big batches either, if I make a 4 string bass then I need 4 of each & so on.

(I know gear hobbing- I believe it’s called – isn’t screwcutting but that’s my second task I need to be able to achieve)

i understand what’s you mean & I do agree to a certain extent which is why I try to find as many videos & tutorials as I can that seem relevant or have the kind of information I’m after in them, so I do understand a fair bit but as far as screw cutting goes that’s all I need to know, just how to make those 2 things & be able to make them whenever I need them. I honestly don’t know what I’m doing wrong or if I’m misunderstanding people, but I’ve got quotes off companies who can make them & they’re quoting me £900 for a set of 4 worm drives & leadscrews……. At the moment I’m buying the cogs from China & stainless 8mm leadscrews & filing them to fit – which is really testing my patience & will to live at this moment, so if I can make them myself it would be a revelation!

i have a Myford ML4 so I’ve been told, I’ve tried to sell it & buy a cheapo Chinese lathe as there are bits missing & it needs some tlc which I’ve always thought was beyond my capabilities, but I’m hoping to be proved wrong.

 

Edited By Paul Mallen on 18/08/2020 08:08:52

Edited By Paul Mallen on 18/08/2020 08:09:56

[Chris Evans 6Participant @chrisevans6]

Welcome along Paul from an adopted Brummie. (Born in Bewdley) Spent most of my working life working with Black Country lads. Enjoy the forum.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

You are not alone. There lots of ML4 owners around.

If you are looking for a 8 tpi worm, you merely need a 1:1 ratio between chuck and Leadscrew.

20T on Mandrel, 20T on Leadscrew and what ever Idler(s ) are needed to complete the train, so that the Leadscrew rotates in the correct direction.  You should have 20T gears among your changewheels.

Does the ratio have to be 20:1? If the ratio is not vital, you can buy the gear and worm that you need

You can buy a 25T metal gear for a mini lathe from Arc Euro. A single start worm will give a ratio equal to the number of teeth on the gear. It will be 27 mm OD.

The problem is going to be cutting the worm.

The gear will be 1 Mod, so the worm will need a pitch of Pi mm to match,

All is not lost! RS can supply a 1 Mod worm, to match the gear. (I bought one for a very slowly ongoing project )

HTH

Howard

Edited By Howard Lewis on 18/08/2020 12:17:56

[Paul MallenParticipant @paulmallen24579]

Hello Chris, I spent a lot of time around your neck of the woods, I’m ex- kiddy college & Worcs uni so I’m familiar with the territory, and I used to play in a band with a girl who lived on one of the Stourport caravan sites so you could say I’m sort of adopted

Howard, thank you for that – your now my hero for pointing out the 20t change wheels for the ratio, unfortunately I don’t have a 20t wheel but I know I can get them off eBay.

Yes I’ve looked into buying them & perhaps you could shed a little light on this for me, as I’m sure I’m not understanding this or I’m looking at it wrong;

RS are selling just a 20T cog for £27.44

One quote for a “4 off batch” of worm drive & gear =£120

Another for 11 pieces – which is 5 worm drives & 6 cogs I think) = £980

and I can buy a bag of 30 18T cogs off eBay for £7

what am I missing or not understandining here? And bear in mind that a top of the range tuner is £25 – but as you know that’s not the point for me, I’d like to make my own.

The ratio is kind of important, I think 18:1 & 20:1 are the usual accepted ones & it’s more so keeping the size of the actual tuner to a decent enough size to fit on the headstock, I’ll try to upload some pics when I get home to illustrate what I’m on about.

Thank you for explaining that for me, I followed it all until you talked about cutting the worm then that but lost me completely, I’ll look it up when I get home

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