New lathe arrived today : The ongoing saga

[Brian JohnParticipant @brianjohn93961]

Keith : I agree, which is why I am going to buy a 3/8 inch spanner even though that is not what is listed in the manual. It would appear to be the best fit.

The Australian company sent me an email today : the steadies and 4 jaw chuck will be available in 12 weeks time in this country. They are being sent by surface freight now. The chuck is $143, fixed steady is $60 and travelling steady is $50. I can also pay $280 to have them air freighted here which I will not be doing.

[Brian JohnParticipant @brianjohn93961]

Woops, obviously the bolt and nut thread is probably M6 as listed but the AF is not the normal size. (Do not post when tired.) The bolt diameter is 5.8mm.

I have bought the 3/8 inch spanner today and it is a good fit ; neither the 9mm or 10mm could or should be used on these nuts. But I will not try to get the chuck off now as I want to try turning steel with the carbide tips.

[Brian JohnParticipant @brianjohn93961]

Problems turning bright mild steel : after turning six mandrels in aluminium, I have had a go at making one in steel but I am getting a terrible finish and it is not the lathe…I am sure that this is operator error. There is no slop anywhere in the carriage, cross slide or top slide. After much experimenting with speeds and cutting tools I have found that about 500 RPM for the 16mm diameter bar seems about right when using a carbide tool. This gives a reasonable finish with no chatter or screeching noises. But the finish is still not acceptable. This machine is capable of much better. Hopper was getting good results with steel the other day.

I am getting a better finish with auto feed than manual feed even though I am copying the auto feed rate when I operate it manually. Why is this ?

 

Edited By Brian John on 23/09/2015 08:02:51

[john carruthersParticipant @johncarruthers46255]

I was turning a bit of old 1" drive shaft yesterday using a brazed carbide tool ground sharp, 500 rpm; horrible noises until I gave it a squirt of WD40 (run out of cutting oil).

[Brian JohnParticipant @brianjohn93961]

Did that improve the finish as well or just eliminate the noise ? I have tried machine oil, paraffin oil and nothing at all ; it does not seem to have any impact on the finish.

Edited By Brian John on 23/09/2015 08:05:26

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Brian John on 23/09/2015 07:49:01:

I am getting a better finish with auto feed than manual feed even though I am copying the auto feed rate when I operate it manually. Why is this ?

.

Auto gives a constant feed-rate …. This is VERY difficult to achieve with manual knob-twiddling.

MichaelG.

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

I would say that the correct spanner is a 10mm; the chuck studs tend to be 6mm… depending on chuck size … replace the nuts & washers with flanged nuts, much easier to remove & fit back on… wasn't a spanner supplied with the machine toolbox that would fit ?

Edited By mechman48 on 23/09/2015 08:50:22

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by mechman48 on 23/09/2015 08:44:27:

I would say that the correct spanner is a 10mm;

.

I beg to differ … and I believe that Brian has taken exactly the right approach.

The correct spanner is the one that fits!

The nominal spanner size may be 10mm A/F, but that's of no relevance if the nuts are undersize.

MichaelG

[Gordon WParticipant @gordonw]

Spanner sizes- on my lathe the spanner is 10mm a/f, this was supplied with the lathe-but- I have fitted standard 10mm nuts ,these are a better fit than the originals. On my old chinese tractor the radiator is held by 4 x 8mm nuts and bolts, it takes 3 different sizes of spanner to undo the bolts.

[Brian JohnParticipant @brianjohn93961]

A 10mm spanner is way too big …almost certain to round the nuts and then I really would have problems because these nuts are on very tight.

No spanner was supplied with the lathe.

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

Doing a quick conversion 3/8 AF spanner should fit perfectly. He might find that they aren't on metric threads. That sort of thing sometimes happens to suite the US market.

If a 3/8 af spanner is a little tight which is unlikely it could easily be relieved a bit with a file. If Brian doesn't have any files I would suggest a set of warding files – 6" 150mm as they can be very useful on a lathe anyway. He might prefer 200 – 250mm. I took a look on oz ebay and they seem to be into bastard cut especially for odd shapes. What's really wanted is 2nd cut, Bastard is more suitable for wood really.

There are oz stockists. Others found by searching warding files eg

**LINK**

I paid about £30 for a set of decent ones from Axminster but some might not be happy using files of this length near rotating work. The lathe should be run slowly when filing. They are Swiss and cut very cleanly as Stubs used to. I also bought a couple of 10in to go with them. I wouldn't like to use these for a lot of heavy bench fitting as they are too flexible. Files for that are curved and flatten when the correct pressure is on them but they are fine for shaping things and cleaning up machining / fine fitting etc.

John

–

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

It would not surprise me if the threads were either UNC or UNF if the lathe is sold on the US market. I think the mounting bolts on the 6" Chinese four jaw chuck I bought for my lathe has 5/16" UNC threads.

Ian S C

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Gordon W on 23/09/2015 10:22:40:

Spanner sizes- on my lathe the spanner is 10mm a/f, this was supplied with the lathe-but- I have fitted standard 10mm nuts ,these are a better fit than the originals. On my old chinese tractor the radiator is held by 4 x 8mm nuts and bolts, it takes 3 different sizes of spanner to undo the bolts.

Now if that had been a 1980s Ford, it would have been five sizes…

Neil

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

Yes but you could open the doors of any ford with just the one key!!!

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

Posted by Martin Kyte on 23/09/2015 14:24:18:

Yes but you could open the doors of any ford with just the one key!!!

Or very easily with no key at all.

John

–

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

Posted by Brian John on 23/09/2015 08:04:14:

Did that improve the finish as well or just eliminate the noise ? I have tried machine oil, paraffin oil and nothing at all ; it does not seem to have any impact on the finish.

Edited By Brian John on 23/09/2015 08:05:26

Paraffin is good for aluminium as it prevents build-up on the tool tip and thus improves the finish.

For steel you should use either a neat cutting oil or a 5% solution of soluble oil in water. Having said that, if you are using a good "free cutting" you can cut it dry and still get a good finish.

IMHO the most important thing is a sharp tool with the correct angles.

500 rpm should be fine for 16 mm mild steel.

Russell.

[AjohnwParticipant @ajohnw51620]

When ever lubricants for aluminium are mentioned it should be pointed out that any form of lubricant will ease the chips progress over a tool and also cool on just about all materials not just aluminium which reduces cutting forces and helps reduce tearing BUT in aluminium's case something more volatile is better such as paraffin. Evaporation takes heat away.

The simple answer to aluminium is a more acute cutting edge that really is sharp and a speed which will depend on how well the cutting edge is polished and it's rake. A simple remedy – if it sticks to the tool reduce the rpm.

John

–

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Martin Kyte on 23/09/2015 14:24:18:

Yes but you could open the doors of any ford with just the one key!!!

I nearly drove the wrong Cortina off once – but I noticed it was strangely tidy just in time…

[Brian JohnParticipant @brianjohn93961]

Some better results today : I gave the tools a touch up with a diamond file and that seemed to help.I also changed the angle of the RH tool so I was cutting more on the tip. It has to be set back at a right angle when doing the shoulder.

I am still getting poor results with manual feed so I will stick with auto feed for now. Making a mandrel is good practise because a lot has to be taken off that minor shaft to reduce it from 16mm down to 6mm. But I am not looking forward to cutting the thread by turning the chuck ; it was easy on aluminium but steel will be more difficult. A spindle handle would be a very useful item and that might be the next job.

 

Edited By Brian John on 24/09/2015 07:16:41

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Neil, it's not only Fords, Mum came out of the Super Market one day, got in the car, put the key in and started up, and went to put it in drive, and found it was a manual box, she switched off and got out, her car was just behind. They were Toyota Corolas', Mums a 4 door automatic, the other one a 2 door manual.

WW2, if you have a key, you'v got a Jeep, a GMC truck, a Sherman Tank, and just about anything on wheels or tracks.

Ian S C

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

My that's advanced, a key ?

We worked on the assumption that you could loose a key so ours just had a button that said start.

Ironically daughter has just bought a top of the rang Nissan this weekend, all singing, all dancing park yourself yada, yada and this has a button that says start on it. Marvellous how we have moved on.

[Cornish JackParticipant @cornishjack]

" … and this has a button that says start on it."

… but does it have a starting handle?

rgds

Bill

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Everyone knows the keys of American cars are kept above the driver's sunshade. (ref. Terminator).

Neil

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Posted by Brian John on 24/09/2015 07:15:08:….But I am not looking forward to cutting the thread by turning the chuck ; it was easy on aluminium but steel will be more difficult. A spindle handle would be a very useful item and that might be the next job.

You can make life easier for yourself if you turn the part to be threaded slightly undersize. If you are going to run a 6mm die along it, make the spigot 5.9mm where the thread will go. (Leaving the other part to the diameter to match the hole in your flyweel). Makes it much easier to run the die over it. Should not be at all difficult like this.

Also, if still getting noise when turning, try dropping the rpm a bit.

[Brian JohnParticipant @brianjohn93961]

New problem : everything was going really well today using the auto feed and the sharpened tools. Then it stopped feeding ! It took me a few seconds to realise that the lead screw had come out. I thought tightening up the grubscrew might help but that only holds it for a minute or so and then the lead screw comes out again. Any suggestions ? The lead screw makes contact with a bushing but there does not seem to be any recess or groove for the grub screw to sit in. I assume that the problem is at the tail stock end…it better not be at the other end because I do not know how to get into that !

UPDATE : The problem is at the other end. The auto feed/manual feed assembly has come out in my hand (parts 312,313,314).  That should not come out at all.

 

Edited By Brian John on 25/09/2015 06:58:49

Edited By Brian John on 25/09/2015 07:33:39

[Author]

Posts