Newbie rupsounds

[rupsoundsParticipant @rupsounds]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>hi all I hope we are all ok today ?</p>
so trying keep this short.

got made homeless.got emergency accommodation.huge room grade 2 listed absolutely lovely.

i have 1m x1m sq cnc machine.absalute brute.

so I used to make wooden headphones and other wooden audio products and want to start up again.

so I’ve taken the cnc machine to bits and made what I think is a pretty smart metal lathe.

I’ve come from wood to metal.

anyway the manager had said I can use it a few hours a day in my room which I’m going to set up by the window.

ive a ml7 saddle all the way to the top.

so I’ve got about £200 to purchase a tool post.i would like a tool post that fits straight on the threaded rod with out any customisation if possible.

i would like the tool post to be quick change if possible.

may i ask.if I have four side to a post and they all have there required blade in does this mean I slacken of the tool posts and spin around to the blade for what I need ??

I apologise sincerely if I’ve not used the correct engineers term as coming from wood.

i will try to get some pics up in the next few days to show you how I’ve built my lathe.perhaps if any one dare point out any mistakes or negatives that would help me go forward in an easier fashion would be much appreciated.

Ok gonna try upload a pic

 

oh by the way,I’m in the uk also

so as you can see all I need is the tool post and a fixing for the motor for the chuck and then we are partly on the way

I look forward to your helpful teplies

regards

rupert

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

The standard Myford 4-way toolpost will go straight on and allow 4 tool positions – if you find a ‘complete’ one, it will come with a ratchet which screws into the three holes at the bottom of the central post to provide some indexing of tool position – as you say, slacken off and turn.

Other set-ups might be even better (there’s another toolpost thread running here somewhere).

A more immediate enquiry is to what chuck / spindle set up you are using, ‘cos it’s possible that your money could be absorbed here – cutting speed for metal probably needs rpms at the spindle to cover the range say, 250 – 2000 rpm; if you could arrange for speeds down to say 100rpm that would be even more useful.

You will need the most torque available at the lower speeds, so some kind of mechanical reduction is best (belt/pulleys?), you will probably need two ‘stages’ of reduction.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Welcome!

If you are buying a second hand Myford ML 4 way tool post, make sure that the pawl and spring are present in the base of the toolpost (VERY easily lost. I know of someine who got taken in thtat way twice!)

If you want to swot up on using a centre lathe, buy and read one the books on latheowrk by Stan Bray, harold hall, L H Sparey, Ian Brdlay, neil Wyatt, Dave Fenner or David Clark.

Probably none of them will be specific to your actual machine, but the basic promciples remain the same.

You can get useful practice and gain confidemce in making simple tools.

Centre Height Gauge, Tailstock sliding Die or Tap holder. (Yoiu can uy just the Die Holders, and a drill chuck will suffice as a Tap holder..

By sliding on an arbor in the Tailstock, the tool exerts minimal load on the newly cut thread. If a Tap sticks, it should slip in the drill chuck rather than break (Which nearly always happens in the last hole to be tapped, scrapping the job!  DON’T ask!) And the slightly loose fit on the arbor allows the Tap or Die to self align on the workpiece, which should result in a slightly better thread. (ALWAYs use a lubricant, such as Trefolex, or Rocol RTD)

FWIW, use HSS toolbits, and learn how to grind them.  You can graduate, if you wish, to to Carbide tooling when you are more used to cutting metal.

Good Luck

Howard

 

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