mini ball turner.....

[Divided he ad]

Hi all, This is not one of the promised projects, it is for an aquaintance of mine.

It is to fit a much smaller lathe than mine a 7x12.

Now that would not seem to be much smaller than the 9x20 that my ball turner(BT) fits on but, the design is smaller to fit the smaller machine.

I have had to do a little re-designing of the plan for my version of a BT and have had to do it all without seeing the machine the tool is destined for!

I have had some photo's and a few measurements (more to come!)  so I started the build tonight.... as well as move a ton of stuff around in my shop due to flooding (minor) Well rain water is pouring down the walls..... another project   (well it is quite urgently in need of a new roof.... it is being ordered next week!)


The trued blanks.


For size fef...


The two mating parts.


The parts assembled.



There are some chatter marks but the will affect nothing, the load bearing faces have been lightly lapped together and there is no play to be felt. (personal opinion, you can feel far more than you can see.)


I'll keep this post up to date when I make some more  




Ralph.

[Brass_Machine]

Yes yes please do. I want to build a ball turner for my mini lathe as well. I have the 7x10 but in reality it is 7x8. It is really f'ng small... surprised I can make the kickstands on it, I am. It has the same cross slide as the 7x12.

Eric

[Bernd]

It got me thinking about the possibility of one for the Sherline lathe. Not much room from the saddle to center, but think it would be doable. First though I have to build one for my 9" X 19" Grizzly.

Bernd

[Divided he ad]

Are you sure you could fit them into your work load Bernd?!? 

I have not thought about one for a machine that small!  But I'm sure it can be done 


It is fun to re-design things to fit your requirements  ;D


I should get some time in the workshop tomorrow..... got some machine maintenance first, then some more on this BT.


Ralph.

[Bernd]

Are you sure you could fit them into your work load Bernd?!? 
Ralph.

Well, let me see if I............ naw that won't work. Maybay if I put off what the wife wants.....naw not a good idea.  :-\  :P

I'm sure I'll forget about all this in a day or two and I'll be back to my normal self again.  ;D

Ofcourse after I wrote about one for the Sherline lathe I thought why. I can turn small stuff on the Grizzly just as well with one of those. So I guess my work load just decressed by one. 

Bernd

[Divided he ad]

I can turn small stuff on the Grizzly just as well with one of those. So I guess my work load just decressed by one.

Too true, as Bog's keeps telling me you can't turn big stuff on a little lathe but you sure can make tiny stuff on a huge lathe!!

I feel you are dragging you heals a little Bernd  You said you were going to make one of these quite some time ago.... And they are pretty easy for men of your caliber.

I made mine as the first tool on my lathe and my mill and it worked first time and has ever since  ;D  (and I didn't have much of a clue at that time.... Still haven't I know!!!  ;D )



I have all the details of tips etc you could need, just ask...... Tell you what,


There no excuses now!!!!   ;)



Ralph.

[Brass_Machine]

I want more details on the design you are making for the mini lathe. I want to make one... found some plans for modifying the one you built for my lathe but can't find them now.

Eric

[Bernd]

I can turn small stuff on the Grizzly just as well with one of those. So I guess my work load just decressed by one.

I feel you are dragging you heals a little Bernd  You said you were going to make one of these quite some time ago.... And they are pretty easy for men of your caliber.
Ralph.

Ya, I know I said that. I'm just very slow Ralph.  :P Just ask the wife. :o  ;D

Bernd

[Divided he ad]

As soon as I get the rest of the measurements I will sort out a crap o cad drawing set and send them over Eric... I will also be posting more of the build on this one when I get my A*# into gear!!!

Like Bernd should be  ;)  ;D


Tis late now gents so I'm going to sleep!.... Well just read the other posts first.... This could be detrimental to my work day tomorrow!



Ralph.

[Bernd]

Hey Ralph, this look familar? :o



You shamed me into it.  ;D

Bernd

[Divided he ad]

HaHa!! You not going to blame me for your workload  ;D

You will never regret it Bernd 



I have been a little busy this evening, I had a friend round, slowed me down a little talking and explaining stuff but it was fun all the same.

Here are a few up to date photo's of the progress on the miniBT.


Cutting the slot


The shaped blank



The securing screw holes



The handle hole



That is all I have tonight... more soon.

Keep us upto date Bernd   post it here if you like. ;D





Ralph.

[Bernd]

You'll probably get yours done before me.  ;D  But I'm going to keep plugging away at it.

Going to work on the rotating body today. I'm making the whole thing out of aluminum.  :o
Want to see how that works. Gauling could be a problem of the rotating surfaces. I have some material to use if that happens. It's called "turkite". Don't know if the spelling is right on that. It was used at the place I used to work at. It was used on the ways of machines. It's a soft material but can with stand heavy loads when oil is added to the sliding surfaces. I'll take a pic later and post it with the next part of the ball turner I make.

Bernd

[Divided he ad]

Bernd, A total alu' construction should work well (certainly be lighter than mine!! ) I suppose you could use a ball or taper bearing if you wanted to be fancy?
There are some others on Steve Bedairs site that use all sorts of various ideas.


Plodding on is all we can do, I will be slow now for a little while, well I can get a few bits done.... But I am waiting on the exact measurements of the lathe sadle it is destined for from the new owner!!

We will see how it all comes out ;D



Ralph.

[Bernd]

Ralph,

A bit more progress on my ball turner.  Folks, it's not a mini, but it fits right in with Ralph's build.

I've got the body done. Took a piece of 3" dia. bar and turned it to 2.500". Milled the slot for the tool holder.

Test fitting of the holder and scribing the top of the tool holder.



The temp screws are in place here and the extra material is marked for triming.




So a few more days..... ah weeks?  I'll have it done.  ;D

Bernd

[Divided he ad]

Bernd.... Hopefully you have not cut the tool holder yet? .... You see there could be a little issue!


I figured out that if you scribe the line from your tailstock it can be minutely out with the chuck centre!

I use a very sharply turned taper in the chuck to do the scribing, therefore making sure it is in the correct position.

Obviously many peoples tailstocks are spot on.... But a few might not be!!


Hope I haven't ruined your day?


Looks good though  ;D Glad you are adding it to the thread too



Ralph.