Author Topic: Building a New Lathe  (Read 253195 times)

RobWilson

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #100 on: March 23, 2015, 01:36:17 PM »
Aye !  , so were did the feet magic them selves from Steve ?   the foot fairy bring them through the night   :poke:


Its really is starting to look the part  :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:


Rob  :D

Offline John Rudd

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #101 on: March 23, 2015, 02:41:43 PM »
Only just read this thread...... :Doh:

What a fantastic job!  :bow:
I can't wait to see the machine finished and making its first turnings.....

What colour(color..... :D ) are you going to finish it in? Not some drab a Grey colour I hope.....

Keep it up..... :dremel:
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RobWilson

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #102 on: March 23, 2015, 05:10:45 PM »

 Not some drab  Grey colour I hope.....



Dose that reminded you too much of Hull   John  ?    :lol: :lol: :lol: :)



Rob (BIG SMILE )

Offline John Rudd

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #103 on: March 23, 2015, 05:14:15 PM »
Sadly it does Rob....never known such a xxxx hole......

Much prefer the more friendlier North Easterners from Gateshead or Newcastle.....or even Sunderland..... :)

I best go into hiding now....else the Hull mafia might come after me....
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Offline vtsteam

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #104 on: March 23, 2015, 05:26:42 PM »
Thanks so much OZ, Rob, John!! :beer: :beer:

Rob blieve it er not, them feet hopped right outer an old gas tank with with some plaster of Paris and some barbecue charcoal briquets in it! Here's a better pic:



John, black, I think. It feels kinda old style so far.
« Last Edit: July 11, 2017, 04:06:00 PM by vtsteam »
I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDubB0-REg

RobWilson

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #105 on: March 23, 2015, 05:31:01 PM »
 :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:  Its not that bad John , looked canny last time I was there  :thumbup:


 :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: very nice Steve , they came out a treat  :bow: :bow:  ,,,,, aye Black is a good for a lathe  :thumbup:

All interesting stuff   this lathe building :med:


Rob

Offline John Rudd

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #106 on: March 23, 2015, 05:42:35 PM »
Intrigued to know  what you going to make the head and tail stocks from?....saddle etc too?

Keep going.......lol :D
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Offline vtsteam

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #107 on: March 23, 2015, 07:03:57 PM »
John, I'll make the rest of the parts, but I did buy an upper tailstock casting for an Atlas 10" that I found on ebay. I really had designed the tailstock in my head already, but saw this one, and it was too cheap not to make an offer. It was priced  at $19, and I offered $13, almost hoping it wouldn't be accepted. But it was, and I received it today.

It's completely stripped, no internal parts, no base, all sold more luctratively by an ebay lathe breaker. But it saves me having to fabricate a tailstock body, and it's a nice heavy iron casting. Odd parts like this tailstock are cheap because of low demand, compared to the usual run of handwheels, change gears, etc. Not many lathes are missing a stripped upper taistock casting.

It's also larger than I'd planned -- I intended a 7 or 8" swing lathe, not a 10" but when I make the tailstock base I think I can lower the swing to 9", so I'll settle on that. This will be one of the very few 9" x 12" lathes extant, probably.  :loco:

I'm finishing the tailstock base pattern, now, and hope to cast it tomorrow.
I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDubB0-REg

Offline vtsteam

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #108 on: March 24, 2015, 09:53:17 PM »
Casting the tailstock base

Pattern:



The shake out. A simple combo sprue and riser right into the top worked. But just barely -- the metal nearly got sucked out of the sprue. This is Zamac, not aluminum, and its shrink characteristics are pretty impressive! Casting was perfect however. Casting is about 4" by 6" by 1" and used over 6 lbs of metal.



The other side. Some superficial sand fusion on the skin under the sprue where the metal was hottest exaggerated in the photo because of the lighting, but the casting is really perfect and is machining beautifully. It should be finished tomorrow.

« Last Edit: July 11, 2017, 04:09:03 PM by vtsteam »
I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDubB0-REg

Offline mexican jon

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #109 on: March 24, 2015, 10:26:43 PM »
Casting the tailstock base

Pattern:



The shake out. A simple combo sprue and riser right into the top worked. But just barely -- the metal nearly got sucked out of the sprue. This is Zamac, not aluminum, and its shrink characteristics are pretty impressive! Casting was perfect however. Casting is about 4" by 6" by 1" and used over 6 lbs of metal.



The other side. Some superficial sand fusion on the skin under the sprue where the metal was hottest exaggerated in the photo because of the lighting, but the casting is really perfect and is machining beautifully. It should be finished tomorrow.



Casting looks pro quality  :D

Can I ask  :scratch: what is the thinking behind casting a fairly simple part rather than using standard stock i.e. a piece of plate  :thumbup:
« Last Edit: July 11, 2017, 04:09:46 PM by vtsteam »
People say you only live once ! I say thank F@*K can't afford to do it twice.

Offline vtsteam

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #110 on: March 24, 2015, 11:23:21 PM »
Hi Jon, you could make it out of plate. But I didn't have any 1" thick plate. And more important to me, this time I wanted to use a better bearing pair than steel on steel. The Gingery lathe used aluminum and steel on steel for the slides. They work, but can be bettered. Bronze, brass and cast iron make good bearing pairs with steel. But I can't cast iron until warmer weather arrives here, and I didn't want to cast brass or bronze for this particular part, and wasn't sure I could with the small furnace (well found out I could later today as an experiment).

I bought some Zamac ZA-2 for experimenting and  building some small engines via lost foam casting last fall, and chose that particular alloy because I knew it had good bearing properties. It's not the usual choice for hobby greensand casters, but I wanted to try it.

Since I already had it, It seemed like a good choice here on the tailstock base. It's extremely tough (much higher tensile strength than cast iron in fact). Zamac and other zinc based alloys are commonly used in die-cast parts, which has given it a bad name, but those castings are usually very thin (often 1/8" or less) because it is so strong. In that thickness it can be shattered with a sharp blow. Because it is so thin, it's cheaap and used for mass produced products.

But it is a completely different material when cast into a heavy piece like this 1'" thick tailstock base. In a proper thickness, it's extremely tough, takes a great machine finish and in this case is a good bearing material. Very hard wearing, too. Seemed like a good idea under the tailstock.

Just how tough this stuff is was brought home to me when I spilled a small amount onto the ground today. it immediately ran down the slight grade. When cool I picked the splash up, and it was just a thin sheet of material. about 1 inch wide, 8" long, and less than 1/16" thick. I tried to bend it in half to break it into pieces, but I absolutely couldn't. If it had been cast aluminum, no problem. I put it in the vise and using vicegrip pliers, got it to bend double, but it still wouldn't break. I can only imagine what a 1" slab would be like.

It is also quite difficult to file -- it is fairly slippery, and also very tough at the same time. steel files much easier. Progress is really slow with zamac. This means it has very good wear properties.

Anyway a hard wearing, high strength, nice machining, good bearing material, which just happened to be on-hand, seemed like it was right for the job. So I used it.! :beer:

I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDubB0-REg

Offline bertie_bassett

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #111 on: March 25, 2015, 02:24:28 PM »
looks like your making good progress!
a competent engineer uses the tools and knowledge available, to get a challenging job done.

 An incompetent "engineer" tells his boss that the existing equipment "can't do the job" and to get another machine

Offline vtsteam

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #112 on: March 25, 2015, 03:52:11 PM »
Hey Bertie, trying! So many interruptions today -- machined the outside of the base all over, gotta add some slots and things to fit the push peg for setover, the gib, the through bolt, and tap and thread the adjuster. Got a meeting at 5, so probably not today....

« Last Edit: July 11, 2017, 04:12:23 PM by vtsteam »
I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDubB0-REg

Offline mexican jon

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #113 on: March 25, 2015, 10:21:57 PM »
Hey Bertie, trying! So many interruptions today -- machined the outside of the base all over, gotta add some slots and things to fit the push peg for setover, the gib, the through bolt, and tap and thread the adjuster. Got a meeting at 5, so probably not today....


O metal porn  :lol:

That does machine nice  :clap: :clap:
« Last Edit: July 11, 2017, 04:12:59 PM by vtsteam »
People say you only live once ! I say thank F@*K can't afford to do it twice.

Offline vtsteam

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #114 on: March 26, 2015, 05:25:10 PM »
Thanks John!

Kind of slippery to file though and hard. Nothing like aluminum or even steel. You really need a coarse file like a rasp to make any progress at all. I had plenty of practice flattening the ends of one of the clearance slots. Didn't have a small mill deep enough to do the ends.

I took lot of time over the slot that guides the top casting... it's all that keeps things square. I got a close sliding fit, so I'm happy. I just need to make the gib and add adjustment screws for that.



Together:

« Last Edit: July 11, 2017, 04:13:43 PM by vtsteam »
I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDubB0-REg

Offline tom osselton

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #115 on: March 26, 2015, 10:09:38 PM »
Nice job!

Offline mechman48

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #116 on: March 27, 2015, 05:01:21 AM »
Sadly it does Rob....never known such a xxxx hole......

Much prefer the more friendlier North Easterners from Gateshead or Newcastle.....or even Sunderland..... :)

I best go into hiding now....else the Hull mafia might come after me....

What about your home county... Teesside... 'Smoggieland' or is that only where your inlaws live?... :wave:

George.
George.


Always look on the bright side of life, & remember.. KISS..' Keep It Simple Stupid'

Offline John Rudd

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #117 on: March 27, 2015, 06:30:05 AM »
George,
Pm sent....
John
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Offline Fergus OMore

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #118 on: March 27, 2015, 06:58:23 AM »
News just in!  Newcastle College is to open a Rail Academy in Gateshead. To replace aging old gits- if they can find them in the fog :beer:

Norman

Offline joshagrady

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #119 on: March 27, 2015, 07:08:51 AM »
Hey Bertie, trying! So many interruptions today -- machined the outside of the base all over, gotta add some slots and things to fit the push peg for setover, the gib, the through bolt, and tap and thread the adjuster. Got a meeting at 5, so probably not today....

Out of curiosity, and speaking as an absolute ignoramus as far as casting is concerned, why didn't you include the slots in the initial pattern?  Even assuming that you left space for final machining, wouldn't that have saved some time and wear and tear on your body/tools?

I'm enjoying this thread, keep up the good work.

Josh

Offline vtsteam

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #120 on: March 27, 2015, 09:17:55 AM »
Mostly impatience, Josh!  I thought about it and went, nah, just melt some metal.  :)

If I had to do it over, though, I probably would core it.

Two ways to do it -- either greensand core or baked sand core. The first is much faster, but trickier molding for a fairly narrow slot and requires a fair amount of draft. So much so that the slots are very tapered.

With a 1" thick pattern, and a 3/4" wide slot it gets questionable whether the core will break off when pulling the pattern. Rapping works well to create clearance for the perimeter of a pattern, but if there's a narrow core inside, it tends to shear the base. You want a lot of draft and just the right ramming. It can be done -- I have in the past, but it can be frustrating and take a lot of tries. Sand has to be just right.

A baked sand core is easier molding, but requires making a core box, and baking the cores and adding core prints to the pattern. Yes I know about sodium silicate and CO2, but that doesn't save most of this effort.

re sand cores, I'm the usual hard-headed low tech reactionary -- I don't mind 20 minutes of a nce molasses odor coming from a toaster oven. My wife is constantly baking, and they can go right in with the cookies, too. Baked sand seems surer to me -- my cores work every time and crumble properly. Seen a lot of failures online of the more sophisticated stuff, and I don't need the expense, shelf life problems, and the need and space for gas cylinders in the shop, etc. I just uhh borrow a tiny amount of simple materials from the kitchen and get-her done.
I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDubB0-REg

Offline Manxmodder

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #121 on: March 27, 2015, 07:14:30 PM »
Steve,I just remembered where I recently saw this interesting home built lathe.
Check it out some of his ideas,might be some use to you.....OZ.

http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/threads/39202-Shop-Made-Tools?p=682515#post682515
Helixes aren't always downward spirals,sometimes they're screwed up

Offline vtsteam

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #122 on: March 27, 2015, 11:02:48 PM »
Well Oz thanks. Always interesting to see another hombuilt lathe.  :beer:
I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDubB0-REg

Offline vtsteam

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #123 on: March 29, 2015, 06:16:15 PM »
I finally got the gib fitted today:

« Last Edit: July 11, 2017, 04:14:25 PM by vtsteam »
I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDubB0-REg

Offline vtsteam

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Re: Building a New Lathe
« Reply #124 on: March 29, 2015, 06:19:01 PM »
And here's the tailstock casting in place on the lathe:

« Last Edit: July 11, 2017, 04:14:56 PM by vtsteam »
I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDubB0-REg