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.

[Bernd]

Naw, not to late. Haven't cut it out yet. Have been busy helping out parents with a well pump problem the last couple of days. Got it all working again to day (9/16/08 8:00PM). So maybe in the next day or so.

I do believe my, or should I say the lathes, tailstock is off a tad.  :o    ;D

Good tip though. I'm going to try a center in the spindle and see if it's off any. Nope haven't ruined my day. I don't get upset over things like that. Besides it's easy to amke another tool post and use this part for something else.  8)

Wasn't sure if you'd mind me adding to this thread since it's your project. Felt a bit like I was interfereing.  :-[ I'll keep add ing though since you don't mind.  ;)

Bernd

[Divided he ad]

As I said, I figured this one out..... After I made the mistake with my first one for my 9x20

Glad you haven't got to re-make anything  ;D

I only use it in the chuck due to that being the thing that will hold the work. maybe the spindle centre could differ too?
Maybe it could be a worthy excerise to check all three against each other and see if there is any difference?

I'll leave it up to you  ;D I should hopefully get something posted by the end of the week... but no promises!  :-\



Ralph.

[Divided he ad]

Damn it... just wrote all this evenings post out and a bodge deleted it.....  >   :'( 

Well here we go again!!!


This evening was spent re-designing and modifying the BT base. I am making this off of pictures and supplied measurements. So when I found I had missed a dowel height when I drew up my plan I was not totally shocked!

This is how I sorted it out.... First, find a suitable bit of plate....Brass it is then!




Then make it the shape you need it... round in this case. It was mounted on an arbour after having the corners cut off, then turned until slightly over required size.



the plate was then de-burred and lightly flatted as was the original base. Flux was applied thinly to the steel base and a soft solder spiral was sandwiched between the two parts. They were mounted on an arbour That I already had and secured in the bench vise.
The blow torch was used in an upward direction and aimed at the centre under the brass disc. once the heat has caused the solder to melt (easily visible when the plates get closer together) the nut is tightened to force out the excess solder and create a good joint.









The now tightened and extreamly hot base is left to cool naturally. DO NOT quench the base, the water will force the solder out as it super heats and create a poor joint... It could then seperate in the lathe when finishing is being carried out.

Whilst it was cooling I made the tip holder blank, once it had cooled I turned it to size.






Next I  recessed the new base plate for the pivot screw then drilled and tapped the centre of the turret.







So end of play today has this sat on my bench  ;D




Oh and I got the new tips too....so very tiny compared with the ones for my BT....





Now at 2am I tink I'd better get some sleep!!!  Sorry about the length of the post... So much to say and show!! ;D



Ralph.

[Bernd]

Nice post Ralp. That brass and steel sure look nice together.  ;D (Eric has to add a few more smiles and the bow)

I see from all those pics that you like to use carbide alot. Interesting.

Well no progress today on my ball turner. 

2:00AM  :o It's only 9:40 as I reply to this, But then your 5 hours ahead of me on the east coast of "over-the-pond".

Night Ralph. Sleep tight and don't let the Lathe Fairies bit. 

Bernd

[Brass_Machine]

Nice post Ralp. That brass and steel sure look nice together.  ;D (Eric has to add a few more smiles and the bow)
...

You mean this one? 

[Divided he ad]

Ralp!!!? You impersonating Scooby Doo Bernd??

Steel and brass in this occasion it from nessesity.... But you remember my finger engine flywheel? Same stuff ;)

Yep the carbide does just about everything I make.... Just the way I started out and have stuck with it.... Will one day try to make some hss tooling but this does me for now  ;D


Glad you like it so far  .... Had to use one of the new ones ;D


Ralph.

[Bernd]

All right Eric.        I love it.

Thank you so much.       

Bernd

[Bernd]

Ya I remember that from the finger engine. I think it looks nice to use some contrasting colors in your work. I wonder how stainless and brass would look together all shined up? Been thinking of doing something like that for a flywheel.

I'm going to check the heigth from the headstock after checking my favorite 2 forums. I''l let you know how it turns out.

And I see Eric provided a few more.    I love 'em.

Bernd

[Bernd]

As I logged on I see you were here to, Ralph. Looks like about 12:30AM your time.

I checked the heigth at the head stock. No difference as compared to the tailstock. So everything was OK. But, I forgot to mill the bottom. I was cheking on a rough bottom.  :o

I almost got the body cut out tonight and milled but had a very dull blade in the bandsaw.  So I set the part aside and had dinner.  ;D Tomorrow is another day.

Bernd

[Divided he ad]

There's nothing worse than checking on a rough bottom Bernd!!

Is it not at all salvageable?

Maybe it will be usefull elsewhere? or if it rotates through 90 degrees would it work then?

You have a power saw!!! WOW!  I have a hacksaw and a worn out arm!!   

One day I too will own a powered saw of some type?!

intill then it will take me much hard work and out of breathness to cut my 3" steel bar stock 




Ralph.