i'll soon be making swarf

[dbvandy]

I have done it all on my own, but have been comfortable in the shop environment for 35+ years (I am 42...).  The lathe is just a tool that I have had to learn and I do a lot of research before I break things (most times, anyway)...

My Grandfather was super handy, but I learn and design on my own. 

I am in the planning stages for a v-4 that I will tackle after the Otto is perfected.  More to come on that...

Thanks for the comments...

Doug

[Gazz292]

most excelent, i shal camp out under the letter box and wait for it to drop on my head

Once i have my workshop done, i'll be printing off that guide, and a few others, and set about cleaning and setting this machine up.
i set the leadscrew height quickly today, made the saddle move without catching the screw till the last inch of travel, but it tightens up there too, so i rekon the ways are a little thicker at the tailstock end.

I then pulled the tumbler gear selecter off, found a couple of copper olives (the flat sided ones) from a compression fitting that slid over the shaft nicely, so put one each side of the spring and put it back together, much better, i noew have to deliberately pull the handle to get the pin out of the detent to move it, before you could almost do it with your little finger the spring was that weak,

and that's about it really, still havent cut anything in it, i dont have any stock, and i'm resisting the urge to find something about the house to 'modify' untill i have stripped and rebuilt it.

[Gazz292]

Postie has just been, and with the usual spam letters was a slightly thicker than usual envelope,

in it was a 25T changegear, yay,

Andyf has very kindly sent it to me as he had it spare, 10 seconds later it was in the lathe, and the leadscrew powers along nicely once more 

Thankyou very much andy, it's really appreciated, i hope i can help you or others out in a similar way in the future.

[andyf]

No problem, Gazz. Like coins, gears are made round to go around.
Let me know when you break the 20T one 

BTW, you mentioned your gears weren't marked. With your gears, which are to the metric Mod 1 standard, the quick way to tell the number of teeth is to measure the OD of a gear in millimetres. Tooth count = OD minus 2. For example, that 25T will have an OD of about 27mm (I say "about" because it's Chinese).

Andy

[Hobby-Machinist]

I have done it all on my own, but have been comfortable in the shop environment for 35+ years (I am 42...).  The lathe is just a tool that I have had to learn and I do a lot of research before I break things (most times, anyway)...

Doug

That is my main fear, leaving the backgear engaged at the wrong time, etc., and busting the gears.  Not always easy to get new ones.

Nelson

[dbvandy]

Let me know when you break the 20T one 

Andy

funny... my 20t is metal.  I used it as a model for the webster small gear...

Doug

[Gazz292]

there are 2 x 20t gears, but in mine they are changegears, i presume for running the leadscrew whilst turning, as opposed to threading, and they have a smaller bore and a keyway, so i couldent use them as tumbler gears... not that it'd have helped me, as i needed another 5 teeth,

i suppose i could have bored the hole out, then cut 5 teeth off one of the steel changegears, and glued them on the other one i just bored out.. erm 

[andyf]

i suppose i could have bored the hole out, then cut 5 teeth off one of the steel changegears, and glued them on the other one i just bored out.. erm 

That would be doing it the hard way. Easier to knock every sixth tooth off a 30T   

BTW, this guide from LMS may be helpful: http://littlemachineshop.com/Info/MiniLatheUsersGuide.pdf . For example, it shows the changewheel setup for turning on page 25, and describes it on p26. LMS also has a calculator for the geartrains required for threading various pitches, including "nearly correct" inch threads with a metric leadscrew and vice versa: http://littlemachineshop.com/Reference/change_gears.php .

Andy

[dickda1]

Most of the gears for that lathe are zinc die cast I believe.  Having a sacrificial nylon gear in the gear train is a big advantage - break something cheap.  Most of us over the years have run the carriage into the head stock or spinning chuck.  Almost cannot live through this hobby without this experience.

You could generate your own gears with a gear hob - could be built only with a small lathe.