I gone and done it...first lathe purchase!

[KeithB]

We had a whole bunch of scrap aluminum bars that were about .675 thick, 1"+ wide, and about 10.5" long. We filled up beer boxes (24 can size) with them. The guy that toted them out had two handtrucks full. The local scrap yard doesn't pay much for them, it's not really worth our time to take the scrap in for resale. Would have been glad to give that stuff to anybody that could use it. We keep a little around for one-off parts but we are so pressed for space we can't store much scrap.

Also gave the guy some "titanium wool" balls. When we are turning titanium Scott gathers up the long chip that comes off into balls about the size of softballs. It is ductile, sharp, and ought to make a good scrubber for rough paint/rust removal. I'll collect them the next time we machine Ti and offer them to the guys here.

Bill, any time you are traveling through S Indiana you would be more than welcome to visit the shop.

 

[JSH]

"cutting long bars to working size where they can be faced, center drilled, etc. will be a hassle."

Ian, thus my reason for wanting a porta band.
There are some messed up shafts at work I am going to pack home. Seems like all of the aluminum scrap I have found is bent to some degree. I have been picking up odds and ends of round stock when I find it. Practice practice.
I think a lot I learned years back will come back to me in short order.
Most projects I have in mind I prefer to use a known alloy.
A gent gave me a bunch of odds and ends of rounds stock. A lot of it was painted. Danged if there isn't some brass or bronze in there.
Got a retired buddy that scraps a lot. I put a bug in his ear about some lead years back. I came home to piles and buckets of lead alloy for a long time.
A smoked turkey at thanks giving and a ham a bottle of his favorite whiskey at Christmas went a long way. He would not take a cent for it in cash. So,whenever I fired the smoker up I always made extra for him.
I hesitate to say anything to him for a while, hard telling what I would come home too.
Jeff

 

[KeithB]

Probably the most used piece of equipment in our shop is a 7" x 10" cutoff type bandsaw. Almost everything we process has to be cut from 12', 20' or 24' long bars. We have to cut it to 3'-4' lengths to feed through the lathe (which cuts the bars into individual pieces) or cut it into discrete individual pieces right there. We use a variable pitch tooth blade of good quality and get a lot of life out of them since we run continuous soluble oil type flood coolant. Only two things will dull a bandsaw blade - trying to cut a harder material (a chrome plated hydraulic cylinder rod for example) and overheating which at a certain point softens the blade and Poof! dull happens. Flood coolant carries away heat directly and also help remove chips which cuts back on the friction and thus the heat generated.

I can see where a portable band saw would be REAL handy at times. Do they make a battery powered version? That would be even handier.

 

[L1A1Rocker]

Sorry I haven't been on the forum for a while.

This is great news Ian! When can I come see it?

Your going to need a whole new set of tool boxes dedicated to your lathe.

 

[Ian]

It's on an SAIA dock in Garland last I checked, and it may stay at work for a while where I can get it cleaned up and adjusted on my lunch breaks. Pretty busy around the house right now getting ready for baby.

 

[Brad]

I cleaned the oil and cosmoline off mine with a gallon of WD40, a spray bottle, and lots of disposable paper rags. I don't care for WD40 for much but for cleaning the lathe initially and for periodic maintenance it does a good job.

 

[freebullet]

CONGRATULATIONS, Ian!!!!

Do you feel like the slope is slippery?

 

[Ian]

Yeah, just a little.

 

[Brad]

No, a lot. Trust me, it is slicker than you realize.

 

[Ian]

The hillside of Tiny Princess dresses, or lathe accessories?

 

[Brad]

Lathe accessories?

 

[Ian]

Ha! Yeah, I know. Just sitting here in my chair typing this and looking around the living room which is stacked with baby gear waiting on carpet to be installed Tuesday in her room...and thinking about this feeling that I'm about to fall in love in the way only a new father can...got me thinking "slippery slopes indeed"!

 

[L1A1Rocker]

It's on an SAIA dock in Garland last I checked, and it may stay at work for a while where I can get it cleaned up and adjusted on my lunch breaks. Pretty busy around the house right now getting ready for baby.

If you are going to put it at the shop for a while. COVER IT when you are not there beside it.

 

[Ian]

It will sit on the desk adjacent to where I work, at least for a little while. I have a good spot at home on the bench opposite my convection oven, guess I need to invest in some curtains for the windows in that room. The good news is if we have to find some high-speed plain bearing material to fix your lathe motor, we can turn it on mine while yours is down....provided we can come up with some small boring bars that will fit my tool post.

 

[Intheshop]

Few random thoughts...

On covers;Decent vinyl upholstery,black face side....some kind of cotton blend? white soft material on the back side.I snagged a bunch to make fancy covers for a cpl standup tool cabinets.Well,for a cpl reasons that didn't happen.

Few years later,started getting sheet metal equipment (old Pexto being the preferred marque)...Spotlessly restored,they were getting dirty from general shop air.Which you REALLY need to take seriously,BTW.So,started cutting pcs of above vinyl as covers.The results can't be overstated!!

Next is grinding;we have generational grinders here,haha.There's G-daddy machines,which bore rise to smaller offspring....down to 3rd generation one off machinery.One grinder often overlooked in machine shops is belt grinders.Welding shops live by them....knife makers,bowyers,furniture resto,etc.They are the chit for grinding stupid accurate angles on lathe tooling.Not dissing round wheel grinding in the least.It's a daily op here.

Quality vs value;paint spray guns come to mind.I can shoot almost as good with a HF as say my Iwata's and Sata...within reason,haha.The difference shows up BIG-TIME in the precision and repeatability in;adjustment and how the pce handles constant disassembly for cleaning.

So,play nice with your new lathe as it applies to above,especially the latter(cheap fasteners).Congrats on your new lathe....it "may" be a keeper.Meaning,smallish benchtop lathes are PB&J within a ammo,lite gunsmithing concern.It has a definite place even if you got a bigger one later.....and believe me,it's a fertile environment.They breed...have babies.Then there's the homeless...orphans,rescue machinery,challenge resto's,haha.

 

[Ian]

I save big, lightweight plastic bags from various packaging (everything comes sealed in plastic these days) for my reloading presses. Even in a hermetically sealed room with no air handling system stuff still gets dusty and cat hair infested, it must come off of me every time I go in there and move around. The grey/brown shop grunge gets on (and inside) everything in any shop, some are worse than others. I have my wood shop and metal shops separated by a wall, need to put a door between them to keep things from mixing. This lathe will ultimately go in the "clean" part, the work area at the front of the 30' garage where my transmission building table and pro-grade tools/toolboxes live. Will definitely get a cover of some sort, preferably the non-condensing kind because things do sweat and rust out there in the winter.

I'm starting to look more at HSS tooling after doing more research. It seems the lightweight, low-power, high speed machines do better with HSS because it can be made a lot more sharp. Plus I can already see needing to grind boring bars and shaping tools to do jobs that won't be easy with carbide and manual feeds....like square B threads for example. I did pick up the obligatory Chinese brazed carbide set which I think can be touched up with diamond hones to cut better, we'll see (it was $20 for a ten-pack of various cutters, no big deal). HSS is cheap, they say, I guess $17 a blank for 5/16x4 is cheap? I guess it lasts a long time if you keep each piece for the same basic task and keep re-grinding them.

 

[Brad]

https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/02604163

17.99 for an HSS blank? Not me. I use lots of these bits. I have ground a few boring tools that do good work for me. I use them for things like boring Star size dies and such. Lights cuts and a spring pass when close do the job fine. I will try and get a photo of a few for you. I have learned on simple truth to grinding tools- if it works and does what you need then appearance isn't relevant.

A set of pin gauges will be a plus. I have two that cover from .050 to .500 in .001 increments.

 

[Eutectic]

Ian....A set of small hole gauges and a set of telescoping gauges to measure (accurately) internals, I.D's, etc if you don't already have them... I see you beyond calipers..
Oh.... And be sure and thank the residents of Idaho! We are one of the few (if not the only) state to supply cobalt for those fine hi-speed alloy bits Brad showed you!

Pete

 

[freebullet]

I'll bet when Ian gets it home he will find the slope is ice covered with greased marbles & ball bearings for traction.

 

[Intheshop]

Our cabinet shop is or has sophisticated air/dust systems.So there ain't much dust on the machinery.....well,I rarely clean any residual off,haha.

Occasionally the WWackin equipment needs a cover.Dz times a year.The kids all bust me pretty hard on being "Martha" ( derogatory Martha Stewart,smartarse comments).....But,I went to chinamart and bought Black fitted bed sheets.The queen size with the elastic around the edge hems.They "fit"....doh,over that equipment very well.But it isn't all about protection from shop buggers.Keeps people and occasionally grime,when doing chores in there that requires a hands off treatment.Think dumbasses setting a cold drink down on a shaper,BS,or TS top......

The vinyl covers on the metal equipment isn't a problem in the least,HERE.It's just big,rectangular pcs halfarsed thrown over.Not tight or anything that would cause stress to the pce.It just saves time on certain pcs in certain conditions.The machine tools all stay pretty filmed up with oil and lube....It's the sheet metal stuff mainly.