Chasing my tail
- Thread starter JSH
- Start date
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I've owned a 6" Atlas I inherited from my dad for 40 some years. Yes, you can make stuff on them. Yes, they can turn out beautiful work. No, you probably don't want one if you can get a anything else. You can't really use any carbide tooling, the tool post/cross slide/compound just isn't rigid enough. I've tried several type of small carbide tooling and bought what at the time was the best tool post you could get for an Atlas. Even with the gib screws tightened down there is just too much flex to work carbide very well. So it's HSS tooling, 1/4" usually, and they'd better be sharp. You can get decent chucks for a price, and collets. I've had a drawbar and a few collets since the late 70's. No quick change gearing, It's all change gears and the one you need will always be the one that can't be found foe love nor money. I forget the one I spent years looking for. It's far easier to run the item 10 miles down the road to Enos the Amish machine shop owner and have him do the job for $5.00. ANd all it takes to destroy one of those Zamak gears is a tiny chip of metal in the gear teeth and CRUNCH! It's good night Irene for that gear. I love my old Atlas. It's saved me a mess of times. It's also just too light for much outside of making pins and doo-hickeys. I've made a lot of stuff on mine, but much of it came out only after a 20 minute job that took 6 hours.
smokeywolf
Well-Known Member
Unless you're machining one of the "space age metals" like Invar, Kovar, Nitraloy, Hasteloy or something similar, carbide is not essential. High content cobalt/HSS, Stellite or Tantalum-tungsten will do the job nicely and without the brittleness of carbide on nearly any high-carbon steel, stainless or even titanium.
As far as extreme precision lathes go, there's only one that I know of that beats a Hardinge HLV toolroom lathe and that's a Monarch EE. NASA bought one back in the late 1950s and sent it back to Monarch in about 2010 for rebuild and electronics upgrade. Monarch sells rebuilds of the EE model for about $77,000; new run about $120,000.
With regard to ease of single-pointing threads, nothing beats a Hardinge HLV.
While I would never consider parting with my Bridgeport mill or WEBB engine lathe, as I know the complete history of both, and neither have more than 20,000 hours on them. I also know all the machinists who worked on them.
Had I not been fortunate enough to score the commercial lathe and mill, I'd probably be looking at the same equipment that Brad purchased. Precision Mathews may not be the equal to old "American Iron" (before it got old), but in the not so distant past I was tasked with sourcing machinery for a new machine shop being created by a major motion picture effects company and according to what I learned in my research, PM makes consumer level machinery that has and does often cross over into the commercial sector; it's good stuff.
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Smokey, I mention carbide because thats what everyone wants to use these days, not because I think it;s all there is. There aren't all that many people that want or know how the grind a nice HSS tool anymore. I lucked out and took a class from a guy that knew his stuff. I also found out that grinding a nice tool in 3/4" stock is lots easier than in 1/4" stock! Kinda like the difference in sizing 22's or 45's.
Grinding HSS isn’t really that difficult. Look at the angles, formulate a plan, and have at it. Key is honing it razor sharp, taking appropriate cuts at appropriate speeds, and it is wants oil then give it oil.
I have 2 insert tools I use, one is for threading and the other a turning tool Keith suggested. For hogging off material the insert tool rocks. When I want smooth finish or fine cuts I turn, pun intended, to home ground HSS. The threading tool rocks, it always gives perfectly formed threads.
I have 2 insert tools I use, one is for threading and the other a turning tool Keith suggested. For hogging off material the insert tool rocks. When I want smooth finish or fine cuts I turn, pun intended, to home ground HSS. The threading tool rocks, it always gives perfectly formed threads.
Ian
Notorious member
Anyone have a recommendation for a decent, affordable 10X optical comparator? I have my eye on a $75 unit from iGauging that has nine reticles, looks like it would be da bomb for grinding mould cherries and checking tip radii on homemade HSS form tools. Relief angles, thread angles, draft angles, precision length measurements, all that stuff would be a breeze. Right now I use a 10X loupe and fishtail gauge or protractor.
That is another project for me, make a decent rest for my grinder AND get a green wheel.
I am a MrPete fan. I watch a lot of his videos. Some of them over and over, especially the ones on grinding HSS. There are some others out there, but he explains it so I can understand it.
I think most get hung up on trying to make HSS look perfect and have perfect angles, when it doesn't have to.
I am a MrPete fan. I watch a lot of his videos. Some of them over and over, especially the ones on grinding HSS. There are some others out there, but he explains it so I can understand it.
I think most get hung up on trying to make HSS look perfect and have perfect angles, when it doesn't have to.
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Sounds good on paper, doesn't work out that way in real life. Sharpening a hand saw or circle saw blade, or even a chain saw isn't hard either. But no one wants to even try any more. Everyone wants carbide, even on chain saws, despite the fact few people can maintain one.