First Cuts… New Lathe
So a couple weeks ago, I finally bit the bullet and got a small 7×12 mini lathe. Walt in Hawaii has been a great help and has been answering my hundreds of questions….
I finally made my first cuts with it the other day…. I started out practicing some facing, turning, and cutting operations… for as long as my adult ADD mind could take it….about 2 hours….
and then started in on a small project.
Now…. go easy on me as I’ve literally been working with this lathe all of just a couple days.
I figured I’d do some LDC baffles and made about half a dozen. Some turned out really nice, some turned out… well… not… Here is an example of both.
Was nice to get the first chips on the lathe…
….and from a newbie perspective… the quick change tool post from littlemachineshop.com is a must have….. since I dont know what I’m doing and am learning, I have to change tools constantly and this saves tons of time… and no shimming!
I then moved on to some Crosman bolt handles… the one on the left still needs some o-rings in the grooves, the one in the middle is ‘textured’… which is to say I fouled up a knurling operation… and the one on the right is a bit long, but works fine. I also didnt step it after the threads and so goofed it a bit, but it works.
I also come across a mini mill…. ! I’ve got a milling vice en route for it and have some bits… right now, I have a cheapie drill press vice rigged to it…. but just as with the lathe, I dont know a thing about it so will be learning…
I figure the learning curve will be steep enough to where it will take me at least a week before I’ll be turning out WOK Butts and a month or so after that, I’ll be making big bores to sell….
🙄 😆
All Replies
you can use wood as a pactice media as well….but as YN said get the sampler packs, cause you will allways be missing what ever you need
all kinds of things can be made into something….i hardly throw any metal pieces away…stuff that goes wrong can be used for something else…if you got a place near you that does work in plastic or metal they throw out shitloads of stuff…time for dumpster diving 🙂
i got the gasram for mine….it helped a bit, but i think mine is loosing pressure as it is not as effective as it seemed in the beginning…sorry YN ohh you where gonna give it away….then its a worthy upgrade….keep your spring parts though…just in case
It is funny now… I dont look at junk metal the same… even something like a small peice of metal can be made into a trigger shoe… once I get some experience…. I dont know that I’ll ever buy another airgun because all my cash lately has went to these two machines…haha….
Dumpster diving… I’m not above it…. 😎
+1 on the belt drive.
I have the gas piston kit from Little machine shop you can have if you want. I got it, but never got around to putting it on as the CNC doesnt need it so much.
I’d recomend buying a decent selection of stock. I started out buying bit’s of stock at a time, which was a pain – I’d try and turn down a 2″ bar of aluminum rather than just use a 1″ piece because I didnt have any 1″ stock left and didnt want to pay $10 and wait for shipping…. Even when I planned a project and thought I bought everything I needed something would go wrong so I just bought the selection pack’s of rod and flat’s from online metal’s and haven’t had to make an order since and have probably saved money.
I got some stock and it’s come in a few shipments…. didnt realize how expensive raw material was…! I have got to check some scrap yards local and see what I can find…. as of now, I’ve done nothing on the mill other than drill a few things… I’m waiting on a milling vice but for now, I have a simple drill press vice rigged to it…
I started to get the packs from onlinemetals.com, but close to the holidays and just didnt have the scratch. I grabbed a few small rod stock and I’ll do another order soon…
The belt drive seems to be the next big purchase from what I gather…
Does it end? haha
Will pm on the gas piston….. 😯 😀
i bought my mill and lather out of the HF trucks when they where in town….they didnt have the metal vise…so i got the wooden one….you can get by with it in the beginning….bu a milling wise is light years better, more precision, more torque…but it is expensive….
my mill was 400 so was lathe….but lathe took about 200 extra in tools and i was up and running….the mill however i got more like 600 in the extras needed.
have fun….learning metal working is fun….time consuming but fun, i think with the little custom work i did with my lathe i broke about even….the mill has been pure expense so far….but as YN says when ever you need something you can usually go make it witch is a very cool thing indeed…also frustrating when it eats .002″ more than what you thought it would..fucking what ever you worked on for 4 hours
i have made several parts for my rc hobby….lately i bought a baseplate for my buggy and milled it out to lighten it…normal heavy plate 40 bucks…competition lightened plate 140 bucks….difference a bit of milling…100 bucks saved and 20 gram lighter than the comp plate…durability we will see maybe i took off a bit too much hehe
+1 make…the noise difference is enormous not to mention when a bit bites into the material and the mill comes to a stop…somethings gotta give…and its gonna be those plastic gears used..mine lasted a couple of days….ordered the belt kit with a set of new gears and was stunned with how well it works…now if things comes to a halt the belt will slip a bit saving your hardware (dont adjust it too tight….noise is cut in half
you can use wood as a pactice media as well….but as YN said get the sampler packs, cause you will allways be missing what ever you need
all kinds of things can be made into something….i hardly throw any metal pieces away…stuff that goes wrong can be used for something else…if you got a place near you that does work in plastic or metal they throw out shitloads of stuff…time for dumpster diving 🙂
i got the gasram for mine….it helped a bit, but i think mine is loosing pressure as it is not as effective as it seemed in the beginning…sorry YN ohh you where gonna give it away….then its a worthy upgrade….keep your spring parts though…just in case
I’ve got some ideas for various items, airgun and non airgun related.. but they are a ways off for me as my skill level is… well… you see.
I always have to remind myself.. “oh, i can make that” rather than buy when it comes to all kinds of stuff – they come in handy.
+1 on the belt drive.
I have the gas piston kit from Little machine shop you can have if you want. I got it, but never got around to putting it on as the CNC doesnt need it so much.
I’d recomend buying a decent selection of stock. I started out buying bit’s of stock at a time, which was a pain – I’d try and turn down a 2″ bar of aluminum rather than just use a 1″ piece because I didnt have any 1″ stock left and didnt want to pay $10 and wait for shipping…. Even when I planned a project and thought I bought everything I needed something would go wrong so I just bought the selection pack’s of rod and flat’s from online metal’s and haven’t had to make an order since and have probably saved money.
that is a very interesting texture you got on your middle bolt handle, the ‘goof.’ How’d you do that?
aloha,
walt
That helps…. i was tightening on the low spots trying to resolve it… but most of the time, I’m getting fairly close anyway… and I’ve been turning down anyway if for no other reason, than to just play… but I see where that buying one size up can help. I just placed an order for some metals to tinker with so we’ll see when they get here!
….the texture was a failed attempt at knurling… I didnt know what to do with the knurling tool and it marked it up… I I just ran it down the side of the stock as if I were turning it… and it ended up giving a nice contrast. I dont think I’d want to do that with steel, but was fine for aluminum I think.
Next you will need a nice precision rod of some kind. I used one out of an old printer. Chuck that up and center your chuck on the mount as good as you can get it with your magnetic based dial indicator, it should get you pretty damn close.
Finally, you will need to mount a Dremel tool or something comparable to the side of your tool holder. Eventually you will want to make a holder for that anyway as its a great way to grind precision parts on your lathe. You will use the Dremel tool with a fine grinding stone in it to true up the inside of the jaws with the lathe spinning at its slowest setting. You want to make as light a pass as you can so that it just touches the jaws as you grind. When done you will have a precision chuck that is fast and east to use.
You can also just get a larger four jaw chuck that is self centering to turn square and round stuff.
Maybe one day, but for now…. I’d likely ruin a good chuck!!! haha… Actually, the jaws were numbered and one of the first things I did was to stamp the chuck with the number corresponding to where the jaw goes… I’d read this on http://www.mini-lathe.com . I had the lathe for a couple weeks before I ever turned it on.. .was reading, cleaning and adjusting per the advice on that site.
Next you will need a nice precision rod of some kind. I used one out of an old printer. Chuck that up and center your chuck on the mount as good as you can get it with your magnetic based dial indicator, it should get you pretty damn close.
Finally, you will need to mount a Dremel tool or something comparable to the side of your tool holder. Eventually you will want to make a holder for that anyway as its a great way to grind precision parts on your lathe. You will use the Dremel tool with a fine grinding stone in it to true up the inside of the jaws with the lathe spinning at its slowest setting. You want to make as light a pass as you can so that it just touches the jaws as you grind. When done you will have a precision chuck that is fast and east to use.
You can also just get a larger four jaw chuck that is self centering to turn square and round stuff.
Shadoh, great advice. However, this is an advanced procedure and not something a beginner should tackle. The grinder needs to be secure. If it moves, the whole procedure is wasted and you just carved up your jaws for nothing. Also, with most chucks you have to make a tension plate to insert into the through hole which your jaws tighten up on. The jaws don’t orient themselves to each other the same when they are slack vs when they are gripping something. They also have play when not under tension. The tension plate allows you to tighten the jaws onto it so the jaws present themselves to the grinding stone in the tensioned state. also the silica dust from grinding operations is very harmful to bed V ways and the ways should be covered up anytime a grinder is used near the lathe. I use an old bedsheet. Also the tension plate should be midway from full closed to full open (jaw opening) as this procedure will recontour the jaw inner diameter or radius, and you want the jaws contoured to the size you will use the most. I’d say bias it slightly toward the smaller diameters as these are usually more critical of alignment.
Rob, when initially tightening up round stock and trying to get it centered, play with the chuck key and just as the stock tightens a little, turn the stock while there is a little tension on it. You’ll feel resistance as you turn it, and what this tells you is where the high spots are on the round stock. Avoid tightening on the high spots. similarly, avoid tightening on the low spots for the same reasons. You want a uniform even tension on the ‘turn’ as you tighten the chuck key. You’ll also find that ’round stock’ is not really round. If a 1″ round bar comes to you within say 5 thou, it’s pretty good. all this stuff is extruded and not turned as sold, so requires finishing. Always have to buy 1 size bigger than what you need and turn it down to final dimension.
that is a very interesting texture you got on your middle bolt handle, the ‘goof.’ How’d you do that?
aloha,
walt
Blizzard kept me in the shop today too. While I was digging around for some tools I found a couple of old mini-lathe bits I forgot I had. I’ve got a mini-lathe 4-jaw chuck, LMS ball turning tool and the DRO kit for the mini lathe. If you think you might want a 4-jaw, I’d be glad to let you have it for a song or a trade of some airgun bits. As for the DRO, I tried it and took it off. Can’t remember what didn’t work well or even if it worked at all. If you think you might want to play with it, I’ll send it along with the chuck or let you have it for the cost of shipping.
You can get your cheap three jaw to be very accurate. First, stamp each jaw with a number or mark of some kind. Then mark the chuck body keyways with the same mark/number so that you alway put the same jaws in the same keyway. You will also want to mark your lathes mounting plate in the same way so that you always mount your chuck to the plate the same way.
Next you will need a nice precision rod of some kind. I used one out of an old printer. Chuck that up and center your chuck on the mount as good as you can get it with your magnetic based dial indicator, it should get you pretty damn close.
Finally, you will need to mount a Dremel tool or something comparable to the side of your tool holder. Eventually you will want to make a holder for that anyway as its a great way to grind precision parts on your lathe. You will use the Dremel tool with a fine grinding stone in it to true up the inside of the jaws with the lathe spinning at its slowest setting. You want to make as light a pass as you can so that it just touches the jaws as you grind. When done you will have a precision chuck that is fast and east to use.
You can also just get a larger four jaw chuck that is self centering to turn square and round stuff.
You have fun with that 4 jaw chuck 😀
wayyyyy too late LOL
Went the 4 jaw chuck route myself, with a little practice they are almost as fast as the 3 jaw and more accurate.
Bonus is you can do non round things as the projects move along.
nice video on a good method
I’d seen that vid, which was what prompted me to think of the 4 jaw… but I’ll have to see… I keep saying I dont want to dump a lot of money in this… too late, I think!
Very nice, they are lots of fun.
Went the 4 jaw chuck route myself, with a little practice they are almost as fast as the 3 jaw and more accurate.
Bonus is you can do non round things as the projects move along.
nice video on a good method
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