new lathe/mill………let the games begin
well, after waiting 3 months my new lathe finally arrived today. 1350lbs of working machine. Not fun to unload/set up. Still have to clean, put the cabinet together, run coolant, etc. be a couple days before I even think of making chips but here it is.:
Look forward to some valves, breech knobs, and other ideas I’ve had floating around in my head.
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couple more unique breech knobs tonight.
aloha,
walt
Thanks again for the Knurling tips. What you said plus a little extra pressure, working closer to the chuck, making sure the rollers are extra clean, and a little cutting oil and results have improven dramatically.
Sharpshooter, even carbide can be resharpened if you are patient. You are supposed to use a special type of grinding wheel, but I will touch up some of my carbide inserts on a regular grinding wheel when I get too lazy to change the bit out or if its my last one…. those little buggers are expensive.
aloha,
walt
Not on THIS machine. Being stingy/careful with my limited tooling until my indexable cutters & end mill set arrive. Machine only came with 3 endmills, 3 brazed carbide lathe cutters, and a hss parting tool. Would hate to burn one up without a spare on hand and be dead in the water waiting on new tools.
Have you cut steel yet? 😈
aloha,
walt
Thanks for the guidance on the knurling walt……much of this is new to me except for the common sense and ability to visualize how to make stuff. This was a first go for me with the knurling. I knew it was basically “pressing” the pattern into the metal instead of cutting so don’t have a clue why it didn’t occurr to me to set up the tailstock for more suport. Running bi-directional is also a great tip, I will try this next time.
i found tool height under pressure hard to adjust to true center, so after the first try (the fine textured one) I left the QC a little loose after centering the best i could which seemed to allow the rollers to self center and gave much better results. this brainstorm was inspired by the “scisor” and “pivot” knurling tools i have seen which are designed to “self-center”.
A few more small projects for confidence and a good size order of tooling and I’ll start working on my first tank valves.
Nice work, sharpshooter. The cutoff blade is a few thousandths too low and for your knurling, the knurling rolls are skipping… this is because the knurls aren’t in consistent contact with the workpiece. Adjust it up or down, but this is hard because the correct height can only be dtermined under real pressure; if you adjust it until both knurls turn as you just touch the work, this is the wrong height as there is some play in the knurls themselves. Also, if you want deeper knurling, stop the machine without disengaging the left to right drive (turn off power), then reverse your chuck direction so it goes backward and the knurl reverses direction; take a deeper bite as it reverses; repeat until the work is nice and diamond tipped. Run at very slow speed or it will be too difficult to control. Also, if you work with a small piece chucked at one end only, it is hard to knurl as there is no runoff space; so usually you do the knurling operation before the cutoff op. And use the tailstock for support on the other end.
aloha,
walt
fantastic work
Very nice.
Just messing with you. They look great!
You may want to check the height of your cutter it is not on center 😯 😀
I realize, thanks. Learning curve/getting the qc tool holders adjusted. This was first cuts on the machine and got a little fine tuning to do.
Those look great and your new machine is pretty impressive.
You may want to check the height of your cutter it is not on center 😯 😀
That is really nice.
Another modder on the forum!!!
Got impatient…………rough leveled the machine and instead of putting the cabinet/shelves together HAD to see how this thing works. Only solid stock I had laying around was some 5/8 Alu which had been outside in the back yard for many years, pitted and corroded but still solid. Decided bolt knob would be suitably easy for a first project.
A few Pics………..all taken latently; I took several pics throughout the evening with the machine running but for some reason the camera did not save them.
At one point i took a long .060 cut right to left with the power feed and nothing with the machine even gave notice that work was being done. Quite happy with everything at the moment.
I have some 1″ ali stock comming this week and will be working on some custome breech pieces too.
If anyone wants one of these, PM me and I’ll make it for minimal cost. I don’t need to make a living but it would be nice to sell a few to help defray the cost of my hobby. If you have an idea for a different contour, let me know.
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I am really liking that bi-metal thing you got going.