lathes

[Dave the bass]

Milling machines y'say, well......have a look at mine No really.



Phwoaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrr!

[jack]

Sweeeet! I miss my sons not being at their Grammar School any more - I had access to all sorts of cool kit as the D&T teacher and I had an "agreement" which meant the big lathes, the CNC kit & laser cutters were all available... He rebuilt traction engines and stuff, so tended to buy really serious stuff for the DT department. I wonder why...

I've always wanted a DRO on the lathe/milling machine but adding it to the MD65/BFE is probably just not viable.

One day, I'll sell my trusty Hobbymat and go for something more substantial & modern - my current workshop has a wooden floor which is about 100 years old and not in great condition - it already bounces when I walk over it - a decent lathe would end up by itself in the basement

When we build our next house, I have PLANS. Plans for a new workshop with a slab floor and UNDERFLOOR HEATING (*). I'm fed up with freezing my nuts off (!) in the workshop....

(*) and a kitchen, loo, sofa, TV... and a storeroom capable of holding 8x4 sheets of timber...

[Dave the bass]

The retired Engineer that showed me the basics of milling demonstrated how the floor isn't really right for the machine. On the digital X Y display the X value can drift by 0.005mm depending on where the users stand . Erks.

I've got 3 Boxford lathes I'm learning the basics on too.

[ed]

danger Will Robinson, danger

[steve s]

Nice little lathe Ant, I just bought then sold a nice little 2x12 model makers lathe. When I was 15 in my 1st job we sold tiny unimat lathes, could not afford one but I lusted... a year later I got an apprenticeship and was working a ward 7, a ward 10 and a centre lathe with a 3' chuck. The ward 7 was realitively small but the other where big in my eyes. We did small batch work and one offs

Dave my old Miller not a lot different to that - just a 24" table and no power feeds. And It's a bit older, the main bridgeport head is '59, the rest is a lot older.
Before bridgeports nearly all Miller's were horizontal, the bridgeport head was built to convert them to vertical and it turned out to be popular..! Dont think you see any horizontals nowadays.
I had a smallish surface grinder too but it went to a mate yesterday. It has given me back some space in the workshop
The honda s90 is complete so that moved to the garage yesterday, the gold star has taken its place. 1st job today is the put a battery in and get a spark ?
Then clean the carb.. then petrol...
Fingers crossed I get up to the petrol stage today

[Dave the bass]

danger Will Robinson, danger

Arf!

My toothbrush holesmanship skills are coming on nicely

[shane]

My toothbrush holesmanship skills are coming on nicely

Didn’t know you’d moved to Balham?

[Ant]

Ive been looking for one of these specifically for ages as I had a look at some new and nearly new machines and was less than impressed with the quality
Looked at an axmimster mini machine in the machine mart branch In Barnsley a couple of months ago and thought it was a right load of crap for the 400 quid asking price. They had some Clarke machines that looked better at 600 and a grand, but the only advantage over this machine was the speed control and the warranty. And this machine is probably equal in quality.
I figured that if an old lathe was a better bet.
Bearing in mind that Im pretty good with the wood lathe but that ive not done any metal turning, i wasnt about to spend a grand on a machine.

[jack]

Good, clean, s/h MD65s were around 300 quid. That was a while back... Don't know what the current rate is...

[Ant]

The going rate is 350 to 400 ish for a good one these days depending on what it has with it
This one was 300, which, with all the extra bits it came with and the fact that its had a full strip and rebuild with new bearings is why I bought it
Ones that are completely original with all the original accessories in 'as new' condition can be around 500 quid, there was one for sale that had never been used a couple of months ago that the seller wanted 650 for!

[IslandPink]

Milling machines y'say, well......have a look at mine No really.

That shed's even bigger than it looks from the outside !

[Ant]

Used it to make something today. Decided to get my eye in first so ive been playing around with a bit of aluminium bar to get a feel for it.
There is a really small amount of play in the cross slide which I should be able to adjust out, and I have a rather worn right hand rough turning tool but other than that, getting a feel for it, and how deep a cut it can take was quite quick. Followed Steves advice and was aiming for nice continuous spirals coming off rather than little chips.

So i moved onto something nice and simple, a small mild steel shim that fits under the bearing on one of my lenco conversions. So i got an offcut of 20mm round bar to make it with.
The part needed to be 18mm dia by 20.05mm height. The .05 to put very slight tension on the chassis plate so the bearing is clamped.
Got the height bang on according to the calipers which are good to 2 decimal places.

Diameter was slightly more tricksy as the vibration of the machine winds the cross slide out by about a 16th of a turn, holding the handle so it couldn't move solved that, but it meant that the shim ended up slightly smaller than I wanted. But it doesnt matter, the diameter wasn't the critical measurement.

Shall have to tighten the cross slide a little.

The likes of phil and Steve are probably laughing into their sleeves right now, but im quite happy with how the part turned out as its the right dimensions.

Gotta learn somehow.

More questions. Martin at my local engineering firm told me to use abit of wd40 on steel as cutting fluid in the absence of any proper stuff, (he didnt have any in) dunno if this is the way to go but it seems to have worked ok, so whats recommended?

Second, I need to replace the worn out hss cutter and was wondering wether to stay with hss or try some of those cutters with the carbide edges brazed on, or the indexable cutters that you put the carbide blades into?
The hss ones seem ok, but i presume again its more about what you personally like the feel of?

Cheers ant

[Baggy Trousers]

The retired Engineer that showed me the basics of milling demonstrated how the floor isn't really right for the machine. On the digital X Y display the X value can drift by 0.005mm depending on where the users stand . Erks.

I've got 3 Boxford lathes I'm learning the basics on too.

DTB I have an excellent Bridgeport but cannot work to 0,005mm on a substantial CONCRETE floor. 0,005" certainly but five thousandths of a millimetre?

[jack]

Correct lube is important when turning.

I have used WD40 but prefer "soluble oil" and apply it with a paint brush.

Also I prefer the indexable cutters - they produce a better finish IMHO.

The slide on the MD65 has a couple of grub screws to set its travel - you may need to take the slide off, clean and grease it, then replace it - also check that the slide is traveling perpendicular to the bed.

[steve s]

Sounds like your learning Ant
I always use carbide tips or the index tools, all tools need to be sharp to cut clean. Ensure to tools are exactly centred otherwise there will be excess vibration, you need a special grinding wheel for carbide tips
Ensure the lathe is bolted down to something dead flat/ strong and heavy
The saddle and cross slide usually have adjusting screws to ensure there is no play. Check for play in different positions. A worn lathe has slack close to the chuck and the saddle/ cross slide will tighten up when moved away from this area. new bearings could indicate its had some use... you grab the tool post and see if it has any play near the chuck it should be the same is when moved away from the chuck

There is always slack in the lead screw / cross screw. always wind out then in
Also make sure your speed is right, the cutting speed varies dramatically with diameter ( as in how many feet per min the cutter sees) you will soon get the hang of it...
Hope that helps
Steve