No sweat. The more good info out there the better
Cutting cylinder bases
- Thread starter logger450
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A shop owned by a friend is closing its doors, owner retiring, there are 5 big lathes in there, all will likely end up in the scrap pile. Two of the smaller lathes were bought and taken home by former employees but the bigger stuff has no one wanting them. Sad, yes but I have seen many dozen big ones go to the scrap yard since everything has gone CNC.
Happy New Year Unc.
As for tool storage/measuring tool storage, I have a few industrial cabinets I use for tool storage. One is South Bend tool storage, one is Monarch tool storage, one is for the 9x42, one for the 10x46 and another for the shaper. I have a box for measuring tools, and for welding... Well... Uh... There’s a discussion for another day. Rod ovens, TIG wire holders, cabinets for big rolls of dual shield and MIG wire, TIG torch parts, MIG gun parts, bottles of 75/25, 90/10, Argon, Helium, Oxygen, MAPP gas, Acetylene... Rolls of welding cable, stinger parts, a cabinet with a shelf for everyone’s personal PPE & tools... I may have gone overboard on the shop.
I’m only 32, but I still haven’t gone to CNC yet. In college at UofL (when I was the engineering competition shop lead/trainer for both my senior years) CNC was starting to be more and more viable. We had a HAAS 4 axis mill but it mostly sat idle. I think for most of us it was easier to do a drawing/model then just make it on the Bridgeport/Chevalier (we called it the Chevy, it was a BP clone made in Taiwan) than it was to write G code and wait on the machine to do the work. Most of our guys liked to feel the machine and how it responded.
Manual requires a higher level of tactile skill and truly requires the machinist to understand the processes they are doing if they’re making a complex part instead of doing a Solidworks model then running HSMworks, zeroing the machine and letting it do its’ thing an keeping it from crashing. Admittedly, a lot of the work we do in our shop are fairly simple parts, and we do a lot of hydraulic parts repairing and rebuilding heavy equipment, but I see very few parts that require 5 axes I couldn’t make manually.
Anyway, I’m going OT. Back to lathes & cylinders.
And to you Ol Buddy!!!!
logger450
ArboristSite Operative
If I am understanding the discussion right most guys turn down a piece of Aluminum 12"long to fit snugly inside the cylinder then put pressure on the top of cylinder with the live center. And that is the easiest and fastest way to true up the cylinder for the base cut. Tree Monkey had a nice video out a while back on making a mandrel with a cutter in it for cutting the squish. He turned the cylinder manually on the mandrel and cut down the squish fairly quickly. I definitely need to get a depth guage and dial indicator. You all are helping me greatly with all your advice. Thank you and have a happy and profitable new year PS keep all this great information coming.
D
Deleted member 135597
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Do you have any pictures of your lathe setup that you could share? Or even better a video of it in operation? Thanks
Great advise on page 2 regarding the tooling. My shop teacher in college ran a strict shop and everyone learned the basics of tool geometry and were required to hand gring HHS bits. Those bits were used for the other 3 classes including a capstone project. He was a very experienced tool maker that retired and became a shop teacher at the local state college. I'm very grateful for learning under him. He taught right up into his late 70's and even taught CNC. I already had CNC experience from high school BOCES so writing G code was a refresher. I enjoyed his classes so much in became a shop tutor to help the underclassmen. All of the automotive guys had to take one year of shop and they were usually the hardest to teach. Our capstone project was a bench top arbor press. We used all manual machines, shaper, horizontal mill, lathe, vertical mill, heat treated the rack and precision ground after heat treatment. When I went to a private college to get my 4 year degree I laughed when I saw the students there made a machinist hammer on a lathe as a capstone project. They hardly knew how to grind a bit let alone a drill.
North of Syracuse 45 mins, between Pulaski and Oswego.
@logger450 have you seen this mill and lathe for sale? Damn nice setup. Idk if he would sell individually.
https://utica.craigslist.org/tls/d/ilion-grizzly-lathe-and-mill/6770662258.html
That's definitely on another level price wise than that Logan. That Logan actually looks like a good buy for $600 if it's not beat to death.
https://utica.craigslist.org/tls/d/ilion-grizzly-lathe-and-mill/6770662258.html
That's definitely on another level price wise than that Logan. That Logan actually looks like a good buy for $600 if it's not beat to death.
I wouldn't argue against the points you make. given the type of ops u r suggesting. however, the utility of the lathe's usage, given set up and being used on a residential property suggests light usage. and the cost to bring in 3-phase to residential lines or even light comm'l suites or buildings has to be considered also. in my case, I opted for power convenience. I have always run my lathe 220-v, single phase. I have never seen it affect my monthly electrical bill. actually, a/c in the summer is much more of a concern. lol. and I have never seen my lathe slow or bog down in any of the work I have done with it, or use by any of my machinist friends. single or 3-phase just has to be considered as to what is best for the situation.
lots of info out there. one url suggests if 3-phase lines need to be installed can run as much as $50,000.00 per mile to set up. but prob a bit of small change, considering the volume of cylinder bases the OP may experience...
"variable frequency drives (VFD)have been used for decades to generate three-phase power from a single-phase source. Construction of three-phase power lines can cost as much as $50,000 per mile and can have an undesirable environmental impact. Even when three-phase lines are nearby, the cost of installation is considerable."
again, 220-v, single phase. not even an issue! and if in garage or home shop... hard wire it to the shop panel, and/or plug it into the dryer's outlet, or just make a drop pigtail 220-v outlet tied to the leads for the dryer's. the load on a 225 amp home, given the dedicated circuit for the dryer will be of no consequence, since the dryer is prob on a 30-40 amp circuit or thereabouts dedicated line.... and then go and whittle on some cast aluminum. ...cast aluminum!
I agree. We're not talking about opening a machine shop and taking on work. I cant imagine anyone taking more than 0.025" depth of cut on a cylinder. Should have a hard time with in aluminum on these smaller lathes with that.
I’m glad it works for you, and there’s nothing wrong with it working for you. However, best practice for a homeshop would be to spend $500 on a VFD or RPC and be covered for any type of work you do, especially with a “toolroom” sized lathe. Once again, I’m going for best practice, and best practice vs practicality must be balanced for any project.
For a 9 inch throw lathes’s power requirements, I wouldn’t worry about it. However, I’ve always looked at smaller lathes as a hobbyist’s tool/toy. I don’t want to come across as a snob, but it’s just not the machines I run or the work I do. Your needs may vary.
For a 9 inch throw lathes’s power requirements, I wouldn’t worry about it. However, I’ve always looked at smaller lathes as a hobbyist’s tool/toy. I don’t want to come across as a snob, but it’s just not the machines I run or the work I do. Your needs may vary.
I think everything you have stated has factual and practical merit! no doubt getting a lathe, what ever the size other than perhaps a uni-mat... the hook up is an important matter. imo, marrying practicality with feasibility is the key.
no doubt getting a lathe, what ever the size other than perhaps a uni-mat... the hook up is an important matter. imo, marrying practicality with feasibility is the key.Yeah. Agreed. And most of the lathes are below a tool Room lathe sizewize.
1/2 to 1 HP as opposed to 4.
And they are modifying......not making.
logger450
ArboristSite Operative
Yes way above my price range. I'm 57 yrs old and Don't want to build many saws for customers. I sure do like tweeking them and learning more tricks. I don't know how it happened but I counted up my saws and came up with 38. How did that happen?LOL
I watched a kid turn one on with the handle in chuck before. It was a good size lathe too, maybe 12" swing. Luckily for him it was in low gear and fell out once it fell below horizontal. It was like watching a slow motion train wreck about to happen. Unbelievably lucky.
Very Interesting thread.
I've never done any saw mods or anything, not to say I never will, but I do tinker around my garage/shop a lot and enjoy fabricating etc.
Always thought a little mill / lathe would be very cool to have. So many things you could play around and make, or modify.
I worked in a factory about 30+ years ago that had the real big Bridgeports and Southbends etc. (I wasn't a machinist, just a young grunt) but I was always amazed watching those old guys milling, turning and making various parts.
I may never justify the money to get one, but this thread got me very interested and researching, but I know nothing whatsoever about any of them, or what all tooling is even needed as a basic setup.
As to new one's I looked on Grizzly's and the Smithy websites and watched some videos etc., just to see what the prices were. I noticed the Smithy website doesn't list their prices. Does anyone know if they're similar to Grizzly, price wise and/or quality wise? Better / Worse?
I'm sure they're no where near the quality of old American iron, but sounds like they're plenty accurate enough for a residential shop/garage/hobbyist?
I've never done any saw mods or anything, not to say I never will, but I do tinker around my garage/shop a lot and enjoy fabricating etc.
Always thought a little mill / lathe would be very cool to have. So many things you could play around and make, or modify.
I worked in a factory about 30+ years ago that had the real big Bridgeports and Southbends etc. (I wasn't a machinist, just a young grunt) but I was always amazed watching those old guys milling, turning and making various parts.
I may never justify the money to get one, but this thread got me very interested and researching, but I know nothing whatsoever about any of them, or what all tooling is even needed as a basic setup.
As to new one's I looked on Grizzly's and the Smithy websites and watched some videos etc., just to see what the prices were. I noticed the Smithy website doesn't list their prices. Does anyone know if they're similar to Grizzly, price wise and/or quality wise? Better / Worse?
I'm sure they're no where near the quality of old American iron, but sounds like they're plenty accurate enough for a residential shop/garage/hobbyist?
I watched a guy, young, just turned loose on his own to run the machine without supervision, leave one in at 1250 RPM. It went throught a window 20’ from the machine and then broke a windshield in the parking lot. Very lucky man.
