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[Tesko]

You got firsties on it, it's ok man.

Dont worry about me, I've got permission from my big boss to use the manual lathes at work on weekends,

If you need any help, you know im around, what do you have for measuring tools, cutting tools, and material so far? I've got a bunch of aluminum (mostly 1" round stock), a bit o brass (think I still got a couple feet of 3/4" round stock), and a good bit of steel. I need to talk to one of the guys at work about getting material through them. Just walking through our steel yard last night on a break, and its always shocking to see so many millions of pounds of steel stock piled up, hah. I've also got a brand new Mitutoyo 0-1" .001 micrometer that I have no use for, and could probably hook you up with a shop pair of calipers.

[Railgun]

Originally Posted by y0da900

I've got a copy of the old Hercus Textbook of Turning in PDF format. I can e-mail you a copy if you want, it's 3.2MB.

If you're willing to add another address to the mailing I'd love a copy as well. I've seen references to that manual and it's supposed to be pretty darn good. I'll PM you my email addy.

[y0da900]

The textbook is on its way to both of you. The offer obviously stands to anyone else that wants it, it takes me all of a minute to send out.

[Stainlessbutcher]

OMG...I can't stop laughing!!!! modern uppity CNC crap....OMG.
Sorry, couldn't refrain.

B.

Originally Posted by Railgun

Unless he's crashed stuff into the bed or cross slide or dropped it so it looks like a pretzel I would say this is a damn fine deal if he's supplying it with that other $350. I would take cash with you and load it up quick before someone comes along and starts up a bidding war. Look hurt when he's looking at you like it's highway robbery and do a touchdown victory dance when you get it home because this IS a steal for the lathe and $350 worth of accessories.

If you're one of the sort of folks to finally get it set up and then say to yourself "now what...... ?" then borrow a copy from the library or buy a copy of Sparey's "The Amatuer's Lathe". It's pretty much a bible for home machinists using this size of machine. It's dated but then so are the time honored skills of the machinist's trade before all this modern uppity CNC crap came along....

If it doesn't come with them you will want a 4 jaw independent chuck and a dial guage pronto. Much work involves centering already shaped objects so that mods or further work can be done on them. 3 jaw chucks are not accurate enough for this. You need to sharpen your chops at using the 4 jaw and dial guage for centering stuff.

[Frink]

Originally Posted by y0da900

The textbook is on its way to both of you. The offer obviously stands to anyone else that wants it, it takes me all of a minute to send out.

Got it. You rock!

[Railgun]

Originally Posted by Stainlessbutcher

OMG...I can't stop laughing!!!! modern uppity CNC crap....OMG.
Sorry, couldn't refrain.

B.

<insert best street cred talk with hand held out in a puzzling "Soprano's" way>

.... wha?.....

[Frink]

Ok, I took at look at it tonight, it's in pristine condition. This guy obviously takes good care of his tools and is very knowledgeable about them. I spent about an hour going over some of the quarks and minor changes hes made to the machine, along with showing me some of the stuff he's made. He's planning on upgrading to a significantly larger model.

He keeps it in his basement, so I have to get it out of there anyway So I gave a partial payment, the rest after I build a bench for it and find a crew to help move it.

He's got all sorts of tooling, he said that if I needed anything else to let him know and he'd see if he had something he was willing to sell.

So my question is, what recommendation do you guys have for basic, "should have right away" bits and pieces. Tesko's going to hook me up with some used calipers and micrometer and run me through the basics. The following is what's included:

1- set of 5 cutters
1- set of 3 boring bars
1- dial gauge and magnetic base
1- 4 jaw chuck (never used)
1- set drill bits

Thanks guys!

[y0da900]

Are the 5 cutters he is including indexible carbides? If not, I highly suggest a set, they make work oh so much easier. Being able to grind your own tools is an important skill, but having the indexibles available is nice. Especially when you lose an edge halfway through an operation, you can pull the screw, swap to a fresh edge, re-tighten the screw, and you are back in (almost) the same spot. You can probably safely use somewhat cheap Grizzly (or similar) tooling for these.

G5639 5 pc. Indexable Carbide Tool Bit Set - 3/8"
G5640 5 pc. Indexable Carbide Tool Bit Set - 1/2"

Center drills. Grab a set with a variety of sizes. Use them to start holes for drilling larger holes, or to make a chamfered hole for a dead or live center. These are more or less essential.

I don't remember if it was mentioned this having one, but a quick change toolpost is very handy. Enco has one that fits this size lathe that is usually on sale for ~90 bucks.

A bottle to hold and squirt oils with. Different metals like different cutting fluids, have a different squirter for each fluid.

Parting tool. If you get the quick change toolpost set, it will most likely come with one. If not, you need to figure out what mounting style you need for it, and will need to get one.

A calculator if you aren't good at adding/subtracting in your head. Even if you are, probably get one.

Figure out very quickly whether or not your cross slide measures directly or diametrically. Directly, when you move the dial .005", the cross slide moves .005", diametrically it takes .005" off of the diameter (.0025" actual movement). Don't forget which one you have, and always stop to think about which kind of cut you are making. If you are turning an o-ring groove, even though redundant dimensions can be frowned upon on a drawing, they aren't bad to dimension both the OD of the bottom of the groove and the groove depth. You will almost undoubtedly measure the OD at some point and cut twice as deep as needed if yours is direct read dials.

[Railgun]

I guess its all about the old YMMV deal but I've got that same set of 1/2 inch shank cutters and found that they just don't cut it (oooo.... sorry for that pun) compared to ground HSS tools. For some reason be it the nature of the beast or the quality of the inserts or whatever but they leave a rough surface and when I wan't to remove the last 1/2 thou they tend to not bite as consistently and accurately as my HSS stuff. And it's not like I'm anal retentive about keeping them sharp either.

In particular since the carbide insert cutters are often set up to use a negative rake (As is the Grizzly set if it's the same as mine) they tend to plow the metal off rather than shear it.

Anyhow, as I say it's YMMV but for me grinding HSS is my preference by a long shot for a lot of reasons.

[Tesko]

Ooh yay, I get to show you how to dial in a 4-jaw! HSS tooling to start with, but some carbide is a good thing, like a parting-tool and grooving tools. Even rough turning tools with round inserts come in real handy for adding nice smoothly arced grooves.