Mini Lathe

"Never ever leave the chuck key in" - mmm .... I once did, on a lathe with a 3ft chuck. Was nearly my entry for the Darwin awards!
 
I have a Drummond round bed lathe that has lived in my unheated shed for over 20 years without going rusty. The secret is to cover it with lots of old blankets, making sure that the first one on is polyester. I guess the layer of insulation keeps the temperature stable - thus no condensation. The blankets do get a bit damp which is why the first one needs to be of man-made fibre. I keep the machine oiled, too, of course.

Tip - get some good HSS cutting tools and learn to sharpen them. Carbide tools are not very forgiving and easily chip.

I'm not sure why you would need a four jaw chuck on the tailstock? I find that taps can be held in the standard tailstock chuck without any adaptor. When tapping a hole, just revolve the work by hand, free off the tailstock clamp and push the tailstock forward until the tap engages and starts cutting. As the tap cuts, the whole tailstock will slide forward as required. I tend to use this method to get the thread started true and square and then change over to the tap wrench because you can feel how much pressure you're putting on the tap much better. It's easy to break them!

Good luck with your machine!

Neil
 
Thanks for the replies. I drove to collect it and the seller threw in a tailstock chuck FOC, so I will have a go with that. As suggested, I only need to get the thread started, and it had slipped my mind that the shank of a tap is round!

I also bought the best tools they had, about £90 for a set of about 10, indexed. I figured that if I'm working on stainless steel I will need something decent. They also gave me a few tools to practice with. I bought a quick change tool post as well, no idea how to fit it yet :)

BTW, that Amazon price is more than I paid, I went direct to http://www.amadeal.co.uk/, a couple of very friendly chaps in London E11. It even fitted in the boot of my MINI.
 
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nigelmercier said:
I've just bought a Mini Lathe, like this one: http://amzn.to/1sPJ4dR

It is currently sitting on my lounge floor while I consider how to protect it from damp in my shed. Looking outside this morning I'm glad I didn't put it straight in there.

Once the protective grease is removed, what would be best? GT85 perhaps http://amzn.to/1gjc450

I have never used a lathe before, but I've got a few simple projects lined up. Any tips on good books for beginners?

[Later] Just remembered, one job requires a tailstock tap adaptor, but it would seem more flexible to get a 4-jaw tailstock chuck. Do such things exist?
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I have had a lathe for the last 40 years & it has paid for itself several times over. i recently turned up my own bearings for my Stripper rope cutter. the manufacturer said the cutter was not serviceable & wanted £498-00 for a new cutter . Enough material for 10 bearings cost £ 28-00 & the old cutter will be going back on the boat soon

Regarding the tap holder - It is a nice easy project for the new lathe to make your own if you just purchase a tapered tailstock blank ( which can be used for other things) there are several books with projects & several show how to make one
Has to be said though, that I have never found the need for one- as suggested earlier , line up the tap with the tail centre & turn by hand
 
neil_s said:
I have a Drummond round bed lathe that has lived in my unheated shed for over 20 years without going rusty. The secret is to cover it with lots of old blankets, making sure that the first one on is polyester. I guess the layer of insulation keeps the temperature stable - thus no condensation. The blankets do get a bit damp which is why the first one needs to be of man-made fibre. I keep the machine oiled, too, of course.

Tip - get some good HSS cutting tools and learn to sharpen them. Carbide tools are not very forgiving and easily chip.

I'm not sure why you would need a four jaw chuck on the tailstock? I find that taps can be held in the standard tailstock chuck without any adaptor. When tapping a hole, just revolve the work by hand, free off the tailstock clamp and push the tailstock forward until the tap engages and starts cutting. As the tap cuts, the whole tailstock will slide forward as required. I tend to use this method to get the thread started true and square and then change over to the tap wrench because you can feel how much pressure you're putting on the tap much better. It's easy to break them!

Good luck with your machine!

Neil
Click to expand...

Your tapping method is the one I use.

I have a serious bench grinder and can grind tools, but have found-especially with S/S that small tools with replaceable tips work best for me.

As I have had to make many fastners, including long studs, for Motorcycle restoration, one of my best purchases was a tailstock die holder.
 
I used to work for a precision engineering firm. They used Hardinge lathes with a collet system to hold the workpiece and a rotating turret with (iirc) 8 tool positions. With digital readouts they were capable of real accuracy on small batch production. When I started they were setting tool height using shims but switched to adjustable holders which were so much easier to use.

Carbide tool tips came in too, again they made things much easier. Watching a skilled operator is a great way to learn.

My job was in QA and it could be quite a challenge to measure some of the components.
 
neil_s said:
I have a Drummond round bed lathe that has lived in my unheated shed for over 20 years without going rusty. The secret is to cover it with lots of old blankets, making sure that the first one on is polyester. I guess the layer of insulation keeps the temperature stable - thus no condensation. The blankets do get a bit damp which is why the first one needs to be of man-made fibre. I keep the machine oiled, too, of course.

Tip - get some good HSS cutting tools and learn to sharpen them. Carbide tools are not very forgiving and easily chip.

I'm not sure why you would need a four jaw chuck on the tailstock? I find that taps can be held in the standard tailstock chuck without any adaptor. When tapping a hole, just revolve the work by hand, free off the tailstock clamp and push the tailstock forward until the tap engages and starts cutting. As the tap cuts, the whole tailstock will slide forward as required. I tend to use this method to get the thread started true and square and then change over to the tap wrench because you can feel how much pressure you're putting on the tap much better. It's easy to break them!

Good luck with your machine!

Neil
Click to expand...

You are correct about using high speed steel
Tungsten will not be as sharp as the steel as you cannot get a really sharp edge even using a green grit grinding wheel
you need a bigger horsepower lathe to do the cutting with tungsten as the tip will always be slightly rounded--- But you need a microscope see that
the other advantage of HSS is that you can grind a wider variety of shapes which helps

Re the Drummond - yes I have one too, along with a complete set of gear cutting wheels
When i cannot sail anymore the first thing I will buy is a new lathe.
A lathe is extremely useful & is the only tool that can build itself
 
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