Which Live Center?

Haven't been on ebay since 2012 can't buy it now, won't confirm my email. try later
 
Oh well, changed user name, password, account on hold, not able to view page for buying. Check back tomorrow.
 
All right, got back on track with ebay, the purchase is approved. I had to work hard to give out my money....
 
It's a good center, Aukai, and you got it for a really good price. Congrats!
 
What I look for in a live center is that the body that contains the bearings be as small as possible so as not to get in the way of the cutting tools; I bought a Rohm center #4 MT about 40 years ago (small body diameter), and it still works just fine. Having said all that, a live center with interchangeable points is also a good thing; good to have both types.
 
Thanks for taking care of me. Who is the goto place for material in HNL, not a lot here.

Thank you Ben, I'll see how this goes. This is one of my favorite mottoes.


"Experience is something you get right after you needed it"
 
Aukai said:
Thanks for taking care of me. Who is the goto place for material in HNL, not a lot here.

Thank you Ben, I'll see how this goes. This is one of my favorite mottoes.


"Experience is something you get right after you needed it"
Click to expand...
HNL?
 
HNL = Honolulu.

Depends what you need. You can get Aluminum from Royal Metals but it will cost you more to ship stuff to Kauai from here than it will if you buy over the net. Ebay, Amazon, Online Metals and others sell small quantities of whatever you want and many of them will ship via USPS Priority flat rate. The only issue is that the longest piece will be 12" long. If you need longer then Amazon or McMaster Carr are good places that will ship longer items; Amazon Prime will ship long stuff for free so its a very good option.

If I may suggest some materials to start, I would find some 12L14 mild steel, 6061-T6 aluminum and some brass on ebay. All will cut easily and will teach you a lot about machining metal without the grief harder materials bring. As you learn, you can purchase other stuff to try.

I know you're going to be starting with inserted carbide tooling and your lathe will work fine with them. However, I would also encourage you to learn how to grind HSS lathe tools at some point because there will be times when you'll find them to be very useful. My personal lathe is an 11" one with a 2HP motor and I use HSS about 90% of the time, simply because it works better for me.
 
Hawaii's a paradise but I assume you got scrap/junk yards, too. :) Don't forget about them for metal. Also, it's funny but now after a few years I kinda know the guys that always get out early mornings to see what everyone's throwing out on bulk-pickup garbage days. I've done it a few times and found some good stuff.
 
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