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11 X 22 Whosale Tool Lathe
- Thread starter Laz
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2014
- Messages
- 778
Get yourself some 6061 aluminum and some 12L14 steel. Two easy materials to machine. I would avoid mystery metal for a while if you are just learning. Have fun and always wear your safety glasses.
michael
michael
I bought some mystery metal one time for my son to do a welding project for 4H. The stuff cuts like butter but won't weld for anything. I just sticks. I through it on the ground in the pile & found out it doesn't even rust very well. It just looks like mild steel plate but I don't have any idea what it actually is.
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2011
- Messages
- 4,142
Might be leaded steel,which cuts very easily. Best keep it off your hands,and wash hands after turning it.
I hate hijack the thread. I don't know anything about spark testing to tell anything I did get it to weld with much effort using my flux core mig welder. Grinding a piece of it & my weld made the same color & length of spark. Tells me nothing but it might mean something to someone else.
I now have my WT 11 x 20 set up and so far so good. I now need advise on three things
What is the best dial indicator to purchase2 Which quick change tool post and size ?
I will post pictures of the 11x22 when I figure out how. It is unique
in that it does have reverse feed, unlike the grizzly 10 x 22.
What is the best dial indicator to purchase2 Which quick change tool post and size ?
I will post pictures of the 11x22 when I figure out how. It is unique
in that it does have reverse feed, unlike the grizzly 10 x 22.
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2014
- Messages
- 658
I was directed firmly to the Bostar AXA
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BOSTAR-AXA-...441?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f4a3ad5c1
Not sure how it compares to other Chinese models, but I am happy with it so far.
You want an "A" series.
You want a wedge type.
You really want a an Aloris (This translates as you no longer wish to be married)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Aloris-AXA-...3&pid=100005&rk=4&rkt=6&sd=281675657355&rt=nc
For the indicator, you will want a collection of them.
I think a good start would be a
1" travel indicator
1" or 2" travel with a magnetic back (very handy on the lathe)
a 10th's indicator of some type either travel or test. Two if you will be turning longer stuff. One of each is nice.
a decent magnetic base.
an cheap 1" travel for when you are afraid to use your fancy one.
Starrett and Mitutoyo seem to be the standard that folks measure quality against. Pricey though. You can get used ones fairly cheap on Ebay, but you might have to send it in for calibration if it is funky when it arrives.
I would avoid going below the level of the Shars premium indicator
http://www.shars.com/products/measuring/dial-indicators/1-dial-indicator-0-001-premium-series-1
It is a decent unit, easy to read, and seems to travel smoothly.
-Josh
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2014
- Messages
- 658
Yes, it is simply a dial indicator with 1" of travel. The indicator I linked is a typical example.
They mostly all follow the same basic design. A big dial with graduations, a round shank 3/8" in diameter that will fit into a holder, a lug on the back that can also fit into a holder. The backs can usually be removed and replaced with magnetic backs or one with not lug, or one with a different mounting.
They are extremely simple in design, the plunger has a gear rack milled into it that turns a gear. The gear turns the dial. The precision of the tool is in how well the gears are made. The less precise the milling of the teeth and arbors or the more inaccuracies in the plunger fitting, the less precise the gauge will read. Another factor is how smoothly the plunger travels, cheap DI's will often hang a bit when doing very small adjustments or very slow adjustments, this often gets worse with age as the return spring gets stretched. The tip of the plunger will usually have a ball (you can usually replace with different tips), these balls tend to chatter a lot when rolled making it difficult to read the dial on cheaper DI's.
How accurate an indicator you need depends on what you expect to do with it. If you plan to use it for centering a lot of work in a 4jaw or for centering holes on the mill, then a more expensive unit is a good investment. If you plan to use it mostly for ending machining cuts that will be checked with a micrometer, then you can get away with a cheaper unit.
Test indicators are usually much smaller, mount with a dovetail (they should include mounting hardware as well), and have a lever rather than a plunger. They usually read in 0.0005 or 0.0001 increments and are used for testing your machinery for accuracy or making sure that stuff is really on center.
It really comes down to an accuracy vs. precision issue. The vast majority of measurements made with an indicator are relative measurements (as opposed to absolute measurement), ie. how far off center is the part. For this we are concerned with precision, we want the indicator to consistently return to where it started. If you mount the indicator in a height gauge and use it with a granite plate so you can measure the actual dimension of a part, then you are concerned with accuracy - how far off is the measurement from the actual size. Cheaper DI's will tend to have good precision and low accuracy, if you center a part, move the indicator and check, you can mitigate many errors in precision and only have to contend with sticky plungers are the like.
My feeling is that you should get a decent indicator and the best micrometer you can afford. You want both accuracy and precision in a mic. If you can find a USA made set of Central Tools mics, you will probably be pretty happy with them. They are dirt cheap compared to Starrett, and do the job well.
-Josh