- Joined
- Apr 20, 2019
- Messages
- 166
I’m learning that look...LOL. I’m sure my wife has a mental inventory of all my tools that have excessive amount of chrome or volume."wait, what, when did this happen" look.
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Becoming hobby machinist in the near future.
- Thread starter Rodneyk
- Start date
I have been looking at getting these machines (or similar) for many years. I finally told my wife that I was going to pull the trigger and she just rolled her eyes in disbelief since I always seem to do a lot of research then decide it is too much money. Well this time I pulled the trigger and then explained that it was going to be a LOT more expensive than the initial investment.
So how about a few pics:
The first is a close up of some chips in mild steel I have been making.
The second is my first functional part. This is a bracket to home the Z axis power feed endstop over the DRO sensor since they need to mount in a similar place. Using this I don't need to drill any new holes in the machine as I will reuse the DRO holes.
Sorry about the quality of the finish (The photos make stuff stand out the is barely visible on the part). I have not yet trammed the machine which may be part of the issue. I also had not received my facing mill at this point, so all facing was done with a 1/2" end mill. This was cut from 1.5" square bar of Mild Steel.
The bottom holes were milled so I could have some up/down adjustment in case I missed the mark on the hole. The top holes were drilled and tapped.
This is actually the second go at the bracket. The first one was looking very good until I realized that the power feed switch bracket is larger than the DRO bracket. ARGH Measure Once Cut Twice. And I was being so careful too... The second one (pictured here) took a lot less time because I let the mill take larger depth cuts, and I slowed down the RPM to a better speed.
Putting some pieces together...
The bracket installed over the DRO Bracket. When installing this I made a discovery that there are two washers UNDER the DRO as a shim on the head.
This is the endstop switch mounted (loosely) on the bracket.
This is the endstop bar which has the settable positions.
I will need to mount this on a couple of blocks to make up for the DRO also. but those can be simple blocks.
The bracket installed over the DRO Bracket. When installing this I made a discovery that there are two washers UNDER the DRO as a shim on the head.
This is the endstop switch mounted (loosely) on the bracket.
This is the endstop bar which has the settable positions.
I will need to mount this on a couple of blocks to make up for the DRO also. but those can be simple blocks.
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2019
- Messages
- 166
I told my wife I have four expensive tools to purchase before I retire... I’ve purchase two, one of which is a 12x24” lathe. When it showed up the comment from my wife was something like “normal people don’t have tools like this in their basement”- LOL.
(I’ll start up a separate thread about it once it makes it into the basement)
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2020
- Messages
- 93
Define "Normal people"
I have a neighbor who comes to me every time something breaks. So far in the last few months I have fixed his riding lawn mower, Instapot cooker, Backup power generator, light switch, Bath tub sealant, and even installed a new toilet for him. And now I with the lathe and mill I will be able to fix all sorts of stuff I couldn't before... Hmmm, maybe it is not so good that the neighbors know I can fix stuff...That would be the ones who can't fix anything, and come to you, cuz you got a b i t c h n' set of tools
Well the endstop bracket is finally mounted with parts I milled myself. I was able to reuse the part the I oopsed on for the bottom bracket.
The bracket I built is under the align bracket.
This is the bracket that holds the top of the endstop behind the scales for the DRO
Entire endstop mounted.
I started to do the Z power feed install (Next step) today when I realized that I cannot find the Roll Pins and Shaft Key that are required. Also I don't have a drill bit (either #21 or 4mm) that was specified for drilling the shaft extension. After much searching I was able to locate the roll pins, not not the shaft key (3mmx15mm) so I have to place that on hold until I can get a set of keys and the drill bit. Pretty sure none of my "titanium bits" will scratch the tool steel so I ordered a solid carbide bit at 4mm.
On the lathe side of things there was a delay in shipping the lathes last week due to a problem found in QC. The problem was related to the size of the drive belts and has been addressed. The machine should ship early this week.
This is the bracket that holds the top of the endstop behind the scales for the DRO
Entire endstop mounted.
I started to do the Z power feed install (Next step) today when I realized that I cannot find the Roll Pins and Shaft Key that are required. Also I don't have a drill bit (either #21 or 4mm) that was specified for drilling the shaft extension. After much searching I was able to locate the roll pins, not not the shaft key (3mmx15mm) so I have to place that on hold until I can get a set of keys and the drill bit. Pretty sure none of my "titanium bits" will scratch the tool steel so I ordered a solid carbide bit at 4mm.
On the lathe side of things there was a delay in shipping the lathes last week due to a problem found in QC. The problem was related to the size of the drive belts and has been addressed. The machine should ship early this week.