First time cutting steel Taig lathe problems

[Tony P]

Never cut steel before. Was playing with a 3/4 round bar tday. Ground my first steel cutting tools also. Upon turning they seem to cut fine. Coming back to the right with the carriage it cuts alot on the way back. I can go back and forth several times and it just keeps cutting. I’m holding the cross slide knob steady while doing it. Also everytime I stop the carriage it digs a groove. Everything is tight on the lathe. I’ve used it on brass and alum with no issues.
The section on the right was turned in a machine shop. The second, center section was the first tool I used, the left most section was the second tool that seemed to cut great.
Should the tool be exactly 90 degrees to the work ? Backlash in the cross slide no matter I’m holding it ? Lack of radius on the tool ? Speed ? Hardness of the steel causing flex ? Thoughts ??? Thanks

 

[EricB]

What type of steel is it?

 

[T Bredehoft]

I started my "machine shop" with a Taig lathe, its' better than no lathe at all, but only because you can say "I have a lathe."

Sorry but that's the way it is. Yes you can turn metal, I did some... but it's a toy. They won't tell you that, but as a tool & die maker my advice is to buy a real lathe. If you can just barely pick it up with both hands, it will do until you find one you can afford.

 

[Tony P]

What type of steel is it?

Don’t know got it from a machine shop. It’s not tool steel that’s certain. It cuts fine just have those issues.

 

[Tony P]

I started my "machine shop" with a Taig lathe, its' better than no lathe at all, but only because you can say "I have a lathe."

Sorry but that's the way it is. Yes you can turn metal, I did some... but it's a toy. They won't tell you that, but as a tool & die maker my advice is to buy a real lathe. If you can just barely pick it up with both hands, it will do until you find one you can afford.

Yea I built scale models for years and it was fine for that. Never had to turn steel. I have seen many guys work wonders with one though. A mill I need before a bigger lathe.

 

[EricB]

Try a known sample of a free machining steel like 12L14. Something your Taig can handle.

 

[Tony P]

Try a known sample of a free machining steel like 12L14. Something your Taig can handle.

Yes agreed. Have to buy some steel stock so I know what I have.

 

[Ken226]

Never cut steel before.

Given this statement and the appearance of the part in the pic, I have a couple questions.

How much of the part did you have protruding from the chuck? Did it have tailstock or steady rest support?

It looks pretty long, and if I'm seeing what I think are the jaw marks, that's a lot of stick'em out.

If you had more than a a couple inches of part sticking out of the chuck, on such a small lathe, then you probably had a a good bit of deflection.

Which would manifest itself exactly as you described.

Try sharp HSS tooling, light cuts and if the parts protrudes from the chuck by more than about double the diameter, support it with a tailstock center or a steady rest.

 

[C-Bag]

I run into that kind of problem when my cutter is not super sharp.

 

[Tony P]

Given this statement and the appearance of the part in the pic, I have a couple questions.

How much of the part did you have protruding from the chuck? Did it have tailstock or steady rest support?

It looks pretty long, and if I'm seeing what I think are the jaw marks, that's a lot of stick'em out.

If you had more than a a couple inches of part sticking out of the chuck, on such a small lathe, then you probably had a a good bit of deflection.

Which would manifest itself exactly as you described.

Try sharp HSS tooling, light cuts and if the parts protrudes from the chuck by more than about double the diameter, support it with a tailstock center or a steady rest.

Yes only about 3” plus I had the dead center in it. Something is moving a lot. I never had this issue with softer material.