I Cut in to the Compound on my Lathe

[dbb-the-bruce]

Welcome to the club! there is a saying that goes something like - "There are only two kinds of machinists, those that have nicked a machine or fixture and those that are lying"

No blood, cosmetic damage - It's a right of passage. You won't make the same mistake again. Clean it up so it's not sharp (as you already have) and move on.

I bought a brand new small precision vice a month or two ago and nicked it first time out 'cause the work piece was in another vice and that was what I was watching.

 

[ArmyDoc]

Okay, the suspense is killing me... Which one got cut down?

They cut down the productive one because, them city slickers only care about what looks good when they build their new housing developments after paving over productive farm land...

 

[danallen]

I would leave it as a reminder to not do it again.

 

[SLK001]

Don't you like apple pie?

I do, but you'd be surprised at the number of people today who would say, "Let's keep the pretty tree..."!

 

[Tozguy]

Something like that happened to me.

But I don't think that any cracks will develop, all the stress was relieved into my shorts when it happened.

 

[macardoso]

Something like that happened to me.
View attachment 357944
But I don't think that any cracks will develop, all the stress was relieved into my shorts when it happened.

I too have an identical mark - my fault. No harm done

 

[erikmannie]

...I bought a brand new small precision vice a month or two ago and nicked it first time out 'cause the work piece was in another vice and that was what I was watching.

+1 for not nicking the work piece!

 

[erikmannie]

Replacing the compound with a plinth would get rid of the scar, but I use my compound very often. However, only hours ago I was doing something that clearly required a plinth, and a custom shaped plinth at that.

The machine costs $15,999. The replacement compound assembly is readily available & in stock at Precision Matthews for $500. They only sell the complete compound assembly because it is hand fit. I’m going with the finger groove for now. John at Precision Matthews told me that PM intends to always have at least one of every replacement part for every machine they sell on hand IN Pennsylvania at all times! Precision Matthews continues to be amazing.

 

[Gaffer]

I agree with your choice of a finger groove. I feel your pain with the damage, but fortunately, it's not that big of a deal in the scheme of things. The first one, and hopefully the last, hurts the most.

 

[erikmannie]

In the photo below, you can see what I was doing that did not work so well with a compound. I was trying to put a groove in the welded, beveled joint. That 10.75” OD pipe extends below the cross slide (something that I will have to watch out for so that I don’t cut into my cross slide!).

Since I could get the cross slide only so close to the work, I had to extend the compound. Upon attempting to cut the groove, the extended compound vibrated even though the compound & carriage were locked.

If you’re thinking that a LH boring bar would work, think again because the cross slide cannot be pulled back far enough to use a boring bar. Plus, who puts a grooving tool on the end of a boring bar?



EDIT: after I posted this, I realized that I could pull the cross slide back all the way AND move the T-nut back in order to make room for a boring bar.

In any case, I don’t own a LH boring bar. It would appear that when the workpiece extends below the cross slide, you can only work on the first few inches of the workpiece. I would also like to have been able to part that 4” in.