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I am looking to do some barrel work but correct me I am wrong
With a 30 in lathe and a through spindle hole of about 1inch could the smaller end of barrel go through to cut threads or would that not work.
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Looking at a Vevor Lathe Have Questions
- Thread starter cnctruckeic
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With a 30 in lathe and a through spindle hole of about 1inch could the smaller end of barrel go through to cut threads or would that not work.
I’m not a machinist, but I can tell you you run out of room really quick on small leads if you want to do barrel Work. So yes, to your question, you can insert your barrel through the back end of the spindle and out through your chuck. preferably a four jaw chuck and you’re gonna want to index off the bore. Best results anyway.
What you’re going to run into is if you don’t support the chamber end of the barrel that sticking out of the other end of the spindle you’re gonna have vibration and wobble. I believe they call it whip. at lower speeds, It’s not as much of a problem.. also you run out if “room” on shorter barrels.
Your spindle maybe 13” long then add 3-4” more for the chuck.
I would be asking known gunsmiths in your area what they are using.
As for ARs , Im lazy if I needed to buy a AR with threaded muzzle end I would probably buy a new barrel or even a upper, lol
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The answer isn't so cut and dry (no pun intended). Yes you can run the barrel through the spindle and if you hold it in a 4 jaw to center it and use your live center in the tail stock you are likely in good shape because barrels are very rigid and our will not have much in the spindle. If you have an issue with you can use a spider at the back of the spindle to steady it up.
Also keep in mind you'll want to use pieces of copper or aluminum to keep the chuck and spider from marring your barrel.
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Piece of cardboard stuffed in between spindle and barrel and a bit of tape- poor man's spider
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If your goal is gunsmithing that lathe is going to be a complete waste of money for you. You aren't going to get satisfactory results and you will very shortly want to upgrade to a larger lathe that is more capable. The resale value of that lathe will be VERY low when you decide to upgrade.
The lathe you linked to does not have any mechanical speed change capability (correction, it has a high and low speed gear, but is is still very underpowered for gun smithing). It is driven by a variable speed DC motor. The slower the motor goes the less torque it will produce. You will be very limited in the amount of material you will be able to remove in a pass. The flex in the lathe will make it difficult to get a clean cut.
This would be a MUCH more capable lathe although considerably more expensive:
Southbend 3 Jaw & 4 Jaw lathe - tools - by owner - sale - craigslist
Swing Chuck 10'Ee Lots of Extra 10 x 30 "Foot Bed Clean title Engine and Transmission works Great! The price is negotiable so just send me a message we can negotiate!
Barrels aren't concentric, the bore very seldom goes through the center of the tube. When you thread the muzzle of a barrel you need to make the threads concentric with the bore, not the tube. The way you do this is with a 4 "independent" jaw chuck which allows you to mount a barrel off center allowing the bore to be on center. Since this lathe comes with a 4 jaw chuck that is a few hundred dollars you will not have to spend immediately to start threading the muzzle of barrels.
Assuming the South Bend 10" lathe is in decent shape you will be able to do a lot of serious gunsmithing with it for many years. You may even find that you will never need to upgrade. There are several videos available that describe what to look for when looking at a used lathe to purchase. Checking out a used lathe is almost always a nerve racking prospect for a first time lathe purchase. If the lathe passes the recommended checks I would offer $2K for it and go from there. Others can correct me if I am wrong but I believe that is the "Heavy" version of 10" South Bend lathe which is very well respected and used by many professional gun smiths.
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If I did not have a spider I would make a spider, it just isn't that difficult....
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Clean title! Drive it away today!
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Thank you very much for the info and the link. I have sent him an email. So how big is this thing compared to like a mini lathe?If your goal is gunsmithing that lathe is going to be a complete waste of money for you. You aren't going to get satisfactory results and you will very shortly want to upgrade to a larger lathe that is more capable. The resale value of that lathe will be VERY low when you decide to upgrade.
The lathe you linked to does not have any mechanical speed change capability (correction, it has a high and low speed gear, but is is still very underpowered for gun smithing). It is driven by a variable speed DC motor. The slower the motor goes the less torque it will produce. You will be very limited in the amount of material you will be able to remove in a pass. The flex in the lathe will make it difficult to get a clean cut.
This would be a MUCH more capable lathe although considerably more expensive:
Southbend 3 Jaw & 4 Jaw lathe - tools - by owner - sale - craigslist
Swing Chuck 10'Ee Lots of Extra 10 x 30 "Foot Bed Clean title Engine and Transmission works Great! The price is negotiable so just send me a message we can negotiate!charlotte.craigslist.org
View attachment 484679
Barrels aren't concentric, the bore very seldom goes through the center of the tube. When you thread the muzzle of a barrel you need to make the threads concentric with the bore, not the tube. The way you do this is with a 4 "independent" jaw chuck which allows you to mount a barrel off center allowing the bore to be on center. Since this lathe comes with a 4 jaw chuck that is a few hundred dollars you will not have to spend immediately to start threading the muzzle of barrels.
Assuming the South Bend 10" lathe is in decent shape you will be able to do a lot of serious gunsmithing with it for many years. You may even find that you will never need to upgrade. There are several videos available that describe what to look for when looking at a used lathe to purchase. Checking out a used lathe is almost always a nerve racking prospect for a first time lathe purchase. If the lathe passes the recommended checks I would offer $2K for it and go from there. Others can correct me if I am wrong but I believe that is the "Heavy" version of 10" South Bend lathe which is very well respected and used by many professional gun smiths.
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1000lbs, and about 6 ft long
Heavy 10 is a nice moderately sized lathe, but with 30" between centers it is not much smaller than a modern 12x36" (Grizzly, PM etc). Not at all in the same class as an import 8-10" lathe in size or capability.