sb 10 heavy turret attachment / on a jet wood 14

dlane

dlane

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Hi all : been trying to find a decent sb 10 heavy lathe because of the spindle bore size I can't seem to find one in this area that is not a basket case.
I make writing pens out of 50 bmg cartridges the projectiles solid copper (bullets) need four different size holes in them. I might be able to get a sb heavy 10 turret attachment but don't have the sb10 yet. Anybody know if i could temporarily mount it to a jet 14" wood lathe of course with a spacer under the turret just don't know how the turret attaches to the sb does it mount like the tailstock dose ?.:dunno: I would like to get these bullets and other calibers drilled as soon as possible as the holidays are just around the corner and that is our busiest time selling cool pens.
any suggestions ideas thoughts hints tricks would be much appreciated thanks.
Derrick
ps. anyone know of a south bend heavy 10 with a collet closer in the ca. bay area for sale?.
thanks
 
Normally when I want to do something a bit odd like you are proposing, I'll just set the the part, in this case the turret, in place and stare at it for awhile until I get an idea for attaching. I don't know of any reason that it couldn't be done. You only have to get it firmly attached at the right height and in alignment with the lathe centerline. Any way that you can accomplish this will probably work fine. I believe that the turret attaches the same way as the tail stock.

Many times I will make a drawing of the existing parts, then fill in the attaching hardware. If you have a CAD program, it makes a bit easier, but you can also do it by hand.
 
A cheaper option would be to bake a D bit with the 4 sizes you need and drill in one shot. I have made a couple 50 bmg pens my self. I need to find a place to get a half dozen sluges to make a phew more. Don't need to buy 100 at a time. Are you making them from scratch or do you get the kits from penstate?
 
I priced a custom made carbide step drill with three of the steps was quoted $150. each ,a little pricey for one drill. We use different suppliers including pen state for cigar pen kits.
Going to try a tailstock turret mt2 6 position i,ll have to make the drill holder's x4 a part position stop and a tool to face off the back that will be all six. I mite have to settle for something other than the sb 10 heavy. Was wanting something with a large spindle bore for a collet closer. Going to look at a atlas / craftsman 10x36 qcg 16 spd less than 1"spindle bore tho tuesday. The guy said he mite trade me for 10 50 bmg pens we sell them for $50 with 12 into them. But i mite hold out for a sb10l heavy
 
Kd4 careful what bullets u get there are some gnarly ones out there , We bought 300 @ 75c a piece took them to a machine shop for drilling the shop called and said they are having a hard time with them they were braking lots of drills so they ordered carbide drills finally got them done 2 months later at $3.00 a piece and said it will be $5 next time. We got them home and they were terrible 50% useable tip holes bad. There was 1/4" of white powder in the tip they didn't catch fire or explode but the copper jacket got pretty thin inside the tip where the white powder was. So we are going to do our own now with new solid copper hollow points:phew:. the other ones were army surplus puled ball ammo bullets my brother bought. :))
 
Neat idea, but not sure how it would work. It would be possible to build your own type of a turret for a wood lathe. Have 4-6 stations with an indexing pin.
BTW, nice to see pen turners here. I have turned pens off and on for over 15 years. Do you know of the IAP? (penturners.org) Good group of folks.
 
I don't know what the white powder was,but regular .50 cal powder is not white,and is composed of small rods that are sort of gray in color. It could have been some corrosion,I guess,or possibly the residue of burned powder.

Maybe if the shells were Chinese,the powder might be different. I have only seen powder from American shells.
 
He is talking about the powder in the tip of the projectile. With army surplus no tellin what was in the tip.
 
dlane said:
Kd4 careful what bullets u get there are some gnarly ones out there , We bought 300 @ 75c a piece took them to a machine shop for drilling the shop called and said they are having a hard time with them they were braking lots of drills so they ordered carbide drills finally got them done 2 months later at $3.00 a piece and said it will be $5 next time. We got them home and they were terrible 50% useable tip holes bad. There was 1/4" of white powder in the tip they didn't catch fire or explode but the copper jacket got pretty thin inside the tip where the white powder was. So we are going to do our own now with new solid copper hollow points:phew:. the other ones were army surplus puled ball ammo bullets my brother bought. :))
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The trouble I have been having is no one will sell me just 6 got to buy 100 at a time. The first ones I got through work wher tracer rounds thay had a tube in the back of the tracer. Just cut the back off and slid the tube out and gave it to my boss and I got the rest. I don't work there anymore, got layed off. Oh well.
 
Broke down and got a atlas 12x36 101.07360 bed stamp L6-252 no ware on ways price was rite 3 jaw chuck was toast tho .I ordered er40 mt3 23 collet set (alles G 1638 ?) ebay got here in 2 days quality seems good time will tell, and a tailstock turret should work out ok for a while. copper strands winding up in drill and interfering with drill stops are a problem tho and they are sharp !!.
I should of held out for a sb heavy 10 w bed turret but was in hurry to get this going.

atlas seems ok for what it is had some issues like bad 3&4 jaw chucks run out, back pulleys set screw striped, retaped to 3/8-24 , wrong motor pulley, ordered a 3 step pulley 3-4-5 mite cut off 5" . tail stock quill slop made new pin bolt, Got it cleaned up oiled hope it holds up.
Thanks for the responses
Derrick.
 
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