Has anyone made, or have ideas on how to make a spider for the outboard side of a smithy lathe spindle? I have an older model AT300 that I usually only use for milling/drilling. A tentative project is a little too large in diameter for the pass through on my south bend lathe. It will fit through the Smithy but would require some way to stabilize it on the outboard side. Since my machine has the clutch on the outboard side of the shaft, there is no way to attach a spider externally as I did with the south bend. Any creative ideas out there?
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Thoughts on a spider
- Thread starter Tincamp67
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- Jan 30, 2017
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use a steady rest.
It’s an older machine (imported I’m sure) with a fairly short bed, but a pretty standard 3 in 1. A steady rest, which I don’t have, won’t solve the problem.
The work piece is a very old (circa 1892) lever action with an octagon barrel. The rifling is gone from the last 1/2” of the bore and the plan is to backbore it to get to the rifling that’s left. I don’t want to try breaking the barrel loose and taking it off the receiver if I can avoid it.
In the first pic, the spindle bore is shown with the clutch housing around it, at the top of the triangular gear and belt setup. The gun receiver would be sticking out past this area, hopefully held, supported, and centered by something. The muzzle would be as close to the chuck as I can get it for rigidity.
The work piece is a very old (circa 1892) lever action with an octagon barrel. The rifling is gone from the last 1/2” of the bore and the plan is to backbore it to get to the rifling that’s left. I don’t want to try breaking the barrel loose and taking it off the receiver if I can avoid it.
In the first pic, the spindle bore is shown with the clutch housing around it, at the top of the triangular gear and belt setup. The gun receiver would be sticking out past this area, hopefully held, supported, and centered by something. The muzzle would be as close to the chuck as I can get it for rigidity.
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It looks like there is a collar that threads onto the spindle. My craftsman 12x36 has this same arrangement. I replaced the collar with a spider. Here is my thread on how I made the spider for my lathe. https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/making-a-spider-for-the-lathe.88933/
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- Joined
- Jan 30, 2017
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- 261
You are going to need a steady. I’m guessing you are going to insert the barrel through the spindle from the outboard side. That seems like a lot of unsupported weight with the action attached. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
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How long is the barrel from the receiver face?
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Another idea. Probably crazy and out of the box. The muzzle will be held in chuck. All the spider is doing is keeping the receiver end from bouncing around. Could you make some wedges to keep the receiver end centered? Or using fiberglass make an oversize casing at the receiver end. Then turn the casting to be a tight fit in the spindle bore. With plenty of mold release wax on the barrel the casting won't stick to the barrel. You could probably use a piece of hardwood.
The action will hang on the outboard side. unless I build some kind of steady rest on the outboard side, I don’t see how a factory one would work.
the clutch can’t be removed and still have operating capability as far as I can tell. I’ve never disassembled it, so I’m not sure there. It slips in toward the chuck for lathe work, and out in The opposite direction for milling. It only moved about a 1/4” back and forth.
the clutch can’t be removed and still have operating capability as far as I can tell. I’ve never disassembled it, so I’m not sure there. It slips in toward the chuck for lathe work, and out in The opposite direction for milling. It only moved about a 1/4” back and forth.
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