Thoughts on a spider

mickri said:
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.
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I could use hardwood wedges. Notch the big end so I could use a zip tie to hold them in place once they are tapped in snug and the barrel is centered, as good as that approach would do. It might work, as long as nothing slipped. I figured on spinning it slow.
 
The barrel is going to be held in place by whatever chuck you have it mounted in. A hose clamp might work better then zip ties to hold the wedges in place.
 
Could you turn this around and mount the barrel on the cross slide and put your boring head in the spindle?
 
I looked at the clutch again, it seems that the whole thing is threaded on to the shaft. Removing the clutch looks like it would remove the drive system, so I think it has to stay a in place. But, the shim and hose clamp idea could work.
 
Can the slotted nut on the outboard end of spindle be removed and be replaced with something else? If so, do you have threading capability? The reason I ask is you can thread a tube to replace the nut. Make it just long enough to drill and tap 4 holes for screws as a spider. Thread it onto end of spindle and center your muzzle just like you would to chamber the receiver end. I use grizzly rods but there are several methods.
Wish you luck however you manage to “git er done”. And I know you will.

Chuck
 
I looked at the parts diagram for your Smithy and also watched a video on the clutch. The big nut with the 4 slots screws onto the spindle and holds the other parts on the spindle. It is part #28 on the lathe head. Page 27-5. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1845/6449/files/1220Parts_Diagrams2010_5009258d-0151-4cea-92c8-69abc75549cd.pdf?v=1612800174.

Looks to me that you could replace that nut with a spider, The spider would need the 4 slots on the inboard end for the lock washer, Part #27.
 
Dataporter may have hit the solution. I can’t switch things around and run the reamer in the chuck on the Smithy, without some type of mechanism to stabilize and locate the barrel in the milling vice. However, I can do this on my south bend, as I have a milling attachment that gives me x,y,z axis. And a 4 jaw chuck to dial in the reamer, dead center.
if for some reason that doesn’t work, then I’ll tackle the nut removal on the Smithy and make an appropriate replacement nut/spider. I knew somebody on here could figure this out, now I have 2 solutions to work with. Thanks all.
 
Tincamp67 said:
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.
Click to expand...
 
Tincamp67 said:
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.
Click to expand...
What cal ?
Is the rest of the bore in good shape ? Is the rifle worth re lining ?
 
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