Winding coil / making split rings on Southbend 9" A

[dbb-the-bruce]

I'd like to be able make my own split rings out of stainless steel to any size I want. I've seen several examples of doing it on a lathe (Mr. Pete / tublacain for instance on youtube).

I'd be using 5/32 303 stainless (.15625 dia) and I want to make relatively small rings / tight coils.

My biggest question is will my 9" SB be able to wind 5/32" rod set up in the lowest back gear? Would I be better off getting a high torque gear motor and making a rig specifically for this purpose? I really don't want to mess up my lathe by pushing it too hard.

I expect that the belt would slip before I'd be able to damage the back gears. I could also work up a lever arm or big disk off the back side of the head stock and drive it by hand. In that case I'd use the largest solid shaft through the headstock. Any extreme forces would be on the headstock bearing and carriage in that case.

Obviously, I can just start with smaller diameter stock and work up once I have a feel for how much force it will take.

thoughts?

 

[RJSakowski]

It shouldn't be a problem regarding torque. I just wound a 3/4" i.d./1" o.d coil with1/8" stainless welding rod on my Grizzly G0602 with no hesitation at all.. I have 2.5 hp variable speed d.c. motor and was winding at about 10 rpm with the medium/low belt setting.

The biggest challenge will be controlling the wire. I had the benefit of positive control of motor speed. Unless you can positively control your speed, things could get ugly really quickly. There are designs around for spring winding jigs that would make things much easier and safer. The jig will also reduce stress on the spindle bearings.