# A Lathe Newb W/o A Home Forum.  Can You Guys Help Me Out A Bit ?



## countryguy (Jun 8, 2016)

Hi gang,  I know your SB's are a very popular lathe!  I am unsure where to ask about the Andrychow's on HM but my q's are just general in nature so I'm sure this is a good place to get advice.   (tia).    
Lathe:  Andrechow 1073 TUE 40. 
Since I already bought it- I am late in asking how to tell if a lathe is in good shape or what are the basic first steps when you get it unloaded.   Do I need to unload or be careful of key places?  Where is it weak or where could it bend/twist?    Ya know- The usual stuff. 

Of course, value-  We all want to know we got "the killer" deal.  I've had more than a few of them of late.  So even fair/good/decent is a happy place for me at 1200. 

Here is a link w/ all the pics on my bottom post. 
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/thre...the-a-good-brand-newb-1st-real-lathe-q.47737/

Also- Where is a good place for general lathe parts like 10" chuck jaws?  Needs some 10" US std *I'm told, 

Thanks a bunch everyone and have a GREAT Summer!


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## Chipper5783 (Jun 9, 2016)

You can get soft jaws for a 10" from Shars.

Value?  Totally depends on condition, repairs required, how much other stuff you need to buy to make it workable in your application.  I've paid more than $1200 for most of my machines.


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## countryguy (Jun 13, 2016)

*Putting Chipper's reply from the "missing mfr" forum to here.* Trying to get into a new Lathe and what to pick as a basic first Lathe testing project.    To everyone, As always-  Thanks for being patient w/ the newbs of the world!  this place is wonderful for learning. 

*We are home with a new Andrychow Lathe* (tech manual on the way), I have some tooling but honestly am not sure what to do with a lathe of this size!   I did learn that in buying a small 3:1 CNC Mill from ShopMasterUSA,  we outgrew the Mill in about 2 weeks!  I needed to get into a bigger mill.  30taper SuperMax YMC.  I did the Centroid Upgrade on my own and it's WONDERFUL to use.  For the lathe, I did not want to mess around small stuff again and find that I instantly need to upgrade.  Been there, Done that.   Hence the "big iron" lathe.  17/25 -60.  3400Lbs.    Big iron for us anyway!  This post is just a quick check of the basic areas I need to now learn and experience. 

*To  reply to Chipper:* This all boils down to my Son and I trying to do some cool Metal projects together.  He's into metal working and is neck deep with me in our home grown shop.  He is college bound to a technical design school. They have about EVERY type of machine known!  Detroit's College of Creative Studies.   Full machine and black smith shop.  Full 3d printer shop, full jewelry shop, on and on.  (Hi end stuff abounds!).    Has Iron and Carbon in his blood it seems! 

*We have a pretty good shop so far!*  grob bandsaw, 30taper CNC mill, (which we're getting pretty good with!). Sanders, Bridgeport 815 grinder, (which came w/ a Cinni #2 cutter... ouch that is heavy!)   Shopmaster CNC 3:1, DoAll drill press w/ power DF.   MIG, Gas welders.   Belt and disc sander, heat treat furnace, probably a few others.  We are constantly hitting the auctions and dragging stuff home  !!   Who knew you could build a DREAM shop for pennies on the dollar if you are willing to put in some repairs and clean up!   
*
For the next week or two*-  The plan is to follow Chipper's advice-  Put the lathe into the shop (still on trailer) and then simply get it sorted out.  Check all the functionality.   Burn in.    Get the top jaws in the door.   

*Then:* Onto our first project!    Assume it is how to mount things safely,  How to align, how to center-  Stuff like that.    

* Long range*- The son wants to be a hobby gun smith plus fabricator.  We would love to know how/if we could do rifle barrels and deep drilling on this type of Lathe.   but, for now I need to do some things like fixing a warped chainsaw aluminum head, maybe putting on threads for items here and there.  Making bushings which I seems to need all the time w/ all the 50-70's Farm equipment.    We are open to anything as a good set of first projects for learning! 

*Chippers post which I repied to in the text above this:   *"First basic tools?" That is a tough question to answer. What are you going to use the lathe for? Do you have any existing tooling, such as drill bits, measuring tools, drill press, bench grinder, cut off saw - and so on. I ask because when you are starting out you may defer purchasing tooling, if you have another way to get the job done (for example, if you have a cut off saw you may hold off buying a parting tool for a while).

The list is pretty well endless. Where to start really depends on what hope to make, what you got with the lathe, what opportunity purchases are available to you, and so on. You have a pretty good sized machine, which usually means the tooling is a bit more expensive.

The most useful item for getting good results is experience. Having the right tools helps, but skilled individuals can do excellent work with minimal equipment. All the equipment in the world isn't going to automatically produce perfect parts. Take you time and be safe.

I'd recommend you start by getting the machine up and running. Go through the machine and get it cleaned up, sort out the lubrication and figure out how everything works. Level the machine (can you borrow a machinists level?) Develop a tooling list that supports the first dozen or so projects you hope to work on - and be cruzing the bargain opportunities that are available to you.

SAFETY GLASSES, SHORT SLEEVED SHIRT, CLEAR YOU WORK AREA.

When I look at a lathe, I think of four tooling areas: head stock, carriage, tail stock and off lathe items.

Headstock: what spindle mount do you have? Do you have the items necessary to remove the chuck? Your earlier comment about needing jaw tops is correct. A 3 jaw chuck is handy, but if that is all you have, it is very limiting. A 4 jaw independent chuck opens up a lot of options. There are plenty of other spindle tools, but having those two is a good starting point.

Tailstock: drill chuck and a live center. Also drills, taps, center drills etc to suit the work you do.

Carriage: I suggest you stick with the 4 position turret. It is a bit slower than a QCTP, but a very good, and widely used arrangement. Make up a bunch of shims and packing so as to set you tools and away you go. You will need some sort of cutting tools. What size does that turret accept, to bring the cutting edge to the center height? You need to check this out before you go and purchase tools. It will probably accept 1" tools, with a shim underneath. Perhaps you can get some from an industrial surplus place (too large for most hobby guys). To start you need a RH and facing tool. If you want to go cheap, you can get a set with several tools and a smaller shank, then shim it up to height. If you have a bench grinder HSS is a very good option (and learning to grind tools is a good exercise). Pretty quick, you will need to acquire some sort of boring tool (what sizes and features reall depends on what you need to do). Parting and threading tools will be needed, but could be deferred.

Off lathe: another endless list. Calipers, micrometers, dial indicator with mag base.

Over time you will end up with multiples of everything I described above - different sizes and features. Right now you just need to get set up enough to start. Think things through carefully. Be safe.

Let us know how you make out (pictures please).

David


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