# More Accessories



## Pinenut57 (Mar 25, 2015)

I've acquired 2 more accessories for my Grizzly 14 x 40 Gunsmith lathe and mill/drill. I purchased a Themac Tool Post Grinder off EBay, The price was right so I got it, the other is a Cen-Tech 6" Rotery Table that a friend gave me. I know the tool post grinder is of some quality having checked out the price of a new unit  and the rotary table is not so much, being sold by Harbor Freight. My question is, are either of these items worth the trouble to learn how to use them.


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## Cactus Farmer (Mar 25, 2015)

Simple answer is yes and yes. The more you learn the more you can do which leads to knowing even more things you can do which leads to more things until all your available space is full of useful tools and you start to look for a larger place. This is a horrible disease...........


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## kd4gij (Mar 26, 2015)

Yes well worth learning to use bouth of those. But hay if you don't wan't the HF rotary table just send it to me.


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## Pinenut57 (Mar 26, 2015)

Cactus Farmer said:


> Simple answer is yes and yes. The more you learn the more you can do which leads to knowing even more things you can do which leads to more things until all your available space is full of useful tools and you start to look for a larger place. This is a horrible disease...........





kd4gij said:


> Yes well worth learning to use bouth of those. But hay if you don't wan't the HF rotary table just send it to me.


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## Pinenut57 (Mar 26, 2015)

Thanks guys for the encouragement. I think the rotary table scares me more than the TPG. Do you happen to know of any written material to help learn about the rotary table? All I got with it was the inventory sheet.


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## Franko (Mar 27, 2015)

I've gotten a couple of rotary tables at Little Machine Shop. They came with full instructions on their use.


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## george wilson (Mar 27, 2015)

The Themac tool post grinder is one of the finest made. I have been using them for years. If it is in good shape,of course. Run it a half hour before actually using it. This is in the manual. Gets the moving parts properly up to temperature and tolerances.


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## chips&more (Mar 27, 2015)

The tool post grinder is great to have, especially the make you have. But a note of caution when using it on your lathe. The grinder will create a lot of sparks/fine particles of metal and this stuff can cause havoc to the moving parts on your lathe. You must carefully protect your lathe from these grinding sparks. Like maybe a vacuum, lay newspaper down over the ways and other parts of the lathe, and?…Good Luck, Dave.


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## Rick Leslie (Mar 27, 2015)

Congrats on the new accessories (toys). I didn't know Harbor Freight (Horrible Fright around here) sold rotary tables. A search of their website turned up every other "rotary" tool available, but no table. Is this an older item that they no longer carry?

On the TPG; it's a wonderful tool and useful in many ways. I use my Dumore all the time. But like was mentioned earlier; mask the moving parts of your lathe as best you can. Just watch the sparks. Newspaper easily ignites. And take very, very light passes. I generally only take .002" to .003" per pass with mine, but that's just my practice.


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## Pinenut57 (Mar 27, 2015)

Thank you everyone for the tips and tricks. I got the TPG in the mail today and it was as advertised meaning it needed a new power cord which was about 30 min work. There are no belts or wheels with it but I think I've found a source for both. If it works out I'll post on here. The rotary table was purchased by an old gunsmith friend about 20 years ago and has never been used. It's 6" with a dividing plate. I'm looking forward to using both of them.


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## kd4gij (Mar 27, 2015)

Ok but you need to post pic of your new to you tools. You know there is a saying on here that goes like " With out pic's, It never happend "


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## Pinenut57 (Mar 27, 2015)

[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]
	

		
			
		

		
	







	

		
			
		

		
	
 Ok you shamed me into it. Here are some pic's of my newest toys. I've ordered a 4" wheel for the TPG and will order the belt Monday. The TPG is a Themac 30J so I'm open to any and all information on it. I have to order a 7/16 clamping set and a 3 jaw chuck for the rotary table. I think Grizzly will be my best bet for that


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## kd4gij (Mar 28, 2015)

Nice looking tools.


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## Pinenut57 (Mar 28, 2015)

Thanks, sometimes a guy gets lucky and finds a real deal like these.


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## hman (Apr 3, 2015)

Pinenut57 said:


> Thanks guys for the encouragement. I think the rotary table scares me more than the TPG. Do you happen to know of any written material to help learn about the rotary table? All I got with it was the inventory sheet.





Franko said:


> I've gotten a couple of rotary tables at Little Machine Shop. They came with full instructions on their use.



Well, it *USED TA BE* that Little Machine Shop sold a DVDs from Swarf Rat Enterprises, that did a good job of showing how to use a rotary table (with dividing plates).  Unfortunately, LMS doesn't offer it any more.  -BUT- you can get it directly from Swarf Rat ($40):
http://www.swarfrat.com/TheRotaryTable.htm

About the best you can do from LMS right now is their part number 4649, "Basic uses for Dividing Instruments for the Mill."  It's $25.


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## george wilson (Apr 3, 2015)

Themac still exists as a company. You can buy belts and parts from them. (edit,I see you have already found that out). You need the extra pulleys for it to get several different speeds.

VERY IMPORTANT: remember to NOT run the larger,3" or 4" wheels at the top speed. Run them at the lower speeds if you don't want them to violently blow up in your face. The high speeds are for the small size grinding points for internal grinding. They are held in a collet,which you do not seem to have. It is easy to forget how you have arranged the pulleys,so be alert before you switch on.

You do not have several of the necessary parts,including the wheel guard. I got mine new,but wanted a longer collet for grinding deeper holes. I made one. They screw on over the male thread on the end of the spindle. It is imperative that the collet runs dead nuts true. I got mine dead true by turning or grinding it in situ,but I can't recall how I did that. I drilled the hole for the grinding points last. No matter how true you turn them,they will not run true when going several thousand RPM. They have to be ground or turned down while running. Partially due to different density in the steel bar making them not run true at high speeds.

This can be dangerous,so be careful,and keep your face out of the path of trajectory the collet shaft will take if it lets go.

No doubt buying a new collet will be expensive(as all the other parts may be!) These units cost,depending upon size,over $2,000.00.


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## Franko (Apr 3, 2015)

The 2" Shars boring head set I ordered is supposed to arrive today. I'm hoping I can use it to make a fairly large concave radius cut on a gizmo I'm milling from Delrin. I've seen it done on a uTube video where the guy was cutting about a 6" radius on an aluminum part. It looked very dangerous. My part requires a 2.625 concave radius. I'm hoping for half as dangerous.


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