# 1st chips, no blood



## Creativechipper (Jul 31, 2018)

Finally did it, took .030 " off the end of a 1" rnd aluminum bar stock. 1st cut ever!!!

 So excited to finally make a pass on the new metal lathe!!

 Couldn't contain myself, lowered the tool post slightly and took .005 off. I am loving it, made great swarth, nice long pcs and some 1-2" spiral pcs..haha

I know my technique is bad as I have no practice, I could tell I was not steady in the feed rate and I see the lines in the face cut. Will practice more, play with angle and tool selection and eventually go power feed vs manual turning.

  Thank you all for helping me with my most basic newbie questions!!!

 You guys Rock!!


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## RandyM (Jul 31, 2018)

If you think that was fun, just wait until you actually make a usable part. Or repair a part, it doesn't get any better than that. Thank you for taking the time to post. 

And most of all, we really thank you for your support of this site.


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## markba633csi (Jul 31, 2018)

new lathes are fun!
Oh I just had an idea for a bumper sticker: "My lathe is more fun than your _______(insert here:  golf clubs, hunting gear, Cadillac, etc)
har har


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## Creativechipper (Jul 31, 2018)

Very happy with the noise level as the wife can't here it from the living room.
 Will have to look into making some tools to use with it.
 Any practice ideas, keep facing, then do some turning on the side?


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## markba633csi (Jul 31, 2018)

Try cutting some steel to contrast the difference in difficulty


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## P. Waller (Jul 31, 2018)

It will not take long before you come to loath lathe chips with all of your being, have been on one job since last Friday and have filled two 55 gallon drums with the annoying buggers. A great deal of the learning curve will involve chip control, this means forcing them to break rather then creating an enormous birds nest that will wrap around everything which can scrap parts and break tools if you are not careful.
This is not a bad example yet not ideal, they coil for 3 or 4" before breaking so they were manageable.
It is steel tubing that is a nominal 7 1/4" OD and the finish rough turning diameter is 7.100" so I only had .150" to work with, did it in 2 passes at .037" DOC, 450 FPM and .008 IPM feed, any slower and the chips would not break reliably. Each pass took 21 minutes, the job is 3 parts. I will let it run unattended if the chips break and go and run another machine, this lathe will stop itself when it reaches the end of the cut which is .010" from the chuck jaws. The finish is excellent and the 25 year old lathe held the taper to .002" over a 42" length for a roughing operation, this is excellent for such a machine.
https://photos.smugmug.com/My-First-Gallery/i-tTrsQKJ/0/ae27ba74/640/internal shaft roughing-640.mp4

After the last part was roughed to 7.100" I put a block across the ways and use a jack to support it when removing the center and loading the steady rest, put the center back in and indicate it before setting the steady in case it moved, this stayed dead on. Then the ends are faced and bored, if the OD diameters are within .005" or so you will only have to adjust the top steady roller for the next parts.
Like so.




Load and set the steady and have at it. This is not rocket surgery so just do it and have fun. The black sharpie marker line is the center of the part length, always do this as it will allow you to easily set the lifting strap so that the part is balanced when loading or unloading from the machine, I also write the measured diameters on each end, in this case 7.102 and 7.103.



Good luck


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## Creativechipper (Jul 31, 2018)

That is quite a hefty turn job, whats it for?

I do have some steel rod about .25" diameter. It may be hardened, I do not know, it started life as a shaft in a copy finisher.

I turned the 1st 2 cuts at about 750RPM, any advice on RPM's


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## P. Waller (Aug 1, 2018)

Do not know what it is for, all that I get are the drawings but suspect that it slides in plain bearings because the last operation is .0015" of hard chrome.
Had to turn the OD, ID and face these nasty burn outs today, this made a good deal of noise until they were somewhat round. Burned from 3" thick HR plate, the person that did the burning did not pierce far enough away from the diameters, they were also 11/16" to thick so I had of face 5/8" off of one side, they were Customer supplied, never trust the Customer to supply something close to size(-:


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## TakeDeadAim (Aug 1, 2018)

Creativechipper said:


> Very happy with the noise level as the wife can't here it from the living room.
> Will have to look into making some tools to use with it.
> Any practice ideas, keep facing, then do some turning on the side?


The absolute best is when you make a part that fixes something for your wife.  Suddenly that "toy" you bought becomes a tool.


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## TakeDeadAim (Aug 1, 2018)

P. Waller said:


> Do not know what it is for, all that I get are the drawings but suspect that it slides in plain bearings because the last operation is .0015" of hard chrome.
> Had to turn the OD, ID and face these nasty burn outs today, this made a good deal of noise until they were somewhat round. Burned from 3" thick HR plate, the person that did the burning did not pierce far enough away from the diameters, they were also 11/16" to thick so I had of face 5/8" off of one side, they were Customer supplied, never trust the Customer to supply something close to size(-:
> 
> I hate flame cut parts, that klag on the surface eats tools and usually is hiding some hard spots that resist a decent finish till you get through them.  I usually take an angle grinder to the stuff before cutting but I'd guess I'm not telling you anything you have not already learned.  Have fun!


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## P. Waller (Aug 1, 2018)

I do not grind stock like this as I dislike hand grinding in every possible way. I just throw inserts at them, I am on the clock and have to make time which does not allow handwork and insert changes only take minutes at worst.
I also do not have to pay for them(-:


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## Creativechipper (Aug 1, 2018)

Very interesting stuff, most of the tech part went right over my head. Whats burn outs, I know what they are in an autombile


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## RandyM (Aug 2, 2018)

Creativechipper said:


> Very interesting stuff, most of the tech part went right over my head. *Whats burn outs,* I know what they are in an autombile



A burn out as referenced here is a part that is cut with a torch.


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## Creativechipper (Aug 2, 2018)

Thanks, Randy


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## MrWhoopee (Aug 2, 2018)

Creativechipper said:


> That is quite a hefty turn job, whats it for?
> 
> I do have some steel rod about .25" diameter. It may be hardened, I do not know, it started life as a shaft in a copy finisher.
> 
> I turned the 1st 2 cuts at about 750RPM, any advice on RPM's



The basic rule is: Cutting speed x4 /diameter
Cutting speed is expressed in Surface Feet per Minute and is different for different materials and whether the cutting tool is HSS or carbide.

https://littlemachineshop.com/reference/cuttingspeeds.php

You will find cutting speeds vary wildly from one chart to another. I was taught to use 80-100 SFM for HSS cutter in 1018 steel.
I'm always conservative to prolong tool life, so I use 80 SFM

80x4/.25=1200 rpm.

That .25 dia. shaft is probably hardened. Are you using carbide or HSS?


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## Creativechipper (Aug 2, 2018)

I have HSS and carbide, my HSS tooling is 1/2" and my carbide indexable tools are 1/4"

I have been using anywhere from 800-950 rpm with the hss and I tried a carbide cutter last night at 800rpm.

My cuts are looking 300% better, I am getting smoother at rolling the wheel to the cross feed and using different cutters.

I am having a blast, taking my time setting tool heights, locking the carriage down and the lead screw clamped/locked to carriage, zeroing my dials to my work and setting a cut depth. Trying to get good work methods and a nice routine to double check everything, safety glasses by the start switch..lol

 Any methods procedures or good habits to lathe use,please share. 

 Many thanks to you all for helping me through the frustrating parts of starting to use a lathe!!


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## MrWhoopee (Aug 2, 2018)

Creativechipper said:


> I have HSS and carbide, my HSS tooling is 1/2" and my carbide indexable tools are 1/4"
> 
> I have been using anywhere from 800-950 rpm with the hss and I tried a carbide cutter last night at 800rpm.
> 
> ...



The size of the cutter is only important for calculating speed on a mill. On a lathe, it's the size of the stock you are turning. You are calculating Spindle Speed, regardless of whether it's the tool or the stock that is rotating. Rule of thumb for carbide is 2-10x faster than HSS. That's a broad range, but there are lots of variables. If HSS held up at 800-950, you can safely double that for carbide. Also, on a facing cut, the diameter gets smaller as you face in. CNC machines will automatically increase rpm as the cut proceeds towards the center.

I was in Placerville last week. My former boss now lives there. He is liquidating a bunch of stuff and gave me a 12x18 granite surface plate and a box full of end mills and other things. If you see any CL adds for tools in Volcano, it's him.


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## Creativechipper (Aug 2, 2018)

Thanks for the heads up, will check CL, as a newbie I need stuff for sure.

 Like a set of center punches measuring squares, live center, 4 jaw chuck, the list goes on and on, tap and threading stuff..lol

 So it sounds like carbide cutters want speed, my low end goes up to 1000, but I only see 950 on my rpm dial, should I switch to the hi setting for carbide?


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## P. Waller (Aug 2, 2018)

1/4" round in a lathe using carbide tooling at a conservative cut speed of 200 FPM and a speed of 3000 Rpms is a good start.
If  HSS tooling try 60 SFM, this will be 900 Rpms.


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## Creativechipper (Aug 4, 2018)

How about length of round stock for a face cut, how much material sticking out the back of the lathe can I get away with before needing a spider or support?

 I have a 1/2" steel bar, slightly bent, that sticks out the back about 4". I dont think any more of a wobble or length would be good.
 I chucked it up and did some face cuts being careful to turn up my RPM's a lil at a time.

 Seems ok but you all have the experience,what do you use as a guideline?

 thanks


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## P. Waller (Aug 4, 2018)

At 4" you are good to go, any problems will happen inside the spindle, you may easily run such a small diameter at the maximum speed that the machine permits, I suspect that this is less then 5000 thousand Rpms.

Have at it.
Do not however hang 4' out of the back of a lathe without dedicated support, this will likely end in tears.


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## MrWhoopee (Aug 4, 2018)

P. Waller said:


> Do not however hang 4' out of the back of a lathe without dedicated support, this will likely end in tears.



And a trip to the emergency room. Didn't happen to me, but I had to change my shorts, clean up the mess and move the lathe back where it belonged.


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## Creativechipper (Aug 4, 2018)

Very good to know, Thanks!!

 My lathe only has a 21" then it hits the wall cabinet.


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## DiscoDan (Aug 5, 2018)

Feels good, doesn't it! Did my first chips today too!


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## Creativechipper (Aug 6, 2018)

Congrats on the chip making!! 
Making things smaller one pass at a time..lol


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