2014 POTD Thread Archive

[rdean]

Did a little wrap turning.


I will cut to length and reuse the end fixtures again. 6" and 8" diameter.

Ray

 

[Hamstn]

I recently doubled the size of my shop by finishing the rest of the building. This post is more what I have done over the last several days instead of bore you with the daily activities.

My son and I built this 10' x 10' door this weekend out of 2x2 and 1x1 tube, and covered with tin:


Monday I built shelves to hold 2-4 foot metal cut offs. Wife has been moving the metal to it's new home:

 

[melsdad]

I have a smokeless muzzleloader build starting up and I find I need to bore a very precise hole with multiple shoulders, ID's and a thread. I had a one inch DI on my carriage stop but this hole is nearly two inches deep. Today I modified the carriage stop to hold a two inch DI. I don't know why the two inch DI's are so big. They have one inch more stroke than the standard unit but are nearly five inches longer. I had to extend the holder out to clear the headstock. I also attached a piece of angle on the carriage to catch the DI's plunger. I attached the angle by using longer bolts in the holes that attach the apron to the carriage. That piece of angle is a lot bigger than it has to be because I'm considering incorporating a cross slide lock into it as a future project. The second picture is the 1 inch DI on my cross slide which I had done previously.

I'm pretty interested in this smokless muzzloader build. Any plans to document this in the gunsmithing section?

 

[epanzella]

I'm pretty interested in this smokless muzzloader build. Any plans to document this in the gunsmithing section?

Sure, I can do that. The donor action is a Savage 111 in 30-06. The barrel blank is a McGowen. .458 groove, .450 land. It will be smokeless and sabotless. I recently turned the barrel OD to near fished diameter. It's slow going because every time I go to do something, I find I have to make another tool, or cutter, or something. I had to make a barrel vice and next up is an action vise. Then I have to make some small diameter boring tools and heat treat them as none of my bars fit the bore. Of course, I have no way to heat treat....yet.

 

[Muzzer]

Finally took the leap and bought a DRO for my lathe. Went with the DRO Pros "EL-400" 8x40 mag scale unit. Until it arrives next week I been working on preliminary brackets and plotting various install methods. Although the mag scales are extremely low profile, they will just barely fit mounting the traditional way vertically on the side of the cross slide as shown in all their videos. My colchester top slide lock bolts are not exposed on top like most lathes but rather recessed in pockets. Mounting vertical will cover the lock bolts so that is a no go. My current workaround is a 16 ga 304 SS mounting plate that covers the entire top of the slide and extends rearward and a scale width+ toward the tailstock. With the 5/8" bent down flanges the plate is very rigid. Plan is to mount the read head behind the carriage rather than in the middle between the ways. Seems goofy but i kinda prefer it back there out of harms way.
With the slide cranked all the way back (run off the lead nut ) the plate clears the back guard by 1/2"
Couple more custom doo dads are going to be required to mount the readers but ill wait till i have them in hand before proceeding.
Aspects I like with this mounting -
Maintains access to lock screw and gib strip screws.
Less holes to drill and tap on the machine itself. Remove the plate and at least on cross slide, the dro was never there. The last owner added the 5/16" tapped holes used for mounting so i used those to affix the plate. Plate covers a bunch of shcs and various swiss cheese holes the po added. I like my stuff clean and they were crud catchers.
Mounting scale inverted eliminates oil/chips/crud build up on the ledge of the extrusion although thats probably no huge issue.
Downside i loose .060 center height clearance due to plate thickness. Also lose about 1.25" tailstock travel towards the head.

I've got a Colchester Bantam 1600 (yours looks like a Bantam 2000?) and was also thinking about how to mount a cross slide reader. Keep us posted how you get on!

Dunno if you've seen this? It's not pretty but is sort of similar in some ways.
http://www.gtprecision.co.uk/Colchester-Bantam-lathe.html

I like your idea of a cover that still gives access to the topslide locking bolts but keeps swarf and coolant out. It also clears the taper turning attachment and doesn't hit the rear guard. This might force me to get a folder / brake. I've been looking for an excuse to get one of those for some time....

Murray

 

[melsdad]

Sure, I can do that. The donor action is a Savage 111 in 30-06. The barrel blank is a McGowen. .458 groove, .450 land. It will be smokeless and sabotless. I recently turned the barrel OD to near fished diameter. It's slow going because every time I go to do something, I find I have to make another tool, or cutter, or something. I had to make a barrel vice and next up is an action vise. Then I have to make some small diameter boring tools and heat treat them as none of my bars fit the bore. Of course, I have no way to heat treat....yet.

What material are you making your tools out of? Send them to me I will heat treat them for you.

 

[churchjw]

This week I finished I jig to hold a wood chisel at 25 degrees. Can't remember where I found the idea so if was someone on here thanks. I used the project to work on getting things square on the surface grinder. No this project didn't need to be this accurate but I needed the practice. I got the angle to be within .001" compared to my sin bar and the block is square and parallel as best as I can measure it. Definitely less than .001" out of square. So I am happy with how it worked out.


It does chisels up to 1.950" wide and .375" thick. It will even let me to a hollow grind on the chisel. A few passes on the 6000 grit water stone and a stropping and they cut like a dream. Have to take an evening over the break and do all of my chisels. I was shocked at how off my grinds were compared to the jig. I thought I was good at grinding lol. I have more pictures of the build at https://www.flickr.com/photos/24370911@N08/sets/72157649704946205/

 

[dan12]

The G4003 I have is the first and only Lathe I have ever owned or used so I have nothing to compare it with. It has been a great lathe to learn on and I am sure it it up to anything that I am likely to want to do.

it is great!
this is my 3rd
I bought a HF 9-21
after 30 days the auto feed gear turned to dust, the oil hole I was using didn't oil the gear,LOL
then I bought a 1960-70s atlas/craftsman 12-36"
used this around 7 years, it worked well, was sloppy though & I couldn't change speeds unless I moved the belt, NEVER DID THAT.
So when I bought this one NEW it was a BIG upgrade!
threading was #1 for me. speed changes, use that everytime I use it.
can't belive I was moissing out all this time............:nuts:

 

[epanzella]

What material are you making your tools out of? Send them to me I will heat treat them for you.

Thanks I appreciate that but a big part of this project is learning to do all the pieces of it like making tools and heat treating. I'll be making my boring and internal threading tools out of 5/8 square O1 tool steel. There's a vid out on the instanet on a simple way to make a threading tool using the lathe and a 60 deg cabide tool. So far I've made a barrel vice, milling attachment, carriage stop with mount for 2 inch dial indicator, cross slide mount for 1 inch dial indicator, a drawbar collet closer, and various end mill holders. Yeah, I'm havin' fun.

 

[hman]

This week I finished I jig to hold a wood chisel at 25 degrees. Can't remember where I found the idea so if was someone on here thanks. I used the project to work on getting things square on the surface grinder. No this project didn't need to be this accurate but I needed the practice. I got the angle to be within .001" compared to my sin bar and the block is square and parallel as best as I can measure it. Definitely less than .001" out of square. So I am happy with how it worked out.
View attachment 89558

It does chisels up to 1.950" wide and .375" thick. It will even let me to a hollow grind on the chisel. A few passes on the 6000 grit water stone and a stropping and they cut like a dream. Have to take an evening over the break and do all of my chisels. I was shocked at how off my grinds were compared to the jig. I thought I was good at grinding lol. I have more pictures of the build at https://www.flickr.com/photos/24370911@N08/sets/72157649704946205/

Wonderful idea, and very nicely done!

Watch out, though ... you may soon have all your woodworker friends lining up outside your door)