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2021 POTD Thread Archive
- Thread starter Gaffer
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- Mar 17, 2018
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Forgot to mention that the parts needed for a conversion are, a slide, barrel, slide stop, and an ejector.
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Beautiful work ShootyMac. God I have a soft spot for guns. Even though I don’t get much shooting time anymore. I still love guns. That’s a beautiful 1911. Very very nice.
Haven’t been in shop much. Cold weather and tired. A couple of weeks ago, I finally finished unclogging our home sewer. It kicked my butt.
Anyway, today I finally think I’ve got my South Bend 9” lathe properly shimmed. The lathe has never been right. When I first got it, I noticed that the previous owner had left the bolt loose on the front bearing cap. If I tightened it, the lathe locked up. So I tried to shim it with a bunch of brass shims stacked on each other but that was a failure. So I tried soldering the brass shims but that didn’t work because the solder upset the shim specs.
Then I tried a piece of 1/32” aluminum. I cut it to the right shape and kept trying to file it to specs. I needed something around .062
But even though it was an improvement, it was still wonky. I could never get it perfectly flat.
So, I ordered a shim from McMaster. The aluminum peal away 12” x12” shim at 0.094”
Each peal away layer is .003
This worked much better even though pealing off .003 at a time is easier said than done. Sometimes I took a .003 piece off and other times the best I could achieve was a layer of 0.006
By the way.... that picture with the mic and the caliper is of a 0.003 piece of shim in the digital caliper I pealed away when getting real close to desired specs. I then wanted to remover 3 thousandths more....peal away another as best as I could...and end up pealing away a shim 6 thousandths of an inch. I have to tell you....I played with that piece trying like the dickens to split it in half and I swear it’s a solid piece of aluminum. I know it’s not but I’ll be damned if I can peal it into two 3 thousandths pieces.
So anyway...as life goes...when I got close to my final desired shim specs...a 0.006 layer comes off. So I cut a piece of .003” brass shim and stuck that in with the aluminum peal away shim.
I think I finally have that sweet spot. I checked the headstock and have about “one and one half thousandths “ play. I ran the lathe for about 20 minutes so hopefully I golden now.
And even though the peal away shim isn’t perfect in my opinion, it’s the best alternative in this sort of thing. To get these shims in my lathe, I’ve got a 30” piece of 1/2 rod machined to 3/8” on one end so it fits snugly into the bearing cap and it allows me to pry up the cast iron cap so I can get the shim in place. Even with that, if I try to slide stacked brass shims it... it’s almost impossible. The thin ones keep getting mangled. That’s why I tried to solder them . But I failed trying it like that. I’ve been farting with this headstock for a while now. Hopefully... it won’t act wonky anymore. Time will tell.
If it acts up much more, I may try putting another headstock off another SB I have. Or I’ll just move on to swapping the complete lathe. But in any case... I just hate giving up on something like this. I get anal that way. I hate defeat.
Anyway, today I finally think I’ve got my South Bend 9” lathe properly shimmed. The lathe has never been right. When I first got it, I noticed that the previous owner had left the bolt loose on the front bearing cap. If I tightened it, the lathe locked up. So I tried to shim it with a bunch of brass shims stacked on each other but that was a failure. So I tried soldering the brass shims but that didn’t work because the solder upset the shim specs.
Then I tried a piece of 1/32” aluminum. I cut it to the right shape and kept trying to file it to specs. I needed something around .062
But even though it was an improvement, it was still wonky. I could never get it perfectly flat.
So, I ordered a shim from McMaster. The aluminum peal away 12” x12” shim at 0.094”
Each peal away layer is .003
This worked much better even though pealing off .003 at a time is easier said than done. Sometimes I took a .003 piece off and other times the best I could achieve was a layer of 0.006
By the way.... that picture with the mic and the caliper is of a 0.003 piece of shim in the digital caliper I pealed away when getting real close to desired specs. I then wanted to remover 3 thousandths more....peal away another as best as I could...and end up pealing away a shim 6 thousandths of an inch. I have to tell you....I played with that piece trying like the dickens to split it in half and I swear it’s a solid piece of aluminum. I know it’s not but I’ll be damned if I can peal it into two 3 thousandths pieces.
So anyway...as life goes...when I got close to my final desired shim specs...a 0.006 layer comes off. So I cut a piece of .003” brass shim and stuck that in with the aluminum peal away shim.
I think I finally have that sweet spot. I checked the headstock and have about “one and one half thousandths “ play. I ran the lathe for about 20 minutes so hopefully I golden now.
And even though the peal away shim isn’t perfect in my opinion, it’s the best alternative in this sort of thing. To get these shims in my lathe, I’ve got a 30” piece of 1/2 rod machined to 3/8” on one end so it fits snugly into the bearing cap and it allows me to pry up the cast iron cap so I can get the shim in place. Even with that, if I try to slide stacked brass shims it... it’s almost impossible. The thin ones keep getting mangled. That’s why I tried to solder them . But I failed trying it like that. I’ve been farting with this headstock for a while now. Hopefully... it won’t act wonky anymore. Time will tell.
If it acts up much more, I may try putting another headstock off another SB I have. Or I’ll just move on to swapping the complete lathe. But in any case... I just hate giving up on something like this. I get anal that way. I hate defeat.
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- Joined
- Mar 17, 2018
- Messages
- 1,400
Thanks Tim, and everyone else who commented or liked!
After a spindle rebuild that I detailed in another thread and a weekend spent outside, I've finally finished up a mini pallet. Next up comes making the strap clamps and buying some accompanying hardware.
...maybe that hole pattern is denser than necessary.
...maybe that hole pattern is denser than necessary.
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2018
- Messages
- 1,400
I paid my used tool dealer a visit today. I found a few odds and ends that I needed, taps, dies, a couple of Craftsman C-clamps and these unexpected gems. The indicator ($25) needed a cleaning inside and out. The big needle was bent and hitting the crystal making it a bit sticky. I watched a quick video and took it apart without being too invasive, cleaned it with some alcohol, very lightly lubed a few spots, and made a new tension spring for the bezel. I've been looking for a 3/8 impactgun for months. I spotted this one ($40), it looked like trash, but worked ok. I buffed it and lubed it good, works fine!
I am fortunate to have a used tool dealer only 10 miles away. I watch his website for a new video of what came in every Tuesday. He had a smalish band saw blade welder that I wanted, but he sold it yesterday.
I am fortunate to have a used tool dealer only 10 miles away. I watch his website for a new video of what came in every Tuesday. He had a smalish band saw blade welder that I wanted, but he sold it yesterday.