- Joined
- Dec 29, 2017
- Messages
- 60
Well, it's been a long time since I've been on here - life is busy....I'm no longer in the Navy - I pulled pin last March (2019) and stepped into a Public Service job. It's been an interesting transition. I've 'kept my hand in the game' so to speak - I took a position with a local Army Reserve unit as a Company Sgt Major, so that gives me a chance to still serve, and to pass on some of the military junk that's stuck in my brain to some new troops.
Anyhow, on to machining stuff.
I got my PM 1030 almost 2 years ago now. It's been setup in the garage now and one of the 'hiccups' when I received it was that the 4-jaw chuck's backplate was wrong. In detail, the 4-jaw chuck had holes on the back for 3 bolts - however - the backplate had 4 holes. I had to drill new holes on the back of the chuck and tap them. Once I had that done, I tried fitting the backplate to the lathe...and it wouldn't fit.
The problem being that one of the holes for one of the 3 lugs on the backplate was drilled 0.030" further out from center than the others, meaning that the lug was binding up when it was attached to the headstock. So, long story short, I ended up turning down that lug in my 3 jaw so that it'd fit.
Then it STILL wouldn't fit right - I was looking at everything to try and figure out why...turns out that the 4 bolts holding the chuck to the backplate were too high by 0.050" and were preventing it from seating properly. *sigh* ok, I turned them down a bit too. NOW, finally, after 2 years, I have a functional 4-jaw chuck.
Don't ask why I didn't fix this 2 years ago.
So, this week, I've fixed a few little things with the Lathe now that this is up and running. I had a charging handle on a rifle that broke, so I built a new handle for it. Stainless steel - turned out very nice!
Also, the wife was out in the backyard today and she broke her brush cutters - so after supper, I went out and built a new hinge pin.
It's been a good week. I hope all of you are doing well.
I think my next project is going to see my pull the Taig Mini-mill off the shelf that it's been on since I bought it in 2011 with some deployment 'mad money' and get it setup and running too.
Anyhow, on to machining stuff.
I got my PM 1030 almost 2 years ago now. It's been setup in the garage now and one of the 'hiccups' when I received it was that the 4-jaw chuck's backplate was wrong. In detail, the 4-jaw chuck had holes on the back for 3 bolts - however - the backplate had 4 holes. I had to drill new holes on the back of the chuck and tap them. Once I had that done, I tried fitting the backplate to the lathe...and it wouldn't fit.
The problem being that one of the holes for one of the 3 lugs on the backplate was drilled 0.030" further out from center than the others, meaning that the lug was binding up when it was attached to the headstock. So, long story short, I ended up turning down that lug in my 3 jaw so that it'd fit.
Then it STILL wouldn't fit right - I was looking at everything to try and figure out why...turns out that the 4 bolts holding the chuck to the backplate were too high by 0.050" and were preventing it from seating properly. *sigh* ok, I turned them down a bit too. NOW, finally, after 2 years, I have a functional 4-jaw chuck.
Don't ask why I didn't fix this 2 years ago.
So, this week, I've fixed a few little things with the Lathe now that this is up and running. I had a charging handle on a rifle that broke, so I built a new handle for it. Stainless steel - turned out very nice!
Also, the wife was out in the backyard today and she broke her brush cutters - so after supper, I went out and built a new hinge pin.
It's been a good week. I hope all of you are doing well.
I think my next project is going to see my pull the Taig Mini-mill off the shelf that it's been on since I bought it in 2011 with some deployment 'mad money' and get it setup and running too.
