Cast iron/steel vs. aluminum vs. brass

[skogkatt007]

problem is finding cast iron (and I assume you mean mill stock, like durabar) of suotable thickness. Speedy metals has ci starting at 1.5" thickness. For a new carriage for the machinex 5 I'm thinking half that or less. I don't habe a working bandsaw at the moment, and even what I have may not be able to accommodate ~3" depth of cut. I'm doimg this all in my head.

Won't ci warp or whatever somewhat as has been suggested?

 

[Smithdoor]

Clearly ci or steel is preferred for machine components. Lots of smaller lathes use aluminum with great success. But what about brass? Is heavier then iron or steel and almost always harder then aluminum I have to believe. For smaller lathe components, is the cost just off putting? The original Sherline used brass, but was replaced by steel ways. Except for some obscure watch making stuff, I don't see brass used anywhere.

I have all in my shop.
I use mostly 12L14 / 1144 it is lower in cost and cuts clean.
Brass is great till it comes price.
Aluminum is alp nice too but still the cost.
Cast iron is great but very dusty and dirty.
A36 is the best price but not for the beginners.

Dave

 

[RaisedByWolves]

I still use brass a a bearing surface. It's better than steel on steel, does lubricate,. It does wear but not that quick and I would rather have the sleeve to replace over the steel.

That being said, I use bronze and Oilite when needed or prudent.

There are always considerations. Cost, ease of repair, use and frequency of , etc. all things to take into consideration.

What you have on hand being a big one.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

problem is finding cast iron (and I assume you mean mill stock, like durabar) of suotable thickness. Speedy metals has ci starting at 1.5" thickness. For a new carriage for the machinex 5 I'm thinking half that or less. I don't habe a working bandsaw at the moment, and even what I have may not be able to accommodate ~3" depth of cut. I'm doimg this all in my head.

Won't ci warp or whatever somewhat as has been suggested?

So this is for a Machinex?

Clean it up and sell it, then buy what you want. While not one of the best small machines, they were good for their time and hold their value well.

Eddelstaal didn't make anything that was junk.

 

[Geswearf]

Won't ci warp or whatever somewhat as has been suggested?

It depends on its provenance. Castings are 'aged' - left to sit for some time and/or heat treated to relieve stress before final machining. That said, yes some castings are rejected because they warp. Manufacturers build scrapping some castings into the cost of the machine. I would think if you got your CI from an older casting it would probably be stable.

 

[skogkatt007]

So this is for a Machinex?

Clean it up and sell it, then buy what you want. While not one of the best small machines, they were good for their time and hold their value well.

Eddelstaal didn't make anything that was junk.

Although it was new in the box, it came without a motor. And old enough that the ts ram doesn't have threads on it. I have a chunk monster Boston Gear motor I want to use, not much bigger then the original, less then half the speed. But probably a lot more powerful. And reversible. A suitable pulley (and new hand wheels to replace the plastic crap) is easy enough to make.

It didn't come with chucks either. The 4 jaw has very loose jaws, seemingly new, whatever. Tje 3 jaw also new won't thread on. If my gawking is accurate, the thread peaks stick out too much. Fixable. I also bought a 1"-16 tpi tap.

I may not make grandiose alterations. But I had a lot of plans. Many hinging on makingba beefier carriage/cs/compound. We'll see.

 

[skogkatt007]

It depends on its provenance. Castings are 'aged' - left to sit for some time and/or heat treated to relieve stress before final machining. That said, yes some castings are rejected because they warp. Manufacturers build scrapping some castings into the cost of the machine. I would think if you got your CI from an older casting it would probably be stable.

Any possible use of CI would be from Speedy Metals say (and they do have stock less then 1.5", I was mistaken). I know a bit about "seasoning" of iron castings. In the early days, it was just that, thr castings were put outdoors basically left there for multiple heating (in summer) and cooling (in winter) cycles to work out internal stresses. Castings would also be beaten with wood, as the vibration was also beneficial. First cuts would be deep (enough), also a benefit.

By the 1950s or thereabouts castings would sit for a month, get rough machined, then allow to sit for 3 months, then were finish machined. Does this change represent advances in metallurgy.

I'm just throwing this stuff out there. I think much of it is accurate. But the question is will cast iron stock bought from a vendor need any degree of seasoning between rough and final machining?

 

[Geswearf]

Does this change represent advances in metallurgy.

I'm just throwing this stuff out there. I think much of it is accurate. But the question is will cast iron stock bought from a vendor need any degree of seasoning between rough and final machining?

I'm just speculating here, but I would think today we have the benefit of experience as well as advances in metallurgy. Better manufacturers following certain procedures can probably reduce the % of castings that are rejected due to warpage, in much the same way that good design, sprue and vent placement can reduce the shrinkage of a cast part and subsequent rejection.

Again, it will depend on the vendor and manufacturer. One can buy good products that are made in China...or junk.

 

[Aaron_W]

Edelstaal Machinex 5

What an odd little lathe, it kind of looks like the result of a wild night with a Taig, and AA / Dunlap cosplaying as a Compact 5.

Do you have a thread dedicated to this lathe? I did a search but didn't find one.

 

[skogkatt007]

No. So few peeps have them. Parts are hard to find. They were plentiful and new between say 2005-15. Dave Sobel or his kid even had complete units. That may be who I got this off of. Afterwards they tried selling them for 350$ a pop sans motor. Wasn't a fulfilling matketing strategy.

Taig was making chucks for it for a spell. One M5 sold on ebay (searched completed) so there's some kind of interest out there.

There was 1 article in Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette years ago. 2 differemt articles in the Home Shop Machinist. Mostly fluff as I recall.