Craftsman 618 Half Nuts Disengage While Auto Feeding

I routinely take twenty-thousandths cut in aluminum on my 618, I don't find it excessive. With a freshly ground and honed tool with some good rake 50 comes off pretty easily too, but I don't do that often. Having said that though, if you are concerned about stressing something or overly taxing the machine, back off on the depth.

The objective, as I see it anyway, is to enjoy the machine for maximum amount of years and not necessarily to make the fastest or heaviest cut.

-frank
 
petertha said:
I don't know much about the model 618, but does the lathe have a clutch mechanism that disengages if it sees high torque on auto-feeding?
Click to expand...

Nope, no clutch unfortunately. I think the larger ones do but not the 618.
 
francist said:
I routinely take twenty-thousandths cut in aluminum on my 618, I don't find it excessive. With a freshly ground and honed tool with some good rake 50 comes off pretty easily too, but I don't do that often. Having said that though, if you are concerned about stressing something or overly taxing the machine, back off on the depth.

The objective, as I see it anyway, is to enjoy the machine for maximum amount of years and not necessarily to make the fastest or heaviest cut.

-frank
Click to expand...

I agree with enjoying it for a long time, but I also think enjoyment is not standing there while taking skimming cuts when you've got like .5" of material to remove. But I guess that's what bourbon is for.

But good to know you take 20 thou off at a time, thanks for that info. I'm using inserts right now as I'm learning how to grind tooling. I am getting long stringy cuts in aluminum.

Thanks for the help everyone, hope you're having a happy thanksgiving. Those that are in the US that is.
 
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