Facing stock lengthwise that is bigger than the chuck

[ganzey]

Set it up, take a cut or two, (start LIGHT and work up....) and see how it goes. If it works well, great. If it doesn't work WELL, stop and find out why. The best tip I can offer is that if you're doing "off label" stuff, is that if it's not working WELL, it's time to stop and re-evaluate the situation right then. Before it's gone off the rails.

So, with all that cautionary stuff said- It (probably) won't come out with the best finish you've ever made, but I'll bet you can get this done.

One other thought- Does this piece (in the finished product) get any holes in it? If so, that "may" present an opportunity. If there were a hole in the center, that could be pre-made into a smaller threaded hole, you can certainly use threaded rod, with a nut and a washer at the back of the spindle, to hold it in "drawbar style". Or if there's other holes in it elsewhere, the often forgotten faceplate method might present some options. Maybe/maybe not in this case, but thinking through a whole process will very often open up options of that nature, that you can cash in on.

yep thats what i did, started at 100rpm with maybe .002-.003 depth of cut, slowest feed and went up a little at a time, untill i reached ~350rpm and upped the feed rate and depth of cut, it didnt move after 4 passes and ive flipped the jaws before going further.

The only holes in it will be on the ends, although i could drill a very shallow hole for a dead center because my cross slide travel is about .090" short of doing the whole thing in one pass. Im a little surprised at how smoothly its cutting, the latest pic i posted was at max feed rate, it will get a finish pass on slow which should give a pretty surface

 

[homebrewed]

Some comments, related to the intended end use of these pieces and starting condition(s) of the stock. The rough stock is exactly that, rough. It will have high points and low points so the back side of the piece won't rest flat on the surface of your chuck. As a result the machined side won't be _exactly_ parallel to the un-machined side. It WILL be parallel to the three highest points on your rough side.....

Another possibility is that the piece may be slightly warped. A different situation but it could be equally problematic. If it is significantly warped you want to install the piece so it can't rock in the jaws then machine that side first.

If any of these scenarios could be a problem you want to flip the part over and machine that surface as well.

Considerations like these will also come into play when using a milling machine. Some thing(s) to keep in mind if you eventually acquire one.

This thread has been a good read, thanks for the question!

 

[ganzey]

I see a milling machine in your future

John

hopefully soon..

1st one is done, thanks for all the encouragement everyone. surface finish was better than expected, so much so that wiping it with a rag scratched it..no worries i was not planning on polishing them, but after going straight off the lathe to a buffer and seeing this i think i will. its hard to get my phone to focus, could have used AvE's help there.
View attachment off the lathe.mp4
View attachment polished.mp4

 

[Ultradog MN]

It's called thinking outside of the box and I say you done good!
My only suggestion would have been having your jaws reversed when you started but you corrected that.
You wouldn't believe the hell I caught here for boring the hub of this handle larger in my lathe. I had to grind about 1/32 off of the handle at the red area to swing it.