The Little Jet Lathe That Just Might Could

[Bamban]

I had the 36" variant of that lathe a few years ago. The only thing I didn't like about it was an easy fix. The thread dial is tucked in a bit close, so a simple spacer block was made. I moved it out 3/4". Decent lathe. Yours looks very good.

Tony,

Thank you. May I borrow your idea to move the thread dial away from the apron, 3/4 as you said should be enough.


Nez

 

[Tony Wells]

It was simply a flat aluminum piece milled to the same profile as the thread dial housing. A single bolt holds it on. Very straightforward. I never painted it, but after a while I never even noticed it was there. Sure made me less nervous about threading though.

I didn't want to lose any -Z- axis travel, or as little as possible, so I added only a minimum. That's the first thing to hit the outboard bearing support as you travel right.

 

[Bamban]

Got the stock motor out. In comparison to the Black Max motor, the new replacement, diameter wise and length wise all looks good. The electrical motor connection protective cover of the Black Max motor needs to be modified before I can install the motor.

Pictures attached.

 

[kvt]

I thought you were going to mount it underneath, The black max also looks to be a bit bigger around from the pics. Is that going to pose a problem as I know the motors are pretty tight where mounted.

 

[Bamban]

The diameter is not the problem, this machine is framed out differently from yours. The problem is the motor cable connecting housing, it hits the vertical frame of the pulleys the motor drives. I think, I say, I think, because it was rather late last night when I quit that I may miss something, that it is remove the little box and fab a cover for it and swing the motor cables towards the back into abother box, it just might work. Another option is to route the motor cables like the one in yours with protective cover on the cable entry into the housing.

I will try to mock the placement in the cubby hole the motor goes it, but will have to wait for one of my buddies to come over. After injuring my left shoulder, coupled with already injured right, I am sort of worthless right now.

 

[mksj]

Interesting variant on the Blackmax motor, the newer ones have aluminum fining, the BlueMax is heavier like yours and all cast steel. The motor is a surprisingly close size and fit to the stock one for twice the Hp, but then the TENV motors tend to be shorter overall. The BlackMax motor diameter looks a little bigger which is expected. If a few fins need trimming a bit to fit, it wouldn't be an issue for such light duty. On the electrical box, if I recall you had a similar issue on your last baby lathe that was retrofitted with a WEG motor. So either mill a low profile box, or you could consider getting a low profile Hammond die cast box, bore a hole in the bottom for the motor wires and mount to the motor. Probably look a lot better than the stock electrical box and no warning stickers. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hammond-Manufacturing-1590YBK-92-X-92-X-42MM-BLACK-ALUM-BOX-/390974034312

You might check with Jet on the Tailstock parts, I would dial scale and mount a DRO on the tailstock.

 

[kvt]

Ok, what did you do to our left shoulder. I will try to get some pics Have everything wired up except putting the plug on the end of the cable. Wired everything and figured safety wise just not put the plug on until everything was ready. Still have to do the leveling feet (hockey pucks) Then do the leveling of the lathe itself .

 

[Bamban]

Mark,

As always, we all welcome your thoughts and suggestions on projects in this forum. The hammond box might just be the better option, unless I can talk one of my buddies to run the mill for me and make a low profile box like I did for the previous lathe.

Here are a couple of pictures with BM motor in the hole, showing the belt system in run mode mode (belt tensioned) and the other in service mode.

 

[Bamban]

Ken,

Your lathe is looking good.

On the left shoulder, since my right one is in pain all the time, I began to rely a lot on the left, then I made a bad twisting action as I picked up a metal plate and sharp pain shot to the top of the shoulder. Getting old is not for sissies. We may get wiser with old age, but sometimes we forget we are not young any longer and do some dumb stuff. Just another inconvenience.

 

[Bamban]

Well, got the low profile wiring cover almost done. Just screwed on one bolt to the existing hole, will have to drill and tap a new hole on the motor side, 1/4 x 20. Using the rubber seal that came with the motor the cover should seal well. Staring relief for the wiring will be a screwed on to the Delrin block. Will use the existing terminal strip, but moved it on the upper side of the vertical piece to give more range on wiring.

To finish the motor install I still have the drill new holes through the motor base and the mounting plate, the old holes do not line up well when I position the motor to fit and motor pulley aligned to the driven pulley. Instead of dual pulley I will just use a smaller one and as Mark suggested I will just drive the VFD at higher Frequency. The motor is an overkill for this Baby Jet, but can't have enough HP sometimes. Most likely belt will slip before the motor bogs down.