Tool post drilling in a small lathe

[Batmanacw]

How much mass is in the handwheel?

On our15"? 17"? Mori Seiki the handwheel probably weighs 5lbs.

A quick flick towards you and the tailstock quill is retracting the bit out of the hole with a quickness.

Im going ot replace the aluminum handwheels on my Prazi SD400 with cast iron wheels just for this purpose. Well that, and the tailstock is horribly unbalanced with a chuck in it.

As to the tool post drilling, not a fan honestly.

My larger lathe tailstock spins pretty nicely when I give it a whirl.

I still prefer kicking the feed out, wheeling the carriage out, back in, and flicking on the feed again. Lol!

 

[Ultradog MN]

I got one of those Aloris drill holders with a batch of tool holders I bought at an auction.
For kicks I used it once or twice and then it sat in the drawer for a couple of years.
My conclusion was, why have to center my tool post to drill a hole when my tail stock is already dead on?
I could see using it in a production setting where you have to drill a big hole in a bunch of the same parts.
But even then?
With a good, sharp bit I can crank on the tail stock hand wheel and make evenly coiled chips 3 feet long if I dont reverse the hand wheel and break them off. It is not like it's hard work.
But...
Everyone does things a little different and that's just fine with me.
I did not find that tool terribly useful so I brought it back to the auction house where I bought it and sold it again with some other surplus stuff.
By the way, The pin that ejects the MT tool out of my tailstock has always been missing - it's broken off in there.
So I've always had to use a drift to knock it out.
Just yesterday I decided I'm going to disassemble the quill, chuck up the threaded shaft, clamp a drill in my QCTP and drill it out with the carriage. Then make a new pin and press it in.
Drilling with the carriage is an occasion where a spotting drill works much better than a center drill as the tip isn't nearly so fragile. I was given a handfull of spotting drills and find myself using them more and more often.

 

[ltlvt]

Okay, I can see the power feed argument. I have a single piece digital DRO on my tail stock. I think I'd rather use the tail stock.

Whiskey the idea of using the tool post to drill instead of the tail stock is for speed and what I call peck drilling as on a mill. (rapid clearing of the chips extends drill life) I can see some advantages if someone wants to use power feed but I don't care for power feed when drilling. I guess if you have some huge diameter bits it would be okay as I have power feed on my old Camelback drill press. I doubt if I will use M-2 drills on the tool post on my little lathe. Smallest M-2 drill I have is about 3/8". so I will just stick an extra chuck or use the keyless with the M-2 shank on it and use the bigger M-2 and M-3 bits on my bigger lathe in the tail stock. The M-T 2 tool post does open up ideas when using a boring bar. Plenty of MT-2 drills that are broken or worn out that would make the start of a good boring bar.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Your talking about real lathes, not the 1440 imports that primarily target the home shop owners like myself. Your hand wheels are more like flywheels. Thank's.

Yeah, so change them out.

My tailstock wheel on the SD400 is roughly 2.5" and is aluminum.

Im changing it out to a 3" cast iron unit.

Hand Wheels - Handwheels - Spoked - Cast Iron - with Revolving Handle - Inch - Fixtureworks

.

 

[verbotenwhisky]

Very true, I do the same on my 1440 and have to admit backing out is a pain on deeper drilling. Thank's.

Same here on my PM1236

 

[verbotenwhisky]

Yeah, so change them out.

My tailstock wheel on the SD400 is roughly 2.5" and is aluminum.

Im changing it out to a 3" cast iron unit.

Hand Wheels - Handwheels - Spoked - Cast Iron - with Revolving Handle - Inch - Fixtureworks

.

Yep, now I am thinking that is a great idea, I like the shape of those better as well.

 

[Charles scozzari]

Yep, now I am thinking that is a great idea, I like the shape of those better as well.

I'm so use to them now I'll just leave them alone. Way too many projects ahead of that. Thanks.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Yep, now I am thinking that is a great idea, I like the shape of those better as well.

I searched high and low for ones with the right look at a price that didn't blow my socks off.

Those are not cheap by any means, but the only other ones I found that "Looked right" were twice the price.

 

[verbotenwhisky]

I searched high and low for ones with the right look at a price that didn't blow my socks off.

Those are not cheap by any means, but the only other ones I found that "Looked right" were twice the price.

The ones on my lathe are not properly shaped, I will likely change them out...

 

[RaisedByWolves]

The ones on my lathe are not properly shaped, I will likely change them out...

Let me guess, their kinda flat looking.