Hee hee hee... I found the secret!

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Firefyter-emt

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Joined
Mar 30, 2006
Messages
2,903
Location
Putnam, Connecticut, USA.
to turning tru-stone that is! As I was putting the last passes on a pen mill with my metal lathe it dawned on me that the metal lathe might put a big dent in this blue lapis Jr. Statesman I have been working on for maybe six months! :D

Oh man, what a diffrence! I left just a few mils on the blank to finish off by hand, but I was taking off .060" a pass! From rough blank to almost to size in say, two minutes tops! BwaHaaaaa!!! [}:)]
 
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follow3

Member
Joined
May 30, 2006
Messages
358
Location
Hampton, VA
Hey,

I bought a metal lathe recently, just to make bushings and small parts. It is an old unimat.

Any tips on how I can learn to use it? Like what tools to use when and what speed etc...

Thanks,
Steve
 

jcollazo

Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2006
Messages
714
Location
Bellflower, CA, USA.
I got the Microlux 7x14 a few weeks ago and love it. I love the metal lathe so much that I just got a ToolsNow (Cummins) 7x12 to turn into a CNC machine.

Check the Little Machine Shop (www.littlemachineshop.com) for more information on running the lathes and links to other metal lathe sites. They also have a pdf of a mini lathe users guide. It's much more complete than the manual that came with the lathe.

One piece of tooling you may want to look in to is a quick change tool post (QTCP). It greatly speeds up your operations.
 

badger

Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2008
Messages
265
Location
Seattle, WA, USA.
I have one of the Taig Mini lathes, and couldn't be happier, I've done some complex pieces and it works great.

I got mine as a gift from a freind, but they are not that expensive.

I love this idea btw, I've got to turn some tru stone for the first time soon, and i think this might be a good first step to get it into round.
 

redfishsc

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Joined
Feb 11, 2006
Messages
2,545
Location
North Charleston , SC
Badger, just know that not all trustones are hard to turn like the blue lapis. I had no problems with the blue lapis since I keep a diamond hone very close by for my skew, but it does require frequent resharpenings with HSS chisels.


Most other trustones I've used will turn soft as butter--- like turquoise, white turquoise, malachite, etc...
 

Firefyter-emt

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Joined
Mar 30, 2006
Messages
2,903
Location
Putnam, Connecticut, USA.
My lathe is an old 1930's era Craftsman 109 series lathe.

Lathe-13.jpg















Ok... those who know me, know that it does not look like that anymore. :D

Lathe-72.jpg


I find the lathe so very handy to have it is amazing. I use the C5 tools from Enco. They cost me $2.88 per bit and last a very long time. The tips are coated in plastic and ready to use. I can get a lot of life out of them and with the heavy turning I do with the pen mills, I have only used under 10 bits in the 50 pen mills I have made. Now I do cut a bit fast, and a bit deep in the cut depth for this lathe, so I am not the best to ask. ;)

FWIW, I turn a lot between centers on my metal lathe as well. The pen mills are turned between centers with the help of a pair of custom made lathe dogs. I turned the Lapis between centers as well, but like my wood lathe, I was able to hold the blank between centers without the lathe dogs and it only caught once. (No damage, just stopped the blank early in the game)
 

Sylvanite

Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2006
Messages
3,090
Location
Hillsborough, North Carolina, USA.
A lathe duplicator is also very handy for turning square stock round, and round stock down to size. I used mine that way quite a bit before I removed it (because the duplicator got in the way when turning bowls).

Regards,
Eric
 

bitshird

Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2007
Messages
10,236
Location
Adamsville, TN, USA.
this should get you there.
http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INPDFF?PMPAGE=153&PARTPG=INLMK32
Keep in mind, while carbide is harder and more heat resistant, it also is more subject to chipping and breaking with interupted cuts, and won't sharpen as well as HSS M2 or HSS with 8% cobalt, and is also far more difficult to get a keen edge on do to molecular structure versus HSS M2
A good metal cutting edge can be done with a green silicon wheel, or a Diamond resinoid bond wheel, the silicon wheel is quite soft and pretty messy. [8D][8D][8D][8D][8D]
By the way that is a sweet old 109 model nice clean up job,
 

BigShed

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Joined
Feb 14, 2008
Messages
1,068
Location
Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Originally posted by Firefyter-emt

My lathe is an old 1930's era Craftsman 109 series lathe.

Thanks for posting that. That is a very nice restoration job, great little lathe, what size is it (swing and between centres)?

Beaut setup you have there.

Have been eyeing off a C3 7x14 variable speed mini metal lathe for some time, but so far haven't bitten the bullet.

Thanks again.
 

Firefyter-emt

Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2006
Messages
2,903
Location
Putnam, Connecticut, USA.
Thanks Ken, those are exactly the ones I use. I tend to buy 10+ at a time and for about $2.00 I don't bother to sharpen them to be honest. They last a LONG time and cut awesome! I bought those red colored ones from The Little Machine Shop and these are night and day above those. I found most of the stuff for sale is brazed to a cast iron type holder and they tend to be green cast iron and warp a lot. The Enco ones are very nice steel and do not need to be sharpened upon arrival.

The lathe is just a 6" x 12" and rather crude, but my grandfather bought it and it has been in the family going back to the late 30's. One of these days I will finish the base and add the face frame and some doors. ;)
 
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