Gilrock
Member
So I've had my new Jet 9x20 metal lathe for several weeks and I'm starting to see why it's gotten some bad comments. I immediately upgraded the compound slide mount to a 4 bolt plate and I installed a Phase II QCTP. I still feel like the compound slide is not rigid enough. I don't know the names of everything but it seems like to reduce the slop I have to tighten up the 3 screws that put pressure on the bar to tighten up the dovetail to the point where the compound slide doesn't move very easy. When I've actually wanted to rotate the slide and use the compound handle to cut at an angle I need to slightly loosen those screws. The result is that my angle cuts have a terrible finish.
And parting operations scare the crap outta me. I usually stand to the side with one hand on the emergency stop. I had one part I made from 3/4" steel that I ruined trying to part it off when the parting tool dug in and ripped it from the chuck and threw it. The resulting piece was like a 1/4" shaft with a 3/4" disc on the end and when the parting operation failed the 1/4" shaft got bent. I've even had 1" aluminum get ripped from the chuck. Good thing I was smart enough to buy a face shield when I started using this lathe. I did successfully part off 5/8" tool steel this weekend but it takes me over 30 minutes to cut off one piece. I have to lock down the saddle and really wrench down the QCTP nut and try to make sure there is no play anywhere. Maybe I'm not using the correct speeds because I had been trying 300 and 400 RPM but on a whim I later parted off a piece of 1" aluminum this weekend but tried 1000 RPM and had much better success.
I've been wondering if anyone makes an upgraded compound slide for this lathe. I've also been wishing I could find an experienced machinist to come over and show me the works and maybe help see if I've got the right tooling for the job. Any tips about what speeds you usually use for parting off steel and aluminum rods and the best parting tools for the job would be appreciated.
And parting operations scare the crap outta me. I usually stand to the side with one hand on the emergency stop. I had one part I made from 3/4" steel that I ruined trying to part it off when the parting tool dug in and ripped it from the chuck and threw it. The resulting piece was like a 1/4" shaft with a 3/4" disc on the end and when the parting operation failed the 1/4" shaft got bent. I've even had 1" aluminum get ripped from the chuck. Good thing I was smart enough to buy a face shield when I started using this lathe. I did successfully part off 5/8" tool steel this weekend but it takes me over 30 minutes to cut off one piece. I have to lock down the saddle and really wrench down the QCTP nut and try to make sure there is no play anywhere. Maybe I'm not using the correct speeds because I had been trying 300 and 400 RPM but on a whim I later parted off a piece of 1" aluminum this weekend but tried 1000 RPM and had much better success.
I've been wondering if anyone makes an upgraded compound slide for this lathe. I've also been wishing I could find an experienced machinist to come over and show me the works and maybe help see if I've got the right tooling for the job. Any tips about what speeds you usually use for parting off steel and aluminum rods and the best parting tools for the job would be appreciated.