Finally got a lathe

[NavyVet1959]

Well, I finally got a lathe -- very entry level, of course.

I had been trying to find one of the old classic lathes at a decent price on Craigslist and such for quite awhile, but every time one came up, I either wasn't quick enough or the seller never responded. I've also had a seller back out of a deal when he decided that he wanted to keep the lathe. I would have liked to have come across one of the old classic lathes that was still in good shape from back in the 1940s and such like the Atlas, LeBlond, Colchester, South Port, etc, but I just haven't had any luck finding one of those for what I considered a reasonable price and which has a reasonable amount of tooling included with it.

I was about ready to break down and get one of the HF mini-lathes, but I stumbled across a Grizzly 7x14 on Craiglist yesterday morning for $400. So, it was a little cheaper than the 7x10 HF unit plus it came with a couple more things (drill chuck, steady rest) that I don't think the HF units come with.

I had been working around various kludges, trying to make my drill press act as a lathe for the few small tasks that I needed it to do, but I was definitely running into limitations, especially on the size of the objects that I could hold and rotate. Having it hold a short piece of steel and then using a file to trim it down while it rotates gets old after awhile, so I had been on the lookout for a decent price on a lathe for awhile.

The seller lived about 15 minutes away from me and I drove over to his house last night and picked it up and moved it to my reloading "shack". He said that he had recently bought a large lathe and milling machine and it was supposed to be delivered on Friday. Interestingly, he said that shipping and unloading was nearly as much as the actual lathe. I don't remember the brands that he mentioned, but he said that the lathe was 1000 lbs and the milling machine was 4000 lbs. He had to hire a forklift just to move it from the delivery truck to his garage.



It's possible for one person to carry it, but there's enough angular pieces sticking out that it is difficult to do it without something jabbing you in the wrong place.

And my first accomplishment was hollowpointing a bullet:



I set my goal pretty low for a first lathe attempt.

I didn't have a center drill countersink, so given the length that my drill bit was extended from the quill, it flexed / "wandered" a bit, so the center hole is not *perfectly* centered, but it was a lot better than any of my attempts with a drill press. I'll need to stop by HF today and pickup up a center drill countersink.

http://www.harborfreight.com/center-...-pc-60381.html

I'm thinking that HF center drill countersink would make a good hollowpoint just by itself.

Need to come up with a way make some sort of base inside of the lathe chuck so that when I put a bullet in there, it is always at the same depth so that I can drill the hollowpoint to a set point each time without having to reindex each bullet.

I then grabbed a small chunk of 1.5" PVC pipe and experimented around with it since it was all I had handy. If sure makes a mess of a lot of fine threads of white PVC when you do that. What with the static and everything, I had that stuff sticking *everywhere* on me.

I figure this will give me something to learn on and then I can be like the previous owner and sell it and move up to something a bit bigger. My goals on this for now are being able to hollowpoint a few bullets and create different profile powder funnels for my Dillon press and a different expander for my Lee powder-through-expander dies -- something along the line of the Lyman "M" dies.

I guess it's now time to start reading the manual.

[elk hunter]

You just made a serious mistake from now on you will wanting more and bigger machine tools. I started out 40 years ago with a 6 x 24" lathe that grew to a 14 x 40" lathe plus a 10 x 54" vertical mill, a small horizontal mill, a commercial drill press, surface grinder, tool and cutter grinder plus all the welding processes. The list goes on and on for tooling.

Enjoy!!!

[NavyVet1959]

You just made a serious mistake from now on you will wanting more and bigger machine tools. I started out 40 years ago with a 6 x 24" lathe that grew to a 14 x 40" lathe plus a 10 x 54" vertical mill, a small horizontal mill, a commercial drill press, surface grinder, tool and cutter grinder plus all the welding processes. The list goes on and on for tooling.

Well, right now, I only have one project that I definitely need a larger lathe for (a .50 BMG barrel), but I'm good enough at procrastinating that I can put it on the side burner for a few more years.

Besides, I would need at least a 1.625" spindle bore to accommodate that barrel in order to modify the chamber. That's not exactly a "hobby lathe" at that point.

[DougGuy]

Have fun with it NavyVet! I use my 1947 Logan constantly. I made do for many many years with my "Carolina Metal Lathe" drill press with 3/4" Jacobs chuck and a grinder/dremel tool/file/sandpaper you know how to get by!

[NavyVet1959]

Have fun with it NavyVet! I use my 1947 Logan constantly. I made do for many many years with my "Carolina Metal Lathe" drill press with 3/4" Jacobs chuck and a grinder/dremel tool/file/sandpaper you know how to get by!

I had been hoping to be able to find an adapter to be able to use a lathe chuck in my drill press, but no luck. The adapter would need to have a JT33 female end on one side and a MT1 female end on the other side. That would also make it kind of long and I would probably just be asking for a major wobble to occur.

[HollowPoint]

"I set my goal pretty low for a first lathe attempt."

Nonsense; wether we realize it or not, the goal is to start somewhere. You have now gotten farther than many others ever have or ever will. It doesn't make us any better or any worse that anyone else. It just means that you've taken it beyond the dream stage.

Looking at your newly purchase mini lathe brings back memories. Mine was a Harbor Freight mini lathe. For the longest time I bought into the derogatory things said about these small machines. Granted, they are not the best in the world but within their range of limitations they are very capable; and you can't beat them as a learning tool.

A slightly off the wall analogy: I once watched a program on TV that featured a master violinist playing a very rare and expensive Stratovarious violin. I'm not really into the kind of music he was playing but even I have to admit the the quality of the music coming from that high dollar violin was extremely good.

This same musician then proceeded to put down that classic violin and start playing the same kind of exquisite music with an off the shelf neigborhood-music store violin. He did so to show the aspiring young musicians in the audiance that the music coming from the instrument wasn't due solely to the quality of the instrument but, it was due mostly to the part that they would play in the creation of their music.

In the case of your new little mini-lathe, well, you know. Givem hell.

HollowPoint

[country gent]

Several ways to get the stop you want for the chuck. A simple "spider" can be made from the approriate width of flat stock At work we used 1/8" thick gage stock had it welded into a three legged spider. After welding it was clamped in the chuck and faced true on both sides. In use this sat between the jaws and provided a stop for the part to set against and square up against. The next is turn up a morse taper to match your head stock and drinn and tap for a 10 X 32 screw. (It will need to be relieved on back side since the taper is longer than you can tap) this can be inserted into the taper and the stop set inside the jaws of the chuck for your stop. Last is a dedicated set of chuck jaws with the pocket bored into them. Another way would be a set of collets and a collet stop. The morse taper stop works really well and is adjustable making it useable for alot of things. Your grizzly probably has a #3 morse taper in the head stock, The paper work should tell you. By a machinists hand book and use it it has alot of information. I have several in my tool box early one ( My Grandfathers that doesnt show vee belts yet) one I bought second hand and a new one given to me whan I graduated. Shoot their all out dated now LOL. You can turn the taper up with the compund set to the correct angle. Cut small to large and drill the tap hole thru then relieve the hole for the bolt. In this way it can be done in one chucking.

[NavyVet1959]

Several ways to get the stop you want for the chuck. A simple "spider" can be made from the approriate width of flat stock At work we used 1/8" thick gage stock had it welded into a three legged spider. After welding it was clamped in the chuck and faced true on both sides. In use this sat between the jaws and provided a stop for the part to set against and square up against.

I was thinking something along this line also, but not welding and then getting it faced on both sides. I was thinking more along the line of starting with a round disc that would be larger than the hole for the arbor and then cutting out the sections for the 3 jaws. That way, I would just have to file off the edges of the cuts to remove any burrs from the cuts.

[Sur-shot]

I am still getting my shop set up with the new Griz lathe and Bridgeport. But I have also made a couple of useful things, like an axle for my Big Green Egg cart and cut two slots in my RWS Target Gun to hold the air gun rings on with, cut the recess in an old Puma stag handle for an initial plate, plus made the plate itself from a stainless steel washer. Oh, I cut a Novak adjustable rear sight dovetail notch in a Ruger Commander. But so far nothing serious just still fooling around. I have several projects standing by after I get the digital caliper mounted to the quill holders on the mill. I need to go back and remake some F1 suppressor baffles on the lathe that I made on the drill press, some are not perfectly centered.
Ed

[jsn]

Now get ready to learn all about advanced tool grinding and tool making in order to handle all of those oddball projects you've had stored for years.

[PaulG67]

I presume you have checked this out already but here it is if anyone else want to see what you acquired.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/7-X-...op-Lathe/G0765

[Bent Ramrod]

Congratulations, Navyvet, on joining the ranks of amateur machinists! You will get a much better appreciation of the manufactured items around you once you try making some stuff yourself. Western Civilization is truly marvelous!

The Grizzly is a good deal because they support their stuff with parts and expertise. You might also start searching for sites like littlemachineshop dot com and others. They specialize in little fixtures and stuff for miniature lathes and mills. At the very least, their offerings will give you ideas on lathe attachments and specialty tooling you may want to make yourself. You'll probably need a bench grinder to grind tool bits on pretty soon, so keep an eye out.

[NavyVet1959]

You'll probably need a bench grinder to grind tool bits on pretty soon, so keep an eye out.

Yeah, I'm thinking that my existing bench grinder does not have fine enough surface (or is even enough) to do something like that. I've used it too much over the years for rough trimming of chunks of steel that I wouldn't even want to use it to sharpen a lawnmower blade.

[country gent]

Navey Vet I actually perfer the morse taper type stop for most jobs. We had spiders and also had a .090 step bored in the lathe jaws or bigger thin work. The morse taper type stop was easy to install and remove. didnt rattle around like the spiders and was adjustable for depth when needed. Close fitting tapers and a light tap sets them together, a rod thru the spilde and a tap its removed. Theres alot of things you learn after 30 years in the trade. A piece that clamps around the nose of the tailstockThat sticks out the back allows an 01" travel indicator to be used for drill depths easily. Theres alot of things that make running the machine easier and quicker.

[kramynot2000]

Congrats on the new lathe! I also have a 7"x14" that I'm learning on. Have done a few minor projects but still have much to learn. In case you don't already know, a great place to get accessories (and blow your paycheck) for these small lathes is littlemachineshop.com. (I have no connection with them other than being a customer.)

[NavyVet1959]

Navey Vet I actually perfer the morse taper type stop for most jobs. We had spiders and also had a .090 step bored in the lathe jaws or bigger thin work. The morse taper type stop was easy to install and remove. didnt rattle around like the spiders and was adjustable for depth when needed. Close fitting tapers and a light tap sets them together, a rod thru the spilde and a tap its removed. Theres alot of things you learn after 30 years in the trade. A piece that clamps around the nose of the tailstockThat sticks out the back allows an 01" travel indicator to be used for drill depths easily. Theres alot of things that make running the machine easier and quicker.

I'll keep that in mind for when I get more experience with the lathe. I'm thinking that for just hollowpointing bullets that a spider made from plastic or even wood would be accurate enough. Something like this, perhaps...

[CastingFool]

Double post.

[CastingFool]

My first lathe was a Jones & Lamson Universal turret lathe. Used collets to machine stock up to 2-1/2" in dia. Also had a 4 jaw chuck if I needed to run larger stuff like 8". It really wasn't mine, but it was the lathe I ran at work. All manual. Loved running it. Just wished I had realized all the stuff I could have made. At the time, the company didn't care if you used their equipment, on your own time, if it was not set up for any particular job. Stayed over many a night, working on gov't jobs. Sometimes, the boss would come over to see what I was making, and just shoot the breeze about guns. He was a big time reloader, and helped me get started reloading.

I know you're gonna have lots of fun with your lathe, NavyVet

[Dutchman]

Suggestion:

http://www.rockler.com/carvewright-1...FU5lfgodg88Axg

Start with say 3/4" stock. Turn the outside down to 5/8" so you have a flange like the picture. The purpose of the flange is to set up against the chuck jaws. Turn and bore the inside diameter for a close slip fit for the bullet you want to hold. The hole will be blind, meaning you don't drill and bore all the way through. It has a bottom. The bottom of the hole serves as a stop for the purpose of repeatability. The hole depth should be only enough to hold the bullet by the groove diameter portion of the bullet leaving the nose exposed. Then use a rotary grinder (Dremel) or hacksaw to make the cuts to the collet so it opens and closes with the pressure of the 3 jaw chuck.

Later when you get into using collets like 3C that go up to 1/2" you can make some simple tooling to hold different diameter bullets and the collet will ensure much more precision TIR (total indicator runout) (centering).

[Dutchman]

To make a hole with a flat bottom you can grind a drill bit thusly:



For drilling brass or plastic or other soft materials you would grind a "flat" on the two cutting edges as this:



To thin the web of a drill bit you would grind the back side of the flute as this:



What this does is lesson the effort required to cut material with the drill bit. When you drill large holes using increasingly larger drill bits you would size the next larger drill bit to be just a bit larger than the web of the previous drill.



Part of the drill collection:




Most used drill set in my shop are the number drills from #1 to #60 mostly as tap drills. I have a set of fractional drills from 1/16" to 1/2" in a stand by the lathe and an almost complete set of metric drills to 14mm.

Dutch