Table top lathe recommendations??

[5090SS]

At some point, you will want to work on barrels.
You may not think so, but it will happen.

This is SO true!!

[country gent]

Throat size, bed length, swing, and even the machine base all determine how much can be done on a machine. a bigger throat is almost as good as a longer bed. A bigger foot print is much better for supporting the weight. On a lathe the weight is higher making for a taller center of gravity.

[trails4u]

Well....thought I'd follow up. Got lathe up and going and most of my tooling squared away, so went after my first small project this evening. I've converting 7x65R to 35wcf, and as part of that process need to thin the base of the parent case by about .004 to insure consistent, easy chambering and extraction.

So.....I turned a mandrel from barstock to around .358, and using a fairly obtuse insert in a live center, used that to center on the primer pocket while forcing the case neck slightly onto the mandrel. Much to my surprise, runout was minimal....and actually made for a pretty easy job to turn a few thousands off the base. I'm only pressing them slightly onto the mandrel (intentionally tapered), so they're easy enough to remove by hand.



I think I might need to get away from the carbide inserts, or mess with tool geometry, etc. as I'm not getting a good finish at all on the steel. The brass finished really nice, but the steel not so much. Not really getting much chatter, but getting a birds nest as opposed to nice chips, and just not as nice a finish as I know is possible. It's been a lot of years....apparently NOT like riding a bike!

I will add.... I really like this setup, as it opens up the entire case for any work I might need to do. Outside neck turning, rim work, etc. I'll have to make a mandrel project by project, but I'm OK with that. I figure this one cost about 80c + about an hour of my time. And I expect I'll make them MUCH faster as I learn the machine, dial in the tooling, etc.

[uscra112]

Turn the case around. Make that mandrel long enough to extend to the bottom of the case, and turn a little pin at the end that will enter the flash hole, and a 60 degree center in the outer end. The end of the mandrel presses the case against the driver you've mounted in the chuck, on which you've turned a pin that enters the primer pocket. Now the mandrel can be a slip fit in the case mouth, so there's no problem separating it and the case. and everything will run true.

Some steels won't give you a nice finish no matter what you do. The stuff they make bolts from is particularly bad. I use 12L14 grade when I can - it machines almost like brass.

[vintovka]

I found two lathes are a must. A 6x18 atlas and a 14x40 enco works for me. The atlas was made by Craftsman in long ago and serves all my small needs from screw work to pistol barrels. Even at 50+ years old It is my most used. The 14x40 is for almost all long gun work. Must say that since i got it in late 80s the price has doubled +.

[uscra112]

........made for Craftsman [by Atlas].....

[country gent]

Pick up a 6 or 8" bench grinder. 36 -40 grit on one side for roughing and 80-100 on other side for finishing. Most of the hobby lathes are light to run carbide efficiently go to HSS cobalt with the grinder you can sharpen them your self to just what you want. The for what a insert with 2-4 cutting edges cost you can buy a 3" long HSS cobalt blank and sharpen it hundreds of times.
I made mine but look into the tangential tools. They give a very nice finish are easy to sharpen ( you only have to grind one face).
You might try this chuck a piece of round stock in the chuck with the compound cut a 60 point. then a live center with a pin you want as big a center in the pin as possible. Even better would be to pick up a cheap live center and modify the point to a long point .200 dia and roughly 3" long and use this to reach into flash hole/case head. When you set the point back up in the chuck a light cut trues it to 0 run out and your good to go.

The HSS cobalt will give you a much better finish with a chip breaker ground in it will break chips. With a fine Arkansas stone a fine radius can be ground to improve finish. The tangential tools with HSS cobalt really do a nice job. Another if your only taking a few ( .002-.004) is a shear tool. again with HSS cobalt. Most tangential tools can be set to do a shear cut also. The shear cutters finish when sharp and set up right is almost a mirror finish right from the machine.

[vintovka]

........made for Craftsman [by Atlas].....

Yes and parts are still available from Clausing last time i checked. Ebay also has lots of stuff too. Most serious users that have one won't part with it until they pass why most often found at estate sales. these are amazing machines if used properly with adequate patience. I think best part is buying a used one and rebuilding it. The experience is well worth the cost.

[nuclearcricket]

As stated above, HSS/Cobalt tolls will give you much better finish and service on these small lathes than the carbide insert tooling will. The one exception I have found to this is a small insert boring bar I have that I got from MSC a number of years ago when my lathe was new. The other exception is my internal threading tool, that is solid carbide and does a nice job but then that is low speed and light cuts.
I have done some work thining rims in the past. What I did was to turn a socket in a piece of aluminum that would just fit the case head and not quite as deep as the final thickness. turned a stepped plug to fit the case mouth with a center drillled hole. Used the tail stock center to hold things tight and used a cut off tool to just trim the rim thickness. ONce set its a matter of just feed in and out. Friction is enough to drive the case for that light of a cut.
Sam

[contender1]

I just found a "Logan" table top lathe.

What can anybody here tell me about them?

[country gent]

What size is it Uncle had a 6 X 24 that was a nice machine but he had very little tooling for it. Was change gears. 1 / ? 12 threaded spindle, small spindle bore. #1 taper in tail stock. finding centers chucks drills with # 1 MT is getting harder. Logans are a good machine and accurate if still in good shape. They were nice solid well ribbed castings.

[trails4u]

I'm loving all the input and ideas! Unfortunately, spring has sprung pretty early around here, so I've been buried with pasture/garden/greenhouse chores and not getting much fun time. I've got some small projects lined up....just need to find the time.....sigh....

[jdsingleshot]

Eleven inch and up Logans have a much bigger spindle bore than an Atlas. I have used 6" and 10" Atlases and they did all I needed. But now I have an 11" Logan with a quick-change gear box and like it very much.

[country gent]

The Logans were good solid machines. The ribbing and supports in the casting carried thru to their small machines. Sheldons were also a nice machine. Monarachs were considered the top. They had some options that were handy in a shop. They were also a heavier machine. Clausings , south bend, White, american, Hendi, and some others were also good machines. Finding a machine is the hard part. I have a nardinni 14/18 X 40 lathe. and a 12 X 40 both are free standing machines though.

As I have said in the past get all the tooling you can with the machine. The older machines are getting harder to find tooling for and its easier to get what they have for the machine. Tooling is the biggest cost of the machine. chucks collets face plates dogs tool holders drill chucks drills cutters and such all add up.

[HWooldridge]

I started my lathe journey with a ca. 1946 10x24 Sheldon that had been lengthened to allow the tailstock to hang another foot off the back of the bed. The modification was done in the old Kelly AFB tool shop back in the 60's by master toolmakers, and looked like it had come from the factory that way so was quite usable for longer stock. Sheldon machines were nice because they carried all of the drive motor and mechanism under the machine inside the cabinet, so were easy to move around. It also came factory equipped for 120v, which was great for my original garage setup.

A friend of mine owned a Logan 12x36 and it was a good tight machine. I believe you can still get parts for them, although nothing is cheap. I certainly would not walk away from one if the price was right and it wasn't clapped out.

[country gent]

The problem isnt always the parts. Its tracking down who know has the rights and owns the company. Some of these machine companies have been bought out many times and tracking down who to contact is the job.

We repaired a od Grinder made by brown and sharp at campbells. This machine was late 40s early 50s. We contacted B&S parts were available they have the drawings on file, 6 month leade time while they made the part. This is what you run into with older machines. When the Y axis encoder on my lathes readout went out it was another $150.00 for the adapter from new encoder to old read out. This machine was new in 1985. Then the power supply went ended up being 1000.00 repair. Moving a machine can disrupt things and it may take awhile for it to settle in.

[farmbif]

somewhere on the internet is a video of a man who designed and built guns for Remington and they show him in his home shop where he created many guns and all he used was a south bend 9" lathe.
if anyone knows of a reasonably priced cross slide for an atlas 618/craftsman 101 I need one.

[country gent]

Watch e bay and your local used machine dealers, actually it might pay to stop in and talk to them have measurements in hand they may be able to tell you what will interchange or be modified to fit.
Is your cross slide wore out or missing? Wore out can be rebuilt with a new screw and gibs with some hand work. Missing may be more than just cross slide to include compound screw gibs and screws. A new gib can be fitted in by hand and the existing brought back.
A lot of the machine dealers dont list parts on their web sites. Finding a new cross slide it will still require some hand fitting. Also you might have to take a complete carriage as they may not want to break it up.

The others to check with are keith rucker ( vintage machine) and MrPete222 or tubalcain. I believe monarch bought atlas years ago a call to them might get an idea on a new part.

[farmbif]

it the top tool slide/cross slide. it was missing when I got the lathe years ago so even if I did make one I'm missing the hardware. the only reason I bought it is along with the lathe there was every possible accessory that craftsman offered most items still in original boxes. ive been looking on and off for years now. this discussion got me thinking I ought to try and put this old lathe back to work. I guess I'm going to have to save my pennies and pony up if I'm ever going to put this back into service. there are no a couple on eBay starting at $200. ive seen on eBay that just the steady rest and milling adapter could be worth $250 each or more. yes I saw mr Pete's videos and would attempt making one but I no longer have a mill

[country gent]

If your missing the compound ( the top slide that rotates and the tool post mounts in) Ive seen lathes with the compound removed and a block of steel mounted to hold the tool post, makes a solider mount. Makes some operations harder. We had one lathe that had 2 of these blocks front and back of the cross slide the front was a turret the back had an cut off tool mounted upside down. A piece of round stock could be machined 2 holes to bolt down a stud to locate and a threaded hole in center to mount the tool holder. WOuld limit capacity some and thickness would be tricky as tool post would need to be known.

My nardinni has the tee slots on back of cross slide. Ive thought about a block on the back for a cut off blade.

How about a pic or 2 of what you have. Make it easier to give help and or advice