My Harbor Freight mini-lathe got tired of turning.

[PatMarlin]

You can actually still do that at a Community College? I have hope for our country yet...

[Swagerman]

Hey, I love that ***** cat doing the right-cross sucker punch. Way to go, kitty.

Have not found a community college closer than 60 miles...to far for night school and me an old fart.

Having already sent off my payment and order for my timing pulley, boring bar set, center punches, 3 sets of knurling wheels...I decided I was skateting on thin ice without ordering a new timing belt as well.

Sent an additional letter and funds for pullley belt, might as well do this restoration right instead of half-a$$.

Jim

[melw]

All this talk on lathes! I have one of those 7x10 from HF as well.
They are good to start with I like mine. Here is a pic of it and me.

I had just got the other lathe in the photo. I needed to compare them.
I am the guy in the forground. My uncle and I had just finshed moving the new to me lathe in to my garage.
Mel W.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Both look good melw!

[Swagerman]

What a massive lathe you fellers moved into your garage, the tail stock looks like it weighs more than the HF mini-lathe.

What do you plan on making, cannon barrels.

Jim

[melw]

What a massive lathe you fellers moved into your garage, the tail stock looks like it weighs more than the HF mini-lathe.

What do you plan on making, cannon barrels.

Jim

Well maybe. I would then need to build a rifling machine.
I wanted a larger lathe then the 7X10 and had saved up some money. My uncle (the othe guy in the pic) is a retired machinist and knew of a good buy.
I got that lathe a 17X40 for $1200. I then had to get the tooling and other things to make it run. I built the 3 phase converter from a kit I found on eBay and a 15 horse motor from a salvage yard. I still need to get the garage wired for it. The lathe wants 40 amps. THe 30amp dryer circuit is not happy!
My wife was taking the pics was just shaking her head the whole time we where moving it. We worked for four hours to get it in the garage.
We moved that 4000lb tool by hand with comealongs roollers and long pry bars.

Mel W.

[grumpy one]

melw, because this is your first toolroom lathe I'll risk insulting you by asking whether you leveled it properly? Unlike your minilathe, toolroom lathes have enough flexibility in their long beds so that if you just put it on a nominally flat floor, it ends up with the tailstock not aligned with the headstock when they are a long way apart.

I'm not a Buckshot-style serious operator, but I did have to do at least a reasonable job of leveling mine. I used a precision level (NOT a normal Starret level) across the two ends of the ways, and shimmed the support points until I had it within one-and-a-half thousandths of an inch across the width of the bed, from end to end. I could have done better by spending more than the 20 minutes I invested - the level was easily sensitive enough to do much better - but since I never make long objects on the lathe I took the slack approach. In a toolroom it would have been done properly of course. You also need to recheck it occasionally - your shims are likely to settle after it has vibrated in service for a while.

[melw]

Why yes I did.
My uncle helped me. What I meant when I said he was a retired machinist was he had his own small shop. He keeps busy finding and restoring forklifts.
We leveled it and wated a week or more then did it again.
No insult was taken.
Mel W.

melw, because this is your first toolroom lathe I'll risk insulting you by asking whether you leveled it properly? Unlike your minilathe, toolroom lathes have enough flexibility in their long beds so that if you just put it on a nominally flat floor, it ends up with the tailstock not aligned with the headstock when they are a long way apart.

I'm not a Buckshot-style serious operator, but I did have to do at least a reasonable job of leveling mine. I used a precision level (NOT a normal Starret level) across the two ends of the ways, and shimmed the support points until I had it within one-and-a-half thousandths of an inch across the width of the bed, from end to end. I could have done better by spending more than the 20 minutes I invested - the level was easily sensitive enough to do much better - but since I never make long objects on the lathe I took the slack approach. In a toolroom it would have been done properly of course. You also need to recheck it occasionally - your shims are likely to settle after it has vibrated in service for a while.

[Buckshot]

..............You probably know you'll need to check it several times in the next 6 months. You oughta be able to make some BIG fancy stuff with a 17" machine! There's a story around on the web (with pictures) of a guy that turned a dang big cannon barrel on a 10" Logan!

He had to use a hoist to get the barrel up onto the lathe, and then swap the barrel end for end to turn the entire length, as the barrel was about 18" longer then the bed. When it came time to bore it he went to a friends who had a big Monarch with a 72" bed.

..................Buckshot

[Swagerman]

Well, good news for me.

This came in todays mail...




Me little watch fob of a mini-lathe is back in business of turning metal again.

Man, it runs like it was just taken out of its shipping box. Really strong again.

They forgot to send me my pully belt, but its doing great on the old one.

Jim

[melw]

Yes the guys at The LittleMachineShop.com are great to work with. I have a bunch of acc from them.
Mel W.

[RSOJim]

My wife and I go to yard and garage sales on Fridays here in central Florida. Yesterday I found a craftsman 109 lathe. I bought the thing for 150 bucks. I have been wanting one for a long time. Now I have to learn how to use it. I ask the guy if he had any reloading supplies to sell, well yes he did. I got twelve one pound cans of unopened powder for 50 bucks. Six of them were winchester 748, one container of unique, two cans of 4198, one can of 4350, one 296 and one of something else, can't remember right now, the coffee hasn't kicked in yet. Jim

[PatMarlin]

Your good fortune is almost upsetting..

[Swagerman]

Nice finds, got a picture if the Craftsman lathe.

About 25 years ago I had a chance to buy Sears Craftsman at a yard sale, but it was a rusted out ***. The original owner never took good care of it...must have got rained on and never dryed or lubed.

Can't remember what they were asking for it, might have been hundred bucks.

Jim

[Buckshot]

................I don't know why but those Craftsman 109's go for some crazy money on E-Bay. They're more of a toy then a real lathe but I guess it's a nostalgia thing or something. They ARE cute

...............Buckshot

[HTRN]

You can actually still do that at a Community College? I have hope for our country yet...

My "Community" College had Machining Centers, Turning Centers, and right before I graduated, a STL machine.

But then, they were offering a Man. Eng degree.


HTRN

[targetshootr]

What kind of revolver barrel work can you do on a Harbor Freight lathe? Had the urge to get one several years ago but it passed. To make an octagon barrel I guess you need a milling machine?

[Buckshot]

What kind of revolver barrel work can you do on a Harbor Freight lathe? Had the urge to get one several years ago but it passed. To make an octagon barrel I guess you need a milling machine?

.........Or a planer, or a surface grinder. Or lots of patience and a drawfile

............Buckshot

[leftiye]

.........Or a planer, or a surface grinder. Or lots of patience and a drawfile

............Buckshot

And lots of time/energy if you file. You could do a real short one with a milling attachment.