Advice on first lathe accessories for hobby smithing

[shawnba67]

I bought a Sheldon lathe and it came with a couple handfuls worth of dull tooling, a drill chuck and 2 live centers My dad gave me a sandwhich bag full of sharp bits and cutters. I have $220 left to get me started how should I spend it? I have no measuring tools beyond a good starrett calipers do a 3" mitoyu micrometer. I am wanting start practicing chambering on 22 barrels I have been looking hard at grizzly test indicators $30 ea vs $100 for mitiyo (spelled wrong I'm sure) so what are your experienced thoughts on first things first? Thanks much

[dragonrider]

You did not mention how big your lathe is and what it came with, chucks, faceplates, tool holder. To start with you need/must have measuring tools. Micrometers, 1" to 3". your choice as to brand but picking a top brand is always the best choice. If you a boring any holes you will need to measure those, telescope gages or small hole gages are a good choice. You will need to hold your cutting tools, I reccomend an Aloris type quick change tool holder, second choice would be a 4 station indexing type of tool holder. Indicators, a 1" travel indicator on a holder with fine adjustment rod is a must for me at least, also a test indicator such as a Starrett or other that has about .050" of travel for finish indicating a piece is a four jaw chuck. And speaking of chucks if it comes to a choice of 3 or4 jaw, get the 4 jaw, it will do anything the 3 jaw will and much that the 3 jaw won't. Beyond that ask questions there a plenty of folks here with the experience to answer.

[shawnba67]

I'll be completely honest I have no idea what kind of tool holder it has it's a Sheldon lathe 11" swing 56" bed. The bits are clamped in with a bolt and little half moon aligning pieces. My father is a lifelong tool maker and retiring soon so I should have a teacher, but he's not a gunsmith and nearly zero experience with smithing.

[Blue2]

Having a lath is like buying a tractor. It looks good sitting in the yard but you cannot do any work until you tool up. I would get an adjustable tool holder for the cross-slide right away. Using a half-moon tool holder and trying to get the right grind on the tools to cut properly is a major pain. My most used lath tool is a "Diamond Tool " holder that is made in Australia. An outfit that sells tooling for model trains in the U.S. distributes them. It allows you to grind a standard square tool steel so that it can do most of your cutting and facing with it. On a small lath tool steel works nicer for turning than using carbide tooling. I use tool steel 90% of the time and only use carbide when I am doing alot of stock removal or working on a really hard piece of metal.

[tim338]

You probably have the lantern style tool post. I agree a quick change set up is nice, but I would spend my money on tooling and later on upgrade to the Q.C.T.P. Personally I like using HSS tooling. It's much cheaper and it's easy to grind any tool profile you need.

[country gent]

Depending on the tooling ( you were very vaugue as to what it is) a simple bench grinder with appropriate wheels and you can easily learn to hand sharpen turning facing and threading tools, drill bits, and boring tools. As to the rocker tool post, They arent that tricky to set up and use. Put your center in the tail stock and measure from flat of carriage to point. When setting thetool set it to this hieght or just a little under you tool is now on centerline where it should be. The rocker post with a left and right hand tool holder will do almost any chore needed. As to measuring tools michrometers are hand and easier to use with the lathe. Indicators can be what you are comfortable with. a finger indicator ( last word type) is needed for holes and bores internal, a plunger type with more travel can be handy for outside work and indicating in parts in a 4 jaw. a magnetic base is very handy this allows the indicators to be held solidly and accuratly. And it also allows you to set up on ways to carriage for accurate finishing of lengths and shoulders, or to repeat dias on crossfeed. the 1" travel indicator can be used as a poor mans digital readout. SHeldons are a decent solid machine.

[Mk42gunner]

I'm no machinist, but this guy on youtube was a shop teacher and his video's make sense to me: https://www.youtube.com/user/mrpete222

Good luck, I'm looking for and affordable lathe to learn with myself.

Robert

[shawnba67]

Country gent i didnt mean to be vague but until my how to run a lathe book shows up or someone tells me i just have no idea what the little bits are called some have carbide inserts but look chipped on tbe tip so i assume tgey are just scrap? the hss ones im hoping to e shown how to sharpen mk 42 i will check those out thanks just trying to get my ducks in a row i figure ill need indicators to check the mavhine and its tolerances correct?

[oldred]

You probably have the lantern style tool post. I agree a quick change set up is nice, but I would spend my money on tooling and later on upgrade to the Q.C.T.P. Personally I like using HSS tooling. It's much cheaper and it's easy to grind any tool profile you need.


I couldn't agree more, this recommendation for the QCTP comes up often and while it's definitely a major plus it is not a necessity and with the limited funds mentioned here (in fact that QCTP would take about all of it!) there are way more important items that should be purchased before luxuries such as a Quick Change Tool Post are considered. The old style tool holders are a bit more time consuming to use but the fact is they have been in use for MANY years and did the job just fine, still they are indeed super nice IF the money is available for extras. Some good HSS tools (preferably Cobalt), calipers, dial indicator/holder, cut-off tool (parting tool), etc are much better investments at this point.

[MaLar]

First if your using HSS bits you'll need a good bench grinder to sharpen and touch up your bits.
A good 6" delta or such would be good. Don't skimp on a grinder and get one to small.
A good book would be second. I like this.

http://smile.amazon.com/Amateurs-Lathe-L-H-Sparey/dp/0852422881/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450577152&sr=8-1&keywords=the+amateurs+lathe

And like Mk42gunner (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/member.php?734-Mk42gunner) said
https://www.youtube.com/user/mrpete222 has a lot of good videos. And it sounds like he will answer your questions.
As will a lot of the guys here.

[tim338]

The Southbend book "How to run a Lathe" is a good one. It will at least get you started and there are copys of this book everywhere. Lots of practice is what you will need before you start threading and chambering barrels.

[bangerjim]

South Bend book for starters.

Carbide insert tooling all the way. You will NEVER have to sharpen good carbide/TIN cutters!!!!!! I have not used "grind-ur-own" HSS bits in decades. Totally old school and very time consuming.

Quick change tool post with full set of holders. Throw that lantern post holder in the drawer. You will never use it after using a QC! Only for very special/unusual application.

Boring bar set.

Oh....the most important part......a hardened top jaws/reversible jaws /3 jaw chuck that fits your spindle. You can't do anything on a lathe with a 3 jaw. Later get a universal 4 jaw. Buy at least a 6" chuck

[country gent]

Even the cemented carbide bits can be sharpened by hand on the proper wheel. Most shops have 2 8" bench grinders with a roughing and finish wheel for High speed steel and carbide along with a dressing stick to keep wheels sharp and flat. The big plus to the hand sharpened over the inserts is they can be sharpened to do just what you want how you want. You might consider a adult night school class in the machine trades. Look into vocational schools colledges that do apprenticeship classes. Another is to find an retired machinist ? toolmaker to help you show you the ropes.

[aspangler]

Google CDCO good tools etc. for less money. A QCTP with tool holders for just over 100. Tooling, indicators you name it. Not cheap but less expensive than most.

[bangerjim]

MOST people do not sharpen TIN indexable carbide inserts! They are not made to be sharpened. Grinding off the TIN plating defeats the purpose of it. And inserts are so dirt cheap (I buy them by the muti-box in at least 8 different profiles) it is not worth the time to try to grind one. And you roll the dice getting a good edge/profile on a green stone grinder. Now, my Darex.....that is a different story with a diamond wheel!!!! But I still do not grind them. Rotate anytime an edge gets damaged....you got 3 or 4 on each cutter.

I use TIN/Carbide indexable insert tooling for all my lathes and milling machines (boring/facing/hogging) cutter heads. And solid TIN/carbide end mills.

OP......do NOT waste money on those uber-cheeeeep cemented insert carbide cutters from Harbor Freight. Those are made from the softest cheapest carbide made by man (China).

banger

[DougGuy]

Shars tools are asian but they aren't bad and very affordable. I have a 3 jaw scroll chuck from them that is .0005" at the chuck and .0015" 6" out on a piece of ground rod. Not bad at all for off the shelf Chinese tooling. I use an AXA toolpost which is a decent one I think I paid around $100 - $125 for it shipped with a bunch of holders. Shars sells all the stuff you need for hobbying. Better you use used precision mics than new China mics, you can scrimp on tooling but not on measuring devices.

If you decide to get a quick change tool post, I think your lathe needs a size B.

[oldred]

That QCTP is going to be useless if there's no tooling to put in it, he said he had a bit over $200 to spend and that's about what that thing would cost! Keep the old tool post at this point, the QCTP is a very nice CONVENIENCE but it certainly is not a necessity, the end result of using either type of holder will be the same! Also for the same reasons the HSS tooling is also probably a better choice at this point as the initial investment will be a lot less and tooling can easily be ground for particular jobs, I have hundreds of Dollars worth of cemented carbides and various styles of inset type tools but I still use the HSS often, besides it's better to learn with HSS than carbide.

Don't spend the money on CONVENIENCES until you have the necessities!

[Jeff Michel]

Everyone here has provided you a lot of food for thought, all of it good. I think oldred has it right. There isn't a lot of sense in acquiring a bunch of tooling if you do not know what to do with it. Small steps, learn to do simple things like sharpening tool bits correctly, read up on leveling you lathe and do your best to understand a process before moving on. Believe me, accessories will come in time. and by that time you will have developed skills enough to get the most out of them. I've been running machines for 35 years and I learn every time I turn one on. Like you, I started with a modest amount of money and a ship load of desire. Don't hurry, enjoy the trip and practice and practice and practice some more.

[BigEyeBob]

I'll be completely honest I have no idea what kind of tool holder it has it's a Sheldon lathe 11" swing 56" bed. The bits are clamped in with a bolt and little half moon aligning pieces. My father is a lifelong tool maker and retiring soon so I should have a teacher, but he's not a gunsmith and nearly zero experience with smithing.

Thats called a lantern type tool holder still used by some old timers today .
The aloris QCTP type is good and plenty of imported copies available at a moderate cost .
You could get away with a 0-2" Mititoyo micrometer and a cheap set of imported small hole gauges to start with .
HSS is fine for gun work and some small boring bars would be handy .
I'm in Australia , but I buy most of my lathe and milling machine tools from the US .
Had good service from
VME(Victory Machinery Exchange)
(http://www.victornet.com/cgi-bin/victor/productlist.html?subdepartments=Morse+Taper+Reamer s%3A795%2C634)Tools4cheap LLC Online Machine Shop Tooling Store (http://www.tools4cheap.net/)
(http://www.victornet.com/cgi-bin/victor/productlist.html?subdepartments=Morse+Taper+Reamer s%3A795%2C634)CTC Tools Home Page (http://www.ctctools.biz/servlet/StoreFront)

(http://www.victornet.com/cgi-bin/victor/productlist.html?subdepartments=Morse+Taper+Reamer s%3A795%2C634)

[Ballistics in Scotland]

There is a reason why high speed steel and cemented carbide tools both remain on the market. Carbide will do a lot more smooth cutting in harder materials, but they are easily chipped in irregular impact, such as can happen in turning square metal to round, or an object with holes in it. Disposable carbide inserts are very good, but you will sometimes want to turn things, such as a groove or sharp shoulder, for which you will need one of the other two.

A good tailstock chuck is worth buying. It doesn't take a lot of heavy use to make an old one off-center. Tools such as chambering reamers can be more accurately held in collets. A really good headstock collet chuck, with an adapter for the tailstock is a delight (mine is for 5C collets), but although far from the most expensive lathe accessory you can buy, that and a few collets will eat up most of your $220. On the other hand morse taper collets to fit directly into the tailstock socket are cheap, and would be the perfect solution in the few lathes which have a hollow tailstock to tighten them up with a screw drawbar. The main makers of chamber reamers provide a floating reamer holder, which will take up misalignment of the tailstock with the headstock axis, but aren't intended to compensate for the bore axis being off-center in the headstock, so that it is whirling round at every revolution.

A grinder is close to indispensable, but needn't be a big one if it is only for smallish lathe tools, and while the cheapest are a bad buy, the fairly cheap are good enough for the private user. A few people use a grinding wheel in the lathe, but this is a bad idea - not just a little, but very - unless you take the most painstaking precautions to make sure abrasive dust can't get into the bearings or slides.

There are two kinds of steady for stopping long workpieces from flexing about. The travelling steady, on the saddle or cross-slide, isn't very useful, but the fixed steady, on the lathe bed, is invaluable for external work on barrels. These aren't cheap new or for widely used lathes, but I get only 17 hits for Sheldon lathe on the US eBay site, so if you set up a standing search there with e-mail notifications, a cheap one will show up.

Finally I have a cheap and simple accessory of which I don't even know the name, for checking alignment of the headstock and tailstock. It consists of two hard steel buttons of 3/4in. diameter, countersunk for 60 degree headstock and tailstock centres. You simply clamp them together between these centres, and check that the vertical and horizontal diameters aren't over 3/4in. It is particularly useful if you ever offset the tailstock to turn the kind of slight taper which is useful on barrels, and want to put it back again.

[screamingjohnny]

There is a lot of good advice here. I own a Sheldon lathe much like yours, and find it a delight to run. Mine didn't have much tooling either. I bought a 4 jaw chuck first, and an indicator. A QCTP is nice, but I still use the old lantern jaw tool holder sometimes. Finding a steady rest in the pre online auction days took awhile. The one I found was not a perfect fit, but I modified it to work. I hope you enjoy spending time with your dad learning to run your Lathe.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

As to fit for items like that, there appear to be more 10in. swing Sheldons around than the OP's 11in., and dealer who has come by a box of odds and ends may not even know the difference. It is a point worth watching.

[C.F.Plinker]

One thing that I'm glad I did was to mount one of those double arm draftsman's lights to the tailstock of my 7x12. It gives me much better lighting than I get from the overhead fixture and can be moved around as necessary to eliminate shadows.

[leftiye]

it would seem that you would buy tooling necessary to do the work at hand as you go. You can save money (a lot) by buying used equipment on eVil bAy.

[rbuck351]

I hope you have a chuck on it now and hopefully a 4jaw as well as either can burn your budget by itself. If no chuck, get a 4 jaw as it will do it all and at least you can get started. You will need a 1" and a 2" mic at least. Check with your dad as he probably has some extras . If not, buy China for now. $200 does not go far buying US tools. You also will need a dial indicator and magnetic base. Again China, as the budget will not allow better at this time. Enco has a fair brand of China tooling that won't break the bank. If you don't have a 4 jaw, you will run through your budget getting a 4 jaw, a couple of mics and a dial indicator with stand and a bench grinder. But you will have enough tooling to get started. When you start turning threads you will need a thread gage and a fish tail. Probably cost another $40/$50. Check with you dad, most old machinists have multiples of a lot of useful stuff. I would buy from Enco as apposed to HF or Grizzly as they seem to have a better grade of China made stuff.

[oldred]

I hope you have a chuck on it now and hopefully a 4jaw as well as either can burn your budget by itself. If no chuck, get a 4 jaw as it will do it all and at least you can get started. You will need a 1" and a 2" mic at least. Check with your dad as he probably has some extras . If not, buy China for now. $200 does not go far buying US tools. You also will need a dial indicator and magnetic base. Again China, as the budget will not allow better at this time. Enco has a fair brand of China tooling that won't break the bank. If you don't have a 4 jaw, you will run through your budget getting a 4 jaw, a couple of mics and a dial indicator with stand and a bench grinder. But you will have enough tooling to get started. When you start turning threads you will need a thread gage and a fish tail. Probably cost another $40/$50. Check with you dad, most old machinists have multiples of a lot of useful stuff. I would buy from Enco as apposed to HF or Grizzly as they seem to have a better grade of China made stuff.

I agree with the Chinese stuff unless decent used measuring tools can be found used at good prices however Harbor Freight is an even better source than Enco for the lower end items, same tools different name sticker -and price! HF has a usable dial indicator and stand dirt cheap when on sale (which is quite often so wait!) and they have decent electronic calipers and even micrometers, all of which I have been using with no problems for several years for normal "around the shop use", I have Starrett and B&S mics and Mitutoyo electronic calipers for "real" work but honestly the HF stuff seems to be reliable and quite usable. Enco has the mid-priced stuff too but why bother, cheap out to get the ball rolling and save the extra money to buy real tools when you can and just skip the mid-range items.

[Preacher Jim]

the first tool you need is a good machinists hand book, used saves money and the info in the older ones will help you determine what you need and proper set up of tools. then spend money buying what you need.

[Geezer in NH]

Steady rest if you are going to ream chambers.

[rbuck351]

I think my two dial indicators and my magnetic base are actually HF. And yeah, for what you will be doing HF China mics will be good enough. There are different ways of chucking and centering barrels for chambering depending on your chuck and your head stock through hole. You may not need a steady rest. Watch the specials on HF. Once you buy something from them they will send catalogs that usually have stuff discounted and often have a 10% or 20% off coupon. Although you can get a dial caliper pretty cheap, most of the things gun related will be under 2" dia. and your 1" and 2" will cover that and are usually more accurate (easier to get consistent readings). The main thing for right now is to get started making steel curley ques and learning cutting speeds, depths per cut, feed rates, tool bit shapes and that sort of thing. And very important, how to sharpen tool bits and drills. I am envious of your lathe. Get to it. Make chips.

[Alstep]

If any of you live anywhere near central PA, go attend the Cabin Fever Expo in January. It's not a gun show, it's a machinist's engineering show. Machining is similar to gunsmith's work, tooling is the same.
http://www.cabinfeverexpo.com/
This is a HUGE show, the machining quality and ingenuity of the stuff there is amazing. You can talk to people about the machinists trade, all kinds of first hand advise from very friendly folks. The machine tool vendors there have everything you could imagine. You can look over tooling, decide if you want or need it, compare prices, and take it home. No need to send away for something sight unseen, and then have to ship it back if it's not what you want. Be prepared to spend all day there, it's that big. You'll be amazed!

[Geezer in NH]

Re-read the post and best I can advise is take a night course at your local industrial school. it will teach and save you money setting up a home shop.

Don't take this wrong but that is how I started 40+ years ago. Simple things will become evident.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

When you are on a budget Morse taper arbors like this can be bored as accurately as your lathe will go, and substitute for a lot of collets, fly-cutters, tap or reamer holders etc. Usually they have a drawbar thread, but you can probably find them with a tang end so that they won't turn in an unbored tailstock.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-MORSE-TAPER-SOFT-BLANK-END-ARBOR-FOR-LATHE-/301755680029?hash=item46420a451d:g:ID4AAOSwN81WDPA D

[Buckshot]

............My first suggestion for someone who thinks they may be interested in machining is to spend several hours looking through You-Tube, to see some of it being done regardless if it's professional or not. A re-print copy of the Old South Bend book "How to run a lathe" or similar would be beneficial for learning terms and basics. Before you run out and spend that $200 you have burning a hole in your pocket, you need to learn about your machine.

Buying a used lathe is like buying a horse. You've just accomplished the cheap part. Everything in bits and pieces will be much more. After you decide where you're going to put it, and put it there you have to level the bed. You can bolt your lathe to the wall, but the bed must still be level to itself. Ships in the Navy from Destroyers on up have some sort of machine work capabilities and if you get my drift, the lathes are seldom what people would call level. However the bed is level 'To Itself'. You need to check into leveling the bed and how it's done.

I have no idea what your Sheldon spent it's life doing, or how well it was maintained. Even well maintained lathes in a production or a busy job shop environment can show wear, and it will usually be in the first 12" of the bed in front of the headstock. Another thing to determine is if your cross slide dial is 'Direct' or 'Indirect' reading. A direct reading dial means if dial it in an indicated thousandth against a piece of stock you'll remove .002" because the tool actually takes a thou off all around. Indirect reading means that same thousandth infeed actually moves the tool a half thou (.0005") so you take off .001". Just out of curiosity, what type of spindle nose does your Sheldon have? Possibly an 'L' series, and if so it's probably an L00 type as they were quite common, especially for your size lathe, but there are other types. Least desirable is a threaded spindle. Most folks who finally get a lathe spend time making stuff (tools) to use with their new lathe. It's a usefull activity.

You can live for a while with your rocker type toolpost, but their are a few much more user friendly types that are a HIGHLY desireable improvement over the rocker (or also called a Lantern toolpost). There is an almost unlimited amount of stuff you can eventually get, but don't be in a big hurry to try and get it. As I said, get your machine installed and checked out. You may find that $200 could just disappear in getting that done :-)

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

[oldred]

I think the best thing to do is buy just the bare minimum to start making chips, mics, calipers, lathe bits, necessary lathe accessories that may be missing such as centers (a live center may not be absolutely necessary but I personally consider it to be) drill chuck, etc and if only one lathe chuck can be chosen make it a 4 jaw. Then buy other items as the need for them is discovered.

[Ernest]

You might want to start here

http://www.amazon.com/Care-Operation-Lathe-Sheldon-Machine/dp/1559181052


(http://www.amazon.com/Care-Operation-Lathe-Sheldon-Machine/dp/1559181052)

[Rifle 57]

Check out EBAY for machinist tools I bought a nice American made set of 5 outside micrometers from 0-1" to 5"- 6" Scherr-Tumico in like new condition for $75.00

[oldred]

Check out EBAY for machinist tools I bought a nice American made set of 5 outside micrometers from 0-1" to 5"- 6" Scherr-Tumico in like new condition for $75.00


+1 for E-bay!!!!!!

I select the "auction only" option first, the Buy-It-Now also has some good buys sometimes but there are some real bargains to be had in the auctions. I have bought hundreds of Dollars worth of tooling for literally pennies on the Dollar! The trick is to shop often, watch for bargains and don't get in a hurry.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

That's very good advice, and eBay is also a first-class source of pictures if you aren't quite sure what you need. Other than accessories specific to a particular old lathe, a good rule is to remember that eBay is big, so unrepeatable bargains nearly always are repeated fairly soon. For things that really are rare, you can set up a standing search with e-mail notifications when an item does turn up.

[fast ronnie]

If you don't have the finances to buy an "aloris" type (there are some Chinese copies that work well) then you shouldn't be investing in insert type tooling. Cemented carbide may be old school, but it works and usually can be sharpened many times on a green wheel (cheap) or a diamond wheel on a bench grinder. You may not want to hear it, but to do barrel and chamber work takes some lathe experience to do the job properly. South Bend book how to run a lathe is a VERY good book. The old style tool post can be used. They are a nuisance but will work when set correctly. Learn the basics of tool geometry and clearance angles, and feeds and speeds. You can get an idea from the book, but you still have to get a feel for what the machine wants. That comes by cutting metal and lots of it. Mistakes will be made, but as a friend of mine once said "it's only a piece of metal" Learn to hold tolerances, how to set up the machine and get comfortable with it. Start with something easy to make that isn't too critical. As you get more experience, you can go on to more intricate parts. Chambering barrels is not difficult, but you need to learn the basics first. Just the chambering reamer is more than a hundred dollars and can be ruined in mere seconds if used improperly. Maybe make some parts for your loading bench or for a go-kart to get the feel of it. Most of those kinds of projects are fun to do and you get valuable experience by doing them. I have much more invested in my tooling than in the machines themselves. It is a never-ending expense to have the right tooling for some of the work you will do when you get to making some of the more critical parts. Have fun with it and you will find all kinds of things your neighbors and friends will be wanting you to do for them. It can be very rewarding. Hope to see some of the neat things you will be making posted on the forum!

[btroj]

As a guy who bought a new lathe just over a year ago I understand the question.
Before I bought the lathe I asked lots of questions. I did lots of online searches. I sent some PMs to Buckshot who was a huge help.
I learned a huge amount watching YouTube videos. Seeing what is being done can be a far better learning tool than just reading about it. Learn to grind HSS tools, it isn't hard and is very rewarding.

Ronnie is right, plan on making lots of chips. Buy some steel, a few different types, and see what happens if you go faster or slower. Learn to feel and hear what is happening, not just see. Learn to hear what chatter sounds like, you will soon know why it is called chatter!

Most important thing I learned in the past year is to think a project thru. What order to make the cuts. The order of operations can make or break a project.

I am nowhere near ready to chamber a barrel. I'm thinking about crowning one but not chambering. Lots left to learn first.

Tooling isn't cheap. Drills, reamer,s and lathe tool bits add up in price right quick like. I spent 500 bucks for a rolling tool chest just to have a place to store stuff and it is almost outgrown already. Start slow, buy as you need stuff. No need to get it all right now. Sometimes not having exactly the right tool is a hidden blessing, it makes you figure out other ways to get the job done.

This is a forum I have found helpful. http://www.hobby-machinist.com. They have some guys who are pretty good at explaining what is happening. Browse the forum, lots of useful info there.

Be patient. You aren't going to be as good as a machinist with 25 years experience after a few months of weekends and evenings. Let it be a fun experience. Stop when it gets frustrating. I often walk away and go back when I have thought the problem through.

[Iron Whittler]

Being a retired machinist and 'smith, I can relate to your situation. I'll take a look around my collection of goodies, as I may have some useful items for you. Some items you WILL NEED are a tool grinder equipped with wheels for HSS and Carbide along with a grinding wheel dressing tool to keep your wheels flat and Sharp. Harbor Freight sells one for this purpose. Next, what size tool bit does your tool holder use? Common sizes are 1/4", 5/16", 3/8" for your size lathe. If you will PM me with location and name, I'll see if I can be of help. Above all, don't get discouraged. Practice and Time will lead to good results. Best wishes to you!!! Iron Whittler:Fire:

[fast ronnie]

As a guy who bought a new lathe just over a year ago I understand the question.
Before I bought the lathe I asked lots of questions. I did lots of online searches. I sent some PMs to Buckshot who was a huge help.
I learned a huge amount watching YouTube videos. Seeing what is being done can be a far better learning tool than just reading about it. Learn to grind HSS tools, it isn't hard and is very rewarding.

Ronnie is right, plan on making lots of chips. Buy some steel, a few different types, and see what happens if you go faster or slower. Learn to feel and hear what is happening, not just see. Learn to hear what chatter sounds like, you will soon know why it is called chatter!

Most important thing I learned in the past year is to think a project thru. What order to make the cuts. The order of operations can make or break a project.

I am nowhere near ready to chamber a barrel. I'm thinking about crowning one but not chambering. Lots left to learn first.

Tooling isn't cheap. Drills, reamer,s and lathe tool bits add up in price right quick like. I spent 500 bucks for a rolling tool chest just to have a place to store stuff and it is almost outgrown already. Start slow, buy as you need stuff. No need to get it all right now. Sometimes not having exactly the right tool is a hidden blessing, it makes you figure out other ways to get the job done.

This is a forum I have found helpful. http://www.hobby-machinist.com. They have some guys who are pretty good at explaining what is happening. Browse the forum, lots of useful info there.

Be patient. You aren't going to be as good as a machinist with 25 years experience after a few months of weekends and evenings. Let it be a fun experience. Stop when it gets frustrating. I often walk away and go back when I have thought the problem through.

After I posted, I realized I should have mentioned high speed bits. They are MUCH cheaper and can be ground to lots of different shapes. Not only that, but can be ground many times on even a simple bench grinder without special wheels. One of the other posts mentioned keeping your grinding wheels dressed straight and true. VERY important as a uneven wheel is nearly impossible to grind a good tool with. If you run into a snag, pm me and I maybe can guide you thru some of the things you are likely to encounter. Be patient and you will learn. It is very rewarding.

[Buckshot]

........... Well, I see the OP hasn't been back since 12-19 :-) Wonder if his wife shot him for buying a lathe?

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