Lathe

[danski26]

Several months ago I bought my first lathe. It is a South Bend Heavy Ten. It had a few issues that I have almost all worked out and i am getting tooling as money permits. I have been learning as i go and am having a lot of fun.

My first gun project will be a rebarreling of my 270 win. I am getting close to having the tools I need. I hope to have this done by Christmas.

It was quite a chore getting the lathe into the basement. I thought about leaving it in the garage but I know I will use it more, being in the basement. I included some pics of the move into the basement and one of it set up.

I built a ramp of 2x4's going down the stairs, strapped the cabinet and then the headstock and ways to a heavy duty hand cart and lowered the whole ring down the steps by a 2 ton winch attached to my truck. It worked perfect.

so far I love having the lathe and look for little things i can make with it all the time. I have two gunsmith friends and one machinist friend who are helping me with learning how to use the lathe. It is very satifying!

[No_1]

Great ingenuity for getting it down there. You will enjoy it I am sure. Keep us posted of your projects.

Robert

[danski26]

Will do! I am working torwards my own part time gunsmithing buisness. I hope within a year or two that I am up and running.

[PatMarlin]

Nice piece of iron there Dan. One thing you sure don't have to worry bout' is someone walking out with it ...:mrgreen:

[elk hunter]

Your going to like the SB, they're good equipment. Next you'll want a Bridgeport mill. Getting that down the stairs may be a little more of a challenge.

Good luck on your rebarrel.

[PatMarlin]

Yaw- You can take the Bridgeport apart in sections easily. I've lived in areas and been in business's before where constantly had to worry about theft. Not with this stuff. I think I read somewhere Grizzly I think was going to remanufacture a line of SB parts?

[dragonrider]

This is just the first stage of the illness that will consume your spare spare time untill such time as you will be using that engine crane and a harness to hold you up at your lathe. There are support groups for this illness, all you need to do is stand up at a meeting and say>
"Hello, my name is (insert name here) and I am a home shop machinist, it all started........................................... ........

[deltaenterprizes]

There is a great support group at "The Home Shop Machinist" site!

[danski26]

A bridgeport you say? Kinda like this one I am trying to get set up in the garage?

[PatMarlin]

Yeah- one just like that one ...:mrgreen:

[danski26]

I've been trying to get my buddy who is an electrition to come over and wire the mill up but he is going through a divorce and hasn't had the time yet. Soon hopefully.

[ricksplace]

Nice machine. My lathe is in the basement too, and it's great. Warning -as the folks above have said, home shop machining is an illness...

[Deputy Dog]

I am going to look at a bridgeport mill in the morning I have a jet mill just want a bridgeport it is addicting.

[white eagle]

I worked as a machinist for 15 yrs or so
I loved making things on the lathe used to get a kick out of running the bridgeport to
I too thought about getting a lathe for barrel work but as of yet have not
Looks as though you are on your way just take your time and contrary to what some of the old timers use to tell me good machinists do have all their fingers ,be careful have fun

[Buckshot]

.............Getting a lathe and a mill can be the answer to a life's dream. But getting them is like buying a horse. All the real expense comes afterwards :-) Every new tool catalog is a veritable gold mine of stuff you just KNOW you gotta have! The accessory craze was so bad for me I had $2800 (bought over a couple years) worth of milling machine accessories a solid year before I had the scooties put together to buy the mill :bigsmyl2:

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

[Oyeboten]

Nice to see!


I got an older South Bend Lathe a couple years ago, been so darned busy with Work and family things, I have not even set it up yet.

Nice to see someone go for the gusto!

[PatMarlin]

We tithe at ENCO.

[MtGun44]

The heavy 10 is a good machine. I have a friend that has one and it is a good old machine.

He really trumped that a few years ago by buying a Hardinge.:shock:

Before I used the Hardinge I didn't know that there were machines that
nice.

Bill

[Buckshot]

We tithe at ENCO.

..............HA! You bet, and we feel SO guilty. Don't we?

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

[ricksplace]

We tithe at ENCO.

Yup. Spent some money there alright. Try KBC tools. They have a USA and Canadian office. I bought some specialty thread taps for making muzzle breaks (.500/28tpi, etc) made in Poland. Beautiful high speed steel, razor sharp and very reasonably priced . The hss tool bits they sell from India are excellent too, far better than the China stuff I tried from enco. The KBC catalog is great.

[bigdog454]

I am looking at a Leblond lathe. Anyone know anything about them? are they good? It's a
13 X 40

[PatMarlin]

Those Leblond's are nice, but you may want to stay away from this one.

He's a fresh repaint at an obscene asking price from Sterling Machinery:

http://www.patmarlins.com/2Leblond.jpg


Now look at this photo. Am I seeing things or does there look like some serious wear and a dip in the ways right forward of the chuck, dead center in the pic.

Kinda like putting lipstick on a pig? ...:mrgreen:



http://www.patmarlins.com/1Leblond.jpg

[deltaenterprizes]

I think you are right, but I was able to do good work with my P&W Model "B" even with worn ways. The price was right, it was a graduation present from my machinist teacher! Also ALL the machines in the shop where I got my first job were worn out but we still turned out work to .0005''. It's not the machine it is the machinist, a good machine just makes it quicker and easier!

[bigdog454]

Not going to to pursue this leblond, it;s 440 VAC 3 phase,, and Im stuck with 220 VAC. But I talked with Yodermachinery.com sales man, and he says that he,ll let me know about one that fits my parameters.
Thanks for the feedback guys.

[deltaenterprizes]

440 VAC can be converted to 220 VAC and used with a phase converter or a Variable frequency drive for a couple hundred dollars.
Check out "The Home Shop Machinist" and "Practical Machinist" sites for info.

[bigdog454]

I'm gona check into that Deltae.., and may reconsider if the $$ are right.
Thanks BD

[Linstrum]

It doesn't get much better than a good condition South Bend for what you want to do.

I have had a lathe since 1959 and currently own a Taiwanese Jet 13x60 belt drive I bought new three years ago and a 1960s US-made Millrite copy of the Bridgeport I got in 1972. They get used at least once a week.

I removed the AC motors on both and replaced them with 3/4 HP Boston Gear shunt-wound 90-volt DC motors and variable speed controls with reverse switching. Not having reversing variable speed control on lathes and mills is like not having a gas pedal and reverse on your car. Really nice variable speed controls are also available for AC motors, so check them out. They aren't cheap, but they make using your machines SO much easier, especially for threading and tapping.

I cut metric threads all the time and with the 120x127-tooth metric conversion gears on a lathe the only way you can do metric threads is by backing the lathe up between cuts, otherwise you lose the timing between the carriage feed and the threaded part when you disengage the carriage feed half nut on the lead screw. Backing up the carriage by hand takes forever, so that is another reason to get reverse.

I prefer belt drive for tapping because I set the belt loose to slip so I don't snap off taps. I also use carbide boring bars for some jobs and the little 3/16" bar is easy to snap off and expensive to replace, so I also use the boring bar with the belt set loose in case I screw up. Replacing belts is easy with the linkable belts available now, although the belt on the lathe I got in 1959 I replaced in 1966 and it was still okay in 2006 when I quit using the old lathe.

Have fun!


rl 823

[GeneT]

It's not a disease until you're looking at shapers...

GsT

[Linstrum]

It's not a disease until you're looking at shapers...

GsT


There's a joke in there somewhere - - - - - -

Let's see, the tool bit holder in a shaper is commonly referred to as a "clapper box", so I guess you could say that a strong desire to own a shaper is having a bad case of the, uh, - - - - well, you can figure it out.


rl824

[PatMarlin]

I did a DC retrofit with a KB control off ebay (very good company and quality controls by the way) and a 3hp treadmill motor on my WEBB knee mill. Works very well and vari speed is awesome.

I have a Supermax YCM-40 CNC mill to get online here, and it's a 3 phase machine. The computer, CNC servos and everything but the spindle drive motor is single phase 110v. I run a single phase solar system so I was hoping to get a VFD for the spindle motor. Problem is it's 3 hp, and I don't think they make a VFD that large for single phase 110v. May have to go DC again.

[bigdog454]

For the price that they are asking for the Leblond and a phase converter, I can buy a NEW Jet 13X40 with a 3, 4 jaw chuck and a face plate etc. that's 220V 1 phase. Sort of plug and play, I'd just have to leavel it and plug it in, and add bits. Maybe that's the way to go.
??

[PatMarlin]

That's the dilemma with buying iron today. The Jet and other Chinese imports are a 50/50 **** shoot in quality. The old American iron was without question quality, but there is a wear factor.

I've read great reports on old Jet equipment, and some scary reports on their new stuff. I think the higher end iron from Taiwan is becoming the best in today's world.

Next [used] lathe I'm going to buy is a Southwest Industries Trak- manual/CNC. Taiwan castings, and the rest is California built. Pricey, but very tough lathes and great CNC controls.

[Dutchman]

It's not a disease until you're looking at shapers...

GsT

I just closed a deal on a trade. Three rifles for one South Bend 7" shaper and some other stuff. I can't wait:).

Dutch

[Big Dave]

Travers Tool Co./MSC are good folks too.

[Linstrum]

I can't speak for what Jet is selling right now, but the Jet belt drive 13x60 with induction hardened ways I bought new three years ago is not Chinese, it is made in Taiwan, which is known for building excellent machines. Once I re-aligned the headstock and centered the tailstock after setting up, I made a trial cut using a carbide tool bit on a 1.375-inch bar of type 303S stainless steel the full usable 40 inches of bed length between the headstock and tailstock center. The cut was uniform within half a thousandths of an inch in diameter for the entire 40 inch cut. At first I didn't believe it and I kept checking every few inches up and down the bar and it was 0.0005", which I measured with my Starret 1/10,000" mics. That is good enough for me. My 13x60 is identical to the 13x40 except the bed is 20 inches longer. Those models of lathe have a removable gap in front of the headstock that increases swing radius from 6.5" to about 9.5" and I can chuck a car rim in it.


rl829

[El Bango]

Couldn't imagine life without machine tools what would you do?American Idol?My God!THAT"S why there are so many brain dead idjits in this country.

[seagiant]

Hi,
Dragonrider,you crack me up! I knew I was keeping that engine crane for something! Yes you need a Bridgeport! It's never ending but look at it as an investment. Here is a pic using my newly acquired boring head,making a charge bar for a 1960 shotshell loader. I get a lot of satisfaction being able to make parts for different things and giving them new life so to speak!

[justashooter]

Nice machine. My lathe is in the basement too, and it's great. Warning -as the folks above have said, home shop machining is an illness...

amen, me too.

[dragonrider]

Yes it feels good to be able to do it yourself. If you are a woodworker you will find your Bridgeport to be an awesome overhead router.

[Cactus Farmer]

There's a joke in there somewhere - - - - - -

Let's see, the tool bit holder in a shaper is commonly referred to as a "clapper box", so I guess you could say that a strong desire to own a shaper is having a bad case of the, uh, - - - - well, you can figure it out.


rl824

So, since I have a South Bend 7" bench top AND a Logan 7" floor model I have a double case of the,uh,uh,uh applause?