20-07-2012, 09:40 AM
Hi,
I'm delighted to welcome you to the lathe owners club Joe which is growing steadily.
Once you get it running you will wonder however you managed without a lathe as they are so useful. What isn't obvious to a novice lathe owner is that a lathe can produce very accurate flat surfaces as a lathe is usually considered a machine for round surfaces. With a bit of practice castings can be machined to very fine tolerances and things like key-ways cut in shafting. A lathe opens up a whole new world as it is the daddy of all machine tools.
I think your window is safe Joe unless you are running the lathe in reverse. Had it been a wood lathe I think your front teeth would have been at risk by the work-piece becoming detached at speed due to a "dig in" fortunately this only ever happened to me once many years ago when I was practising with the dreaded skew chisel; a severe dig in detached the work-piece which instantly ran up my arm smacking me under the chin before coming to rest some distance away in the corner of the garage; fortunately no injury was sustained by me but it sure was a quick learning curve not to poke a revolving object in a casual manner.
You will soon be into lathe tool sharpening Joe and for a novice I think HSS (high speed steel) is to be preferred as it can easily be sharpened unlike TC (Tungsten Carbide) tipped tooling which really requires a diamond honing wheel running at around 10,000rpm. TC tooling also chips very easily and is expensive.
As my chum David has said many times one of the first mistakes to be made is to remove too much material for example if you are taking finishing cuts and want to remove ten thou; dial in ten thou and take the cut; on an old lathe this could actually remove something like 16 thou until experience is gained due to backlash. To remove ten thou requires a cut of five thou and halving the setting becomes second nature after a short while.
If you haven't got a Digital Vernier Calliper Joe may I suggest you buy one as it will be of immense use; mine cost about £15 through eBay years ago and for general work it is fine but for very accurate work I use micrometers. My calliper reads two thou out but I'm used to it.
I joined the following forum but have not yet posted on it due to lack of time but it will give an idea of just how big a world lathe work is;
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/
I've never used a CNC machine and possibly never will as pushing buttons doesn't appeal to me being trained on the old fashioned machines which carry on forever unlike the modern machines full of electronics begging to go wrong. I admit I'm old fashioned but I like to get up close and personal with my machines not have them hidden away behind guards and plastic screens whilst punching a control panel.
If I can help Joe please give me a shout and enjoy your new toy.
Kind regards, Col.
I'm delighted to welcome you to the lathe owners club Joe which is growing steadily.
Once you get it running you will wonder however you managed without a lathe as they are so useful. What isn't obvious to a novice lathe owner is that a lathe can produce very accurate flat surfaces as a lathe is usually considered a machine for round surfaces. With a bit of practice castings can be machined to very fine tolerances and things like key-ways cut in shafting. A lathe opens up a whole new world as it is the daddy of all machine tools.
I think your window is safe Joe unless you are running the lathe in reverse. Had it been a wood lathe I think your front teeth would have been at risk by the work-piece becoming detached at speed due to a "dig in" fortunately this only ever happened to me once many years ago when I was practising with the dreaded skew chisel; a severe dig in detached the work-piece which instantly ran up my arm smacking me under the chin before coming to rest some distance away in the corner of the garage; fortunately no injury was sustained by me but it sure was a quick learning curve not to poke a revolving object in a casual manner.
You will soon be into lathe tool sharpening Joe and for a novice I think HSS (high speed steel) is to be preferred as it can easily be sharpened unlike TC (Tungsten Carbide) tipped tooling which really requires a diamond honing wheel running at around 10,000rpm. TC tooling also chips very easily and is expensive.
As my chum David has said many times one of the first mistakes to be made is to remove too much material for example if you are taking finishing cuts and want to remove ten thou; dial in ten thou and take the cut; on an old lathe this could actually remove something like 16 thou until experience is gained due to backlash. To remove ten thou requires a cut of five thou and halving the setting becomes second nature after a short while.
If you haven't got a Digital Vernier Calliper Joe may I suggest you buy one as it will be of immense use; mine cost about £15 through eBay years ago and for general work it is fine but for very accurate work I use micrometers. My calliper reads two thou out but I'm used to it.
I joined the following forum but have not yet posted on it due to lack of time but it will give an idea of just how big a world lathe work is;
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/
I've never used a CNC machine and possibly never will as pushing buttons doesn't appeal to me being trained on the old fashioned machines which carry on forever unlike the modern machines full of electronics begging to go wrong. I admit I'm old fashioned but I like to get up close and personal with my machines not have them hidden away behind guards and plastic screens whilst punching a control panel.
If I can help Joe please give me a shout and enjoy your new toy.
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
