06-01-2014, 10:15 AM
Hi,
Well said David. Anyone serious about a hobby puts money second because after all it is the hobby which gives satisfaction not spending the money.
Buying a lathe even a small lathe isn't going to suddenly do all the turning jobs one wishes it to do unless of course it comes with just about every conceivable extra. Tooling which is obviously needed can easily cost a great deal more than paid for the basic lathe.
A novice owning their first lathe will quickly realize there is much more to accurate turning than simply chucking a lump of material; not only is lathe tooling needed but then comes measuring instruments; a cheap and cheerful digital caliper costs around £15 on eBay and with experience even one of these will give extremely accurate results; my cheap caliper is two thou out over its range which is a huge amount in engineering terms but if turning a shaft or spindle to fit a bearing and the bearing is to hand then direct accurate measurement isn't needed; I'd better expand a bit on this or Big Al will be responding; using such a digital caliper it's inaccuracy balances out because if the bearing is measured and size noted then using the same caliper to turn the shaft or spindle there is no reason other than inexperience for the two not to mate with great accuracy. I do this kind of work a lot; when it comes down to it measurement is comparison; as long as the same caliper is used throughout then the caliper is supplying the comparison.
I also have highly accurate micrometers which I do use when I'm turning to a given size; one comes down to one tenth of a thou (0.0001") and this sort of accuracy can be obtained even with a rough lathe; in its basic form all a lathe really does is to spin things.
Woodturners often work to fine limits such as when fitting lids to turned boxes; how satisfying it is to have the skill to turn such a box for the lid to "pop" when removed; I can do this and I know David can and we know how to do this even if we don't have anything to measure with. We achieve such a fit by comparison. Take for example one of these small turned wooden boxes; reduce the blank to round; turn an angled spigot on each end and part off at the joint where the lid meets the body. Mount the lid blank into the scroll chuck and hollow out; turn a parallel spigot then finish where access is allowed.
Remove the part finished lid then chuck the body and again hollow out; now using the lid as a measuring instrument turn to suit the spigot on the lid and with only a little practice it is amazing just accurately the lid can be made to fit giving the loud "pop" as it is removed.
This is only a very basic description but hopefully to a novice using a lathe explains that with practice it's not always necessary to have lots of expensive measuring equipment but I must stress mating parts in this manner does take practice. One thousandth of an inch sounds very small indeed but can make all the difference in the world when it comes to mating items.
David's Lorch Schmidt watchmakers lathe is a beauty and highly usable for vintage radio/TV restoration; this lathe is a precision lathe in every sense and will be a huge asset to David. Alan owns a much larger engineering lathe this being a Colchester Chipmaster which is moving up to industrial type lathes; I used to own an even larger Colchester Triumph and both these Colchesters will possibly turn anything thrown at them in a home workshop in fact I ended up selling my Triumph just because of its size which I still miss a great deal. You can turn small items in a big lathe but you can't turn big items in a small lathe. As Alan rightly says I would have struggled to turn Rob's pulley in my Clarke but although on the limit of the Clarke I think I could have managed it but only because of my lathe experience.
For what it's worth I think Myford lathes and all Myford attachments are very over priced unless of course when I'm selling such kit then the price plummets to scrap value? If I had plenty of space I would still own the Triumph and one of these top quality industrial lathes can still be bought on eBay cheaper than many Myford lathes?
Rambled enough; got to go; visitor just arrived.
Kind regards, Col.
Well said David. Anyone serious about a hobby puts money second because after all it is the hobby which gives satisfaction not spending the money.
Buying a lathe even a small lathe isn't going to suddenly do all the turning jobs one wishes it to do unless of course it comes with just about every conceivable extra. Tooling which is obviously needed can easily cost a great deal more than paid for the basic lathe.
A novice owning their first lathe will quickly realize there is much more to accurate turning than simply chucking a lump of material; not only is lathe tooling needed but then comes measuring instruments; a cheap and cheerful digital caliper costs around £15 on eBay and with experience even one of these will give extremely accurate results; my cheap caliper is two thou out over its range which is a huge amount in engineering terms but if turning a shaft or spindle to fit a bearing and the bearing is to hand then direct accurate measurement isn't needed; I'd better expand a bit on this or Big Al will be responding; using such a digital caliper it's inaccuracy balances out because if the bearing is measured and size noted then using the same caliper to turn the shaft or spindle there is no reason other than inexperience for the two not to mate with great accuracy. I do this kind of work a lot; when it comes down to it measurement is comparison; as long as the same caliper is used throughout then the caliper is supplying the comparison.
I also have highly accurate micrometers which I do use when I'm turning to a given size; one comes down to one tenth of a thou (0.0001") and this sort of accuracy can be obtained even with a rough lathe; in its basic form all a lathe really does is to spin things.
Woodturners often work to fine limits such as when fitting lids to turned boxes; how satisfying it is to have the skill to turn such a box for the lid to "pop" when removed; I can do this and I know David can and we know how to do this even if we don't have anything to measure with. We achieve such a fit by comparison. Take for example one of these small turned wooden boxes; reduce the blank to round; turn an angled spigot on each end and part off at the joint where the lid meets the body. Mount the lid blank into the scroll chuck and hollow out; turn a parallel spigot then finish where access is allowed.
Remove the part finished lid then chuck the body and again hollow out; now using the lid as a measuring instrument turn to suit the spigot on the lid and with only a little practice it is amazing just accurately the lid can be made to fit giving the loud "pop" as it is removed.
This is only a very basic description but hopefully to a novice using a lathe explains that with practice it's not always necessary to have lots of expensive measuring equipment but I must stress mating parts in this manner does take practice. One thousandth of an inch sounds very small indeed but can make all the difference in the world when it comes to mating items.
David's Lorch Schmidt watchmakers lathe is a beauty and highly usable for vintage radio/TV restoration; this lathe is a precision lathe in every sense and will be a huge asset to David. Alan owns a much larger engineering lathe this being a Colchester Chipmaster which is moving up to industrial type lathes; I used to own an even larger Colchester Triumph and both these Colchesters will possibly turn anything thrown at them in a home workshop in fact I ended up selling my Triumph just because of its size which I still miss a great deal. You can turn small items in a big lathe but you can't turn big items in a small lathe. As Alan rightly says I would have struggled to turn Rob's pulley in my Clarke but although on the limit of the Clarke I think I could have managed it but only because of my lathe experience.
For what it's worth I think Myford lathes and all Myford attachments are very over priced unless of course when I'm selling such kit then the price plummets to scrap value? If I had plenty of space I would still own the Triumph and one of these top quality industrial lathes can still be bought on eBay cheaper than many Myford lathes?
Rambled enough; got to go; visitor just arrived.
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
