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The old man seen an ad for public auctions last week and found some stuff coming up in the closest city from me. Mostly junk from the school but there was one item that looked interesting; a Rockwell metal lathe. It was going too cheap for his liking so he bid on it and ended up getting it for $400. Went to pick it up the next day and discovered that it is complete with everything that I don't know how to use. It took 3 days to clean it up as it was covered in dust and some sort of sticky material that took a lot of gas and mineral spirits to clean. The fortunate thing is that it came with all of the books which are as useless as can be because they only tell you how to adjust it but not how to use it. After I adjusted it all, there was little to no wear so I have been experimenting with it. Anybody reccommend a good book that talks about how to use a lathe properly and what the other attachments are for? Its a 10x36 with a 40" bed(36" usable), cabinet model.
Another thing, I really didn't have a place to put it so I broke it down and put it in a spare room in the house on a cement floor. I can't believe how heavy the dang thing is. I think the old mad got a good deal on it. As soon as I learn how to use it, I am going to make parts for my leverchildren.
Always glad to come to the aid of a fellow New Mexican
google up www.lindsaybks.com great stuff.
You will have a blast with this, they have a great sense of humor.
Enjoy!
mescalero1 wrote:Always glad to come to the aid of a fellow New Mexican
google up http://www.lindsaybks.com great stuff.
You will have a blast with this, they have a great sense of humor.
Enjoy!
Now add a good Bridgeport mill to that mix and you can do anything you like with a hunk of metal. Well maybe add an arbor press and a couple of broaches. When I worked for FA, they did most of their machining on the old Bridgeports which were variable speed via switching pulleys with a belt. That was the old style of Bridgeport, but some of the best machine work was done off of those mills. Wish I could find something like that for $400.
mescalero1 wrote:morgan,
you will have to come by and see my dinosaur sometime.
I would like that but lately, not a lot of time.
20cows wrote:Wow, I spent more than that on a Chinese knock-off!
It is truly amazing what you can do on a lathe, particularly on old American-made model of decent size like you just nabbed.
I'm jealous, big time.
Thanks. This thing came with a tapering attachment that I would sure like to figure out. I must admit that it is getting addictive. I have spent more time with it than my last girlfriend. So far I have been unable to make a decent thread but I did make 2 shear pins for the long screw.
That taper device is worth it's weight in GOLD, hang on to it.
Just keep at it, don't stick your fingers into it while it's turning, don't pull chips while it's turning, you'll be fine.
Keep your hand on the chuck key... and never leave that key in the chuck...NEVER... it will go through a block wall or your noggin! Leaving a chuck key in a lathe was the only thing I ever got "licks" for in High school. Pug McgGuire's number one safety rule!
Good threads need a tool ground to exactly 60 degrees with enough undercut to clear the chips correctly... read that book and look for the instructions on how to use the indexing dial and correct RPMS for the pitch you are cutting. We used to clean em up with a thread file...running the head at low rpms.
That lathe is worth a few hours of night classes at your local vo-tech or adult education center.
$400 wont buy half the tooling needed to set up a good machine... I envy your luck in this deal.
always press the "red" button--- it's worth the effort and the results can be fun
i have a craftsman by sears that was made by atlas in the 30's...i bought the thing in 1968 and still use it...the technician at sears parts was aghast when he told me "Wow! that thing was made in the thirties we don't carry parts for it anymore"...i also have/had (i gave it to my son) a sears floor model drill press of the same lineage that works beautifully.
a good friend of mine has a lathe and a cincinatti mill from a decomissioned WWII destroyer that work fantistically.
a good piece of machinery is worth the price, normally.
if you think you're influencial, try telling someone else's dog what to do---will rogers
dbateman wrote:wow you done very well there
any pics yet
Your right. Some pictures are in order.
I don't know if you can see everything but it came with 3 faceplates, 2 live centers-one hollow(I don't know what that would be for,) 3 jaw with 3 sets of jaws, 4 jaw, knurling device, some weird cone shaped thing that I assume is for marking the center of solid round shaft, several hard and soft centers, a jacobs chuck on morse taper, several tool holders, boring tool, and everything else that you see.
oh... make sure that the bed is ABSOLUTLY level in both axis too.... we used to shim them up with brass shim stock and even grout under the bigger machines we had at the power house. Any twist in the ways will make errors in your work.
that hollow center may be for wood... cant tell by the picture. Now all you need is a good dial indicator... and some mics ...and....
Nice set up!
always press the "red" button--- it's worth the effort and the results can be fun
Hillbilly wrote:oh... make sure that the bed is ABSOLUTLY level in both axis too.... we used to shim them up with brass shim stock and even grout under the bigger machines we had at the power house. Any twist in the ways will make errors in your work.
that hollow center may be for wood... cant tell by the picture. Now all you need is a good dial indicator... and some mics ...and....
Nice set up!
I forgot, it came with a dial indicator and magnetic base. Several years ago, I had an aversion to measuring tools teaching agriculture when I discovered that most of my students didn't know how to read a micrometer to the .0001" so I bought several sets with my paycheck and when I left, I took them with me and still have them. I levelled the lathe with the best level I own, a J. Rabone from the 1860's. It has leveling nuts on the bed with dampening washers under them.
The ole South Bend Lathe company used to send a paper back manual along with its old engine lathes. It was paper back... had pictures from the 1930's and I always felt is should be required reading for a lathe hand. I lost my copy a few moves ago.
You might find one on EBAY.
A dial indicator and base too.... your killin' me kid...killin me
always press the "red" button--- it's worth the effort and the results can be fun
If you ever feel like it I have a small lathe project I need done.
Joe
I would love to but right now, I don't have enough experience. Give me a couple of months to screw up my stuff before I dare attempt to build anything for others
There are lots of things you cam make for simple projects in the learning stage. Round O-1 or W-1
drill rod is great to practice on and makes fine tools.
"Tools Making Tools"
modifing a Lee FCD to use on the .308MX
made the reamer and cut the cavity on the lathe.
BP compression die and bushing neck sizing die for the .40-65
I think he means a dedicated branch circuit , so ma wont turn the toaster oven on while you are in a heavy cut or trying to trace the threads on a $400 rifle barrel.
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