Anyone here replaced the lead screw on a lathe?

Nice!

I have noticed that guys with old lathes don't actually make parts for anything except old lathes

This thread is proof again that the metal lathe is the only tool capable of reproducing itself with greater accuracy.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: Nice! I have noticed that guys with old lathes don't actually make parts for anything except old lathes This thread is proof again that the metal lathe is the only tool capable of reproducing itself with greater accuracy.

I've always thought a good project for some historical place like the Henry Ford would be to start with the blacksmith, and make each tool to get to the belt driven machine shop. Display each step in the evolution of tools. that would be cool.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: Nice! I have noticed that guys with old lathes don't actually make parts for anything except old lathes

I hope I don't turn into one of those guys. This sucker is a tool that supports my hobbies. It isn't supposed to become another hobby.

The company I have worked as a millwright at for the last 11 years was bought out by our main competitor. The deal will be finalized March 6th and it is quite possible that they will shut us down. If that happens I am out of work and almost just as alarmingly will no longer have free 24hr access to the machine shop. I am trying to make sure my garage is capable of supporting my habits in the manner that I am accustomed.

I just picked up a small machinists vise that I am planning on modifying to fit onto the tool post so I can do some basic milling with the lathe as well. If you think about it a lathe is kind of just a mill that was set on its side.

Now you've got me looking on craigslist for old atlas mini lathes...

ditchdigger wrote: I just picked up a small machinists vise that I am planning on modifying to fit onto the tool post so I can do some basic milling with the lathe as well. If you think about it a lathe is kind of just a mill that was set on its side.

I have seen those - for the amount of times I need a mill (occasional slotting, accurate spaced drill holes, end milling a small part...) it makes a ton of sense.

I am still trying to figure out how not to turn raw materials into garbage with mine but so far everything I've done has been easy the 2nd time. I find myself making everything a lathe project. I haven't made anything really precise yet but... motor mounts, aluminum steering rack & subframe bushings, etc.

I see it becoming like the welder. Never knew how badly I couldn't live without one before I bought it.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I am still trying to figure out how not to turn raw materials into garbage with mine but so far everything I've done has been easy the 2nd time. I find myself making everything a lathe project. I haven't made anything really precise yet but... motor mounts, aluminum steering rack & subframe bushings, etc. I see it becoming like the welder. Never knew how badly I couldn't live without one before I bought it.

They are essential! You can make a bunch of bits like these

Which magically become clipons for motorcycles

And I couldn't have made the rearsets without a lathe either

Or making a 36-1 trigger wheel to fit a GSX_R600 motor

Or a million other things. My photobucket must have hundreds of pics like these.

In reply to ditchdigger:

Sweet! Recommend me an indexed thread cutting tool and throw tips and tricks my way. I have a shift lever planned for the weekend and will need to cut a sexy metric thread on one end for the fine phenolic ball I have handy ;)

Hate to say it but I rely on taps and dies for all my thread cutting projects. The one time I didn't it took 4 hours to setup the lathe, make a dozen mistakes, turn a lot of stock into scrap and finally end up with a M17X1.0 flywheel puller for the vespa.

It is a skill I really need to learn.

I neglected to mention - I've had the very same Shooting Star DROs on my Smithy Granite 13-24 for years and they're great. I've managed to hold .001" when necessary for prototype instrument work, and they speed up the work tremendously.

What may interest you, Mr. Digger, is that I have a bunch of extra hardware and brackets I didn't use for my installation that may be of use to your install. With the recent arrival of a B'port clone and a 14x40 lathe the Smithy is leaving, so the extra parts are "surplus to our continuing operations". I even know where they are...

Shoot me an email at: motomoron at yah00 dot kom if you're interested.

What do DROs usually cost? Seems that there is a huge range of price. Any particular units that are good bang for the buck?

The Shooting Star unit is marketed to the home shop machinist crowd. It uses a rack gear hobbed onto length of on which rides a brass pinion, spring loaded to mitigate backlash. The pinion drives a rotary encoder. The lifespan of the assembly is fine for home use but would wear out in short order in 8 hrs day/5days week/52 weeks year use.

Commercial units use glass scales with non-contact reader heads and are everlasting. Anilam and Accurite are the big players.

Older used commercial stuff can be quite reasonable, bearing in mind they can be like buying parts for a exotic car - just because it's cheap now doesn't diminish that it was really freakin' expensive new, and the normal application is to help speed the process of paying work, so a $350 part vs. an idle machine and machinist is an easy decision for a shop while it may not be for someone who got the DROs for $100.

I need to dig 'em out, but I do have an old set of Anilam glass scale DROs I may sell. Gotta look and consider if my likelihood of future application exceeds my desire for more space and $.

motomoron wrote: What may interest you, Mr. Digger, is that I have a bunch of extra hardware and brackets I didn't use for my installation that may be of use to your install. With the recent arrival of a B'port clone and a 14x40 lathe the Smithy is leaving, so the extra parts are "surplus to our continuing operations". I even know where they are... Shoot me an email at: motomoron at yah00 dot kom if you're interested.

I would be interested to see what you have. Expect an email later.

In reply to ditchdigger:

Nice repair.

motomoron wrote: ....With the recent arrival of a B'port clone and a 14x40 lathe the Smithy is leaving, so the extra parts are "surplus to our continuing operations". I even know where they are... Shoot me an email at: motomoron at yah00 dot kom if you're interested.

does the Smithy have a home yet?