This is getting out of hand

[peccary]

So as my actual pedal building has slowed significantly I've been putting my limited build time towards other things - namely working on trying to design and figure out the best way to build an enclosure out of folded sheet metal.

In doing all of this I had been picking my cousin's brain on a lot of things. He's a professional machinist and has been a lot of help in getting a better understanding of the tools and processes involved in all of this as well as help with layout basics. He's also a musician and plays guitar and bass in various bands and I've made him a number of pedals over the years.

A few weeks ago he let me know that he had a mini-lathe that he wanted to give me. He lives in Tucson, AZ but was coming to So. Cal over fathers day weekend and could drop it off. Awesome!

He left it at my dad's place which is about an hour away from me and then my dad brought it to me last night (he works a couple of miles from my house so it worked out pretty well).

I need to get a bench for it to sit on as well as a bench grinder and then I can begin learning to use it. I haven't used a lathe since high school shop class, and that was a wood lathe. I've been watching some videos online which have been helpful. My cousin also left me with some tooling as well but it looks like I'll have to get a quick change tool post and a drill chuck and I will be pretty well set up. He had this from his grandpa and was only using it occasionally to polish parts and figured I could learn it and potentially make some knobs and little bits and whatnot. Gave it to me with the caveat that if I ever didn't want it I couldn't sell it - just give it back to him. I can live with that!

I'm stoked to have another metal working tool - now I just need to get proficient with it.

Pics or it didn't happen:

 

[BuddytheReow]

I sense a Chess set coming....

Let us know how this works out!

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

Awesome! I have a wood lathe and love woodturning but I’ve always wanted to do some metal lathe stuff someday

 

[Bio77]

That's awesome! Knobs was my first thought. You should look for a knurling attachment.

 

[peccary]

That's awesome! Knobs was my first thought. You should look for a knurling attachment.

Yeah, I've been looking at all of the tooling online. Knurling is something I'm going to have to learn for sure. There's a ton of info online about these little lathes. I didn't realize that they were legit little machines until I started researching them, but people use them to make some pretty awesome stuff and they are rather capable for their size. There are lots of modifications that people do to them as well.

I think that the quick change will be my first purchase and I'll go from there. I don't want to buy anything until I'm ready to use and know more specifically what I want, but a knurling attachment is on the list.

 

[Bio77]

Yeah, it looks legit. The chuck looks like a mini version of the big ones.

 

[peccary]

Yeah, it looks legit. The chuck looks like a mini version of the big ones.

I think the main difference is that this one mainly tears off fingers while the full size ones go for the entire arm

 

[Bio77]

I think the main difference is that this one mainly tears off fingers while the full size ones go for the entire arm

They usually have a picture of one wound up with hair in the safety section of shop books.

 

[BuddytheReow]

They usually have a picture of one wound up with hair in the safety section of shop books.

The finger or the arm?

 

[Feral Feline]

Just make sure it's on a bench that's well above your waistline.


What I know about metal lathes I can fit right here: I want one, but know nada 'bout them.

So jealous.


So, you'll be able to turn out some custom dash knobs for my planned hotrod, right? A crazy gearshift-knob...

 

[peccary]

Today I was able to spend three or so hours getting acquainted with this lathe. I had a blast. I really like all of the levers and knobs and whatnot.

Today I practiced facing, mainly, but did a little turning as well.

Here's one of my first facing cuts:

New video by Joe B

photos.app.goo.gl

And hers one of my first turning cuts:

New video by Joe B

photos.app.goo.gl

I was getting some doming when facing, but my cousin said that tends to be an issue with steel on smaller lathes. This doesn't have a carriage lock so he recommended putting some pressure with my hand on the carriage and that helped slightly, as did maxing out the RPMs and taking very small and slow cuts. That allowed me to get the face totally flat.

Turning is kind of a trip. Using a machine that is designed to power feed its own tooling in to its own chuck with a screw drive is a bit unsettling

The first few times were a little sketchy but once I got a little more comfortable with the order I needed to do everything it went more smoothly. According to my cousin I also need to slow it down a bit more as well.

I just wanted to post a quick update. I'll get some aluminum soon which should be a lot easier to work with and see how that goes. So far so good, though!

 

[fig]

This is awesome! How deep were you turning?

 

[peccary]

This is awesome! How deep were you turning?

I was going in about .020 on my later passes but started with .010 (cuts end up being twice the depth you adjust on the dials). I think that .02 is about the deepest I can go with steel. Im eager to get my hands on some aluminum.

 

[HamishR]

Knurling is actually pretty easy to do once you have the tool. You just kinda press it into the metal. I'm sure there is a Youtube tutorial somewhere. I'm jealous too! I loved metalwork and woodwork when I was at school. I would love to have a metal workshop but you know - space, time, money... As it is I have some pretty OTT woodworking tools.

Once you have it dialled in things like Tele knobs will be a piece of cake. The only issue with using different metals I guess is that you need different tools for each metal, and then you'll want a bench grinder to sharpen them. Then a bench mounted buffing wheel, a drill press, some sheet metalwork stakes...

 

[Barry]

Knurling is actually pretty easy to do once you have the tool. You just kinda press it into the metal. I'm sure there is a Youtube tutorial somewhere. I'm jealous too! I loved metalwork and woodwork when I was at school. I would love to have a metal workshop but you know - space, time, money... As it is I have some pretty OTT woodworking tools.

Once you have it dialled in things like Tele knobs will be a piece of cake. The only issue with using different metals I guess is that you need different tools for each metal, and then you'll want a bench grinder to sharpen them. Then a bench mounted buffing wheel, a drill press, some sheet metalwork stakes...

Yeah, you start an innocent little hobby with a few hand tools and next thing you know you've got a shop that could build a space shuttle!

 

[Flashheart]

So as my actual pedal building has slowed significantly I've been putting my limited build time towards other things - namely working on trying to design and figure out the best way to build an enclosure out of folded sheet metal.

In doing all of this I had been picking my cousin's brain on a lot of things. He's a professional machinist and has been a lot of help in getting a better understanding of the tools and processes involved in all of this as well as help with layout basics. He's also a musician and plays guitar and bass in various bands and I've made him a number of pedals over the years.

A few weeks ago he let me know that he had a mini-lathe that he wanted to give me. He lives in Tucson, AZ but was coming to So. Cal over fathers day weekend and could drop it off. Awesome!

He left it at my dad's place which is about an hour away from me and then my dad brought it to me last night (he works a couple of miles from my house so it worked out pretty well).

I need to get a bench for it to sit on as well as a bench grinder and then I can begin learning to use it. I haven't used a lathe since high school shop class, and that was a wood lathe. I've been watching some videos online which have been helpful. My cousin also left me with some tooling as well but it looks like I'll have to get a quick change tool post and a drill chuck and I will be pretty well set up. He had this from his grandpa and was only using it occasionally to polish parts and figured I could learn it and potentially make some knobs and little bits and whatnot. Gave it to me with the caveat that if I ever didn't want it I couldn't sell it - just give it back to him. I can live with that!

I'm stoked to have another metal working tool - now I just need to get proficient with it.

Pics or it didn't happen:

View attachment 27701

I have no idea what that is but I love it!

 

[peccary]

I have no idea what that is but I love it!

It is a tool that spins metal stock so that you can do various things to it to precisely remove bits of the stock with cutting tools.

I'm planning on using aluminum round stock to make knobs right now, but as I gain knowledge I sure I'll make much more. I've seen plans online to make steam and gas engines, all kinds of stuff.

This is a small version but is still a rather powerful tool for the size.

 

[peccary]

Knurling is actually pretty easy to do once you have the tool. You just kinda press it into the metal. I'm sure there is a Youtube tutorial somewhere. I'm jealous too! I loved metalwork and woodwork when I was at school. I would love to have a metal workshop but you know - space, time, money... As it is I have some pretty OTT woodworking tools.

Once you have it dialled in things like Tele knobs will be a piece of cake. The only issue with using different metals I guess is that you need different tools for each metal, and then you'll want a bench grinder to sharpen them. Then a bench mounted buffing wheel, a drill press, some sheet metalwork stakes...

I am researching knurling tools right now, actually! It's something that I'll have to get down for sure.

I've been very lucky when it comes to metal working. I live near a heritage museum that has a traditional blacksmith shop on it. The property is part of the high school next door and is owned by the school district, and the blacksmith shop is run as a non-profit to benefit maintaining the heritage of the county and providing cool stuff for school students in the district to get involved in or just check out on tours. So it's a low cost way of blacksmithing, which is really awesome.

And the lathe was given to me by my cousin, so I have been extremely lucky. I've been really lucky with this stuff recently after being a whiney butthead for so long that I am really doing my best to appreciate the value in everything I've got right now and how lucky I am. I have been putting more and more time in to these hobbies which are all colliding in really cool ways and the time I have been putting in has honestly been the most fun and rewarding thing that I have done for myself in a while. I need to keep it up.

 

[Alan W]

I’d recommend getting carbide inserts, and the bars that hold them, rather than using tool steer cutters. You will not have to sharpen them, and they will cut much better. Shaping and grinding your own cutters is much harder to learn than how to use the lathe. I owned a prototype/machine shop for over 40 years.

I’m not sure what size tools your holder is set up for; probably 8 to 10 mm (this is the side of the square bar that is clamped by the tool holder). Measure yours and I’ll send you a link to a “starter set.”

I‘d also recommend you get a clamp that you can use to keep the carriage friom moving, if there is no screw down on it to lock it to the rail—trying to hold it in place isn’t a good idea. You’ll find aluminum much much easier to work with than steel. Lathes really are fun to work with. You’re much better off removing just a few thousandths per pass, and doing many more passes. Especially with a machine that size.

 

[peccary]

I’d recommend getting carbide inserts, and the bars that hold them, rather than using tool steer cutters. You will not have to sharpen them, and they will cut much better. Shaping and grinding your own cutters is much harder to learn than how to use the lathe. I owned a prototype/machine shop for over 40 years.

I’m not sure what size tools your holder is set up for; probably 8 to 10 mm (this is the side of the square bar that is clamped by the tool holder). Measure yours and I’ll send you a link to a “starter set.”

I‘d also recommend you get a clamp that you can use to keep the carriage friom moving, if there is no screw down on it to lock it to the rail—trying to hold it in place isn’t a good idea. You’ll find aluminum much much easier to work with than steel. Lathes really are fun to work with. You’re much better off removing just a few thousandths per pass, and doing many more passes. Especially with a machine that size.

I ordered a quick change tool holder and Carbide cutting set from Little Machine Shop just today. My cousin gave me some bits to use, so that's what I was using there. I was eager to get started and just doing something but I'm doing my best to get set up. I'll take your advice on shallower cuts for sure. I am going to grab some aluminum to work with soon and I'm excited to see how that goes.