John,
Very clever arrangement, I like it. As you say there is an upside and
downside. Upside is, quickly put in place with little in parts ...
except the QCTP. Using the compound on a slotted angle plate lowers
the cost and raises the capability. But that's a good job.
Craig
--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "John <moran03@e...>"
<moran03@e...> wrote:
Hi Clay,
I'm a newbie too and have been experimenting with milling in my
lathe
with mixed results. I added a QC toolpost and found that this
allows
a crude vertical adjustment via the tool height; of course, you have
to stop, change vertical height, then make another pass so it is
very
slow but it does allow you to try milling. I hold work by bolting a
1/2" bar to the bottom of a small vise then mount this bar in the
toolpost. A picture is available to help make the setup clear:
You could do something similar using the regular toolpost by packing
to move things vertically, although the vertical movement would be
very small unless you packed the toolpost itself.
In addition to milling, I've found that a fly cutter provides a
simple and inexpensive way to make flat surfaces using the same
method of holding the work. Small items can be mounted in the
toolpost directly (or bolted to a piece of 1/2" stock) for milling
or
flycutting. I've had good luck with the flycutter once I got it
sharpened properly -- I broke the tips off of my carbide miller bit
by accidentally approaching the work too quickly which discouraged
me
somewhat -- the flycutter seems relatively bulletproof and is
inexpensive.
The sphere cutter shown on the above page had the slot for the tool
holder milled into the aluminum on my lathe by bolting the 2.5"
aluminum round to a 1/2" steel piece which was mounted in the
toolpost. The steel tool holder for the sphere fixture was shaped
mostly with a fly cutter plus some enthusiastic filing.
None of the above allows speedy results but it does allow trying
things out at little expense in $ or time.
John
--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "ccarlile1 <ccarlile1@y...>"
<ccarlile1@y...> wrote:
I'm finally up and running with my new 7 X 12 and I am having
a ball! I would first like to thank all the 'old timers' (who are
probably much younger than I) for all the help I have already
gotten
from their web sites and from the user groups on the Internet.
Unfortunately for my bank account, I have also found that
milling is almost a necessity in this hobby and I am looking for
alternatives to a milling machine. I discovered Varmit Al's site
and
the attachment he designed for a lathe and also found the $129
milling attachment at LittleMachineShop.com. Can anyone offer
comments on this approach to milling on the lathe -- both the pros
and cons?
Many thanks in advance, Clay
