开云体育

G'day Rance

I have seen many examples of people installing a chip guard on their
lathes to deflect chips from the ways and leadscrew. I really liked
the idea of using a bellows rubber sheet as fitted to the mini mill
,but I cannot find a supplier here in the UK.
I am aware that The Little Machine Shop sells this but is out of stock
and anyway with import costs the price would be unattractive. Then it
dawned on me that I could make my own, from materials that are easily
available ,namely lamination sheets.
Using an A4 lamination sheet of 125 microns I passed it through the
laminater without any insert, and then by scoring the sheet with the
back of a hobby knife across every 1/2 inch and turning the sheet over
with every score , finally fold on all the scorings to produce a
viable bellows sheet. If the sheet is ever damaged or wears out it can
be easily replaced . The resultant film is strong enough to fix
directly with screws to the travelling steady fixings on the
crossslide.I have also made one with a sheet of coloured paper in the
lamination this works fine but is slighty stiffer and more difficult
to fold , but not impossible !

G'day Vikki et al.
Vikki by now you must be totally confused. There you have generated
much useful discussion. I forgot to answer one of your questions,
that relating to the shim between the centres. It has been answered
by others, the shim can be a razor blade even a thin steel rule,
something the points on the centres can't penetrate.

Out of all this two things come to light. Firstly you need to check
your tailstock centering every time you want to turn a long parallel
piece. This is good practice with any lathe even more so with old
lathes. Secondly your design should acknowledge that some taper is
possible. For example, I recently turned a shaft which was to have a
bearing near each end. As I turned and miked the shaft I discovered I
was turning a taper. To overcome this I turned the midddle section of
the shaft below the bearing diameter and then separately turned each
bearing section to the nominated diameter. I guess this good practice
anyway.

There is an old saying "A poor workman blames his tools". Behind this
is the fact that a good workman keeps his tools in good service but
also knows and allows for their shortcomings.
The other old saying, "measure twice and cut once". It applies to
lathes.

BTW. You can check you headstock alignment by taking off the chuck
running your dial indicator across the face of the spindle with the
DI mounted on the cross slide. I am yet to be convinced that
headstock alignment is a problem unless the lathe has been mistreated
in transport or similar accidental damage. You can't turn longer than
3 times the job diameter so a small angular misalignment is not going
to induce much taper. Anyway the spindle axis and the cross slide
axis are not meant to be precisely perpendicular. For instance
turning across a face should cause a slight concavitiy, only a few
thou, but the concavity must be there. If not, a faced surface will
not sit flat on a truly flat surface.

Anyhow Vikki, the host of responses indicates your bower is working!

One good turn deserves another.
Regards,
Ian

Vickie,

Not being very bright ot talented, I (correctly) figured I could
never get my headstock and tailstock in perfect allignment But I
figured that even though not understanding all (or any) of the various
published methods of achieving perfection in this area, I could get
close enough (via perseverance and dumb luck) to do acceptable work.
I lucked out in the first instance by getting a really well made
old style Homier. The old style Homiers and Cummins lathes use two
rear set screws instead of the one central set screw used on the Seig
machines. This difference alone makes the allignment MUCH easier
provided that these set screws are immediately replaced with 6mm
SHCS's. On a seig machine, holes would need to be drilled and taped
for these invaluable "adjustment" screws. The first step is to get the
allignment "close." This entails centering a perfectly round rod
(printer rod, shock absorber rod or drill rod, etc.) in a collet or
four jaw chuck. The rod only needs to be 3 or 4 inches long with one
inch protruding. The tailstock is then removed and the bottom locking
screw is loosened and the tailstock is replaced on the bed and locked
down. A jacobs chuck (with open jaws) is then firmly inserted. Next
you unlock and slide up the tailstock until the rod enters the jacobs
chuck and your head and tailstocks "kiss." You then lock down the
tailstock and tighten the jacobs chuck. You then loosen and retighten
the tailstock locking nut (or camlock if you have one). You next
loosen and snug up the two rear (6X1mm) adjusting screws. During this
process the tailstock quill may be locked or unlocked. It will be
locked if you want things to be (near) perfect when turning or
unlocked if you want things to be (near) perfect when drilling. (I
used the unlocked method). You next carefully remove the tailstock
(relying on your two rear adjustment screws to hold everything
together) and tighten the bottom lock screw. Then remove both chucks.
Put a #3 morse center in the headstock and a #2 morse taper in the
tailstock. Bring up and lock the tailstock base and use the razor
blade method to see how close to perfect you are. Using a razor blade
(or something similar) held between a #3 morse center point in the
headstock and a #2 morse center point will show how close to perfect
allignment you are. If everything is "perfect" the blade will be
perfectly perpendicular to the points, both up and down and side to
side. The blade will show you if your tailstock is too high or low and
if it's too far forward or back. In my case my height was perfect and
I was slightly too far foward. All I had to do was slightly tighten
the front adjusting screw and very slightly loosen the rear screw (you
always finish by making sure both adjustment screws are tight). You
are now perfect right where you are at. This will constantly change as
you use different chucks and the tailstock is locked and unlocked at
different spots with different quill extensions and as things wear
from use. No one adjustment lasts forever. Generally the things I make
don't have to be absolutely perfect. When I made new over sized
(better fitted) compound and cross feed lead screws, I wanted them to
be perfect. This was pretty easy to do. When I cut a new cross slide
lead screw it took all of my bed length. After chucking my drill rod
and taking a few light surface cuts, I miked the ends and discovered
that the tailstock end was .0015" larger than the headstock end of the
rod (soon to be screw). By very slightly tightening the front
tailstock adjusting screw and very slight loosening of the rear screw
(followed by several more light test cuts) I was able to get a
perfectly straight cut with absolutely no measurable taper. It should
be noted that these ultra fine adjustments are made without loosening
the base nut or bottom locking screw (i.e. the tailstock can be
"tweeked" into perfect allignment even though the upper part of the
tailstock would seem to be solidly affixed to the lower part of the
tailstock and the lathe bed. Any time you need a perfectly straight
cut, this method of "on the fly correction" can be employed. I can't
imagine why seig machines only have one central rear set screw when
having two opposing (opposite side) screws makes adjustment SO much
faster and easier.
I'm sure this is NOT the professional or approved method of
alligning the head and tailstocks but it has worked very well for me.

Bruce

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "Steve Claggett" <790racer@>
wrote:
I appreciate you trying to find that. I want to turn some 20" small
dowel like wood that could be fed through the headstock and turn 2 to
3" at a time then move it out and do it again. there wouldn't be much
pressure against the tail stock.

Can you just use a steady rest? Perhaps with custom modified fingers?
I'm thinking something like rubber pinch rollers from a couple old
cassette players or VCRs or something rather than hard bearings.

hi john-

<>

it was nice of the seller to provide extra batteries. going into a local
drug store to buy replacements is very pricey.

hope this helps!
david



MetalWorkingFAQ.NET - Over 50 content sites! <>
CNC, Plans/Kits, 8x12 Lathe, Mini-Mill, How-Tos <>
Sieg X3/Super X3 Mill Information, HF/Enco Coupons <>

Commercial sheet pans can be had in 18 x 26 inches, here is an example eBay # 160020141890

I'm not sure what I am seeing here, but I get top and bottom of the
quill to read zero (top set as reference zero) but the front (toward
operator) and back are both around 13 (plus to front, minus to rear),
depending on the tap of the moment.

That indicates that while you have the tailstock pretty well centred
properly up and down, it is either not pointing straight at the
headstock, or it is off centre. Most likely it's a bit of both. If
you extend the quill further, you'll probably find that difference
will drift one way or the other. Think of in in the extreme - think
of what the indicator would read if the tailstock was pointing 10
degrees or so off centre.

You must start by setting the tailstock straight - what John
(gadgetbuilder) calls angular alignment. Then you know the error
you're seeing with the DTI is all parallel alignment and you can
adjust to correct it.

For setting the straightness, I extend the quill about 1.5"-2", lock
it down, set the indicator in the toolpost and measure along the
outside body of the quill. For maintaining centre, this should be
adjusted so there is no variance along the length.

----

As a side note, with most folks mini-lathes there comes a point where
aligning the tailstock becomes a trade-off. Often, the tapered part
of the quill is not quite concentric with the outside barrel. So you
reach a point where you're deciding to go for taper straightness
(better for drilling/tapping/reaming) or for barrel straightness
(centre remains on centre no matter how far the quill is extended).

On my minilathe, the taper mismatches the barrel by about .002 per
inch. I have the tailstock adjusted for barrel straightness. With 5"
of chuck and drill bit sticking out of the tailstock, the tip of the
drill bit is .010" off centre. This causes it to drill oversized and
tapered holes. But the benefit is if I turn something between
centres, it'll not be tapered no matter how far the quill is extended.

Aligning the tailstock with the DTI-in-chuck method will cause you to
setup the tailstock for taper straightness. To setup for barrel
straightness you need a centre-drilled test bar and the DTI mounted in
the toolpost. Use RDM (Rollie's Dad's Method) on both ends and adjust
'till equal.

----

Aligning the mini-lathe tailstock can be very frustrating, even with
the various aids people have created. I like John's (gadgetbuilder's)
one best. Using shims rather than pushing against a set-screw makes
things a lot more repeatable, and dialing in the last .0005" is much
easier by torquing down a screw "just a bit tighter".

Finally, there's no point in going nuts about tailstock alignment if
the headstock hasn't been aligned yet. Eventually you'll want to do
that and it'll throw your tailstock alignment out (and all your hard
work!). For a quick an dirty alignment, setup the headstock and
tailstock with centres. A live tailstock is fine if it's a decent
one. Then bring the points together with a thin piece of metal
between them until they just touch lightly - you don't want to crush
them. Use a thin razor-blade or thin shim: the thinner, the more
easily the error will be seen. If the tailstock is well aligned, the
shim will be held square to the rest of the lathe. Adjust as
necessary, then check it again with the quill extended to get
straightness. Go back and forth until you get it acceptable at both
ends. Your tailstock is now aligned.

I hope this is of some help. If something seems to be confusing, I
find it's best pictured mentally if you think about it in the
extremes. Somehow it seems more obvious that way.

Good luck,

-Paul Moir

Thanks for the info. I'll just make my own pan, just wanted to know
if it was missing. Their packing list leaves a lot to be desired.
Same for the manuals. But that's just part of this cheap-lathe-
game. :D

I already got a couple of the cheap oil cans from HF. I can modify
one for the ball valves. Thanks again guys.


--- In 7x12minilathe@..., andrew franks <andyf1108@...>
wrote:

Under a baby lathe which I own, I fitted a ?2/$4 baking tray to act

as a chip pan. At 14", it wouldn't be long enough for the 8x12, but I
wonder if bigger ones are available for commercial bakeries.

Andy


Druid Noibn <druid_noibn@...> wrote:
Hi,

The 8x12 does not come with a chip pan and HF doesn't sell one.

As for the oil valves - HF does have a small pump oiler - I picked

one up at the local store a couple of weeks ago. I'll have to find
the # and post it.

Take care,
DBN

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "Gavin McIntosh" <gavinmc3@...>
wrote:

G'day Gavin,
No problem with the drill press, mine is bench mounted, I would get a
pedestal one if buying now.
Unless you pay a lot of money the average drill press is just that,
average, certainly not of tool room precision, doesn't even match the
minilathe out of the box. Try getting repeatable centering as you
change the work piece height to accommodate different drill lenghts
and then there is the run out and the slop in the spindle. Hence my
comments about the mill.
A precision drilling machine is virtually a mill without the
traversing table and some with tables are sold as drill/mill
combinations.
For cost comparison purposes in Oz; a pedestal drill (average
quality) sells for AUD350 and the Sieg milling attachment sells for
AUD220 total AUD570 The current eBay price for a X1 mill is AUD655,
only AUD85 more. (AUD1.0 = USD0.75 = S40P).
Interestingly a milling attachment suitale for a larger lathe over 9"
sells for about AUD250.
I agree a drill press and a decent grinder are essential home
workshop items, even ahead of a lathe,
I had better finish before we finish up OT.

One good turn deserves another.
Regards
Ian

If you want to drill holes then a floor standing drill press is

better and a

good home shop should get one before the mill.

Gavin

Unclerabid can take care of your questions and fix your board.

Hi,

Firstly, I should report back on the original topic. I followed up
800watt on eBay and ordered several calipers from him. Yes, he will
ship international on request. As people here said, his
communication is pretty terse and speed is not his forte.

The parcel took 18 days to get to me in Australia. But arrive it did
and the calipers are fine. All 3 managed to turn themselves on in
transit as their hard cases allow enough movement to touch the
buttons on the protective foam - a nick with the penknife will fix
that. They arrived with displays flashing indicating low batteries.
However, each was packed with a spare battery and he threw in a
bonus strip of 5 extra batteries.


Now, who knows how to interface to the data port on these things?
They seem to take some sort of miniature 4-pin plug. What are they
called - anyone got a part number? Anyone know the pinout and data
format?

John



--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "born4something" <ajs@...>
wrote:

Thanks,

Some of 800WATT's listings look pretty good - except he lists as

US

only. :-(

Maybe I'll politely ask.

John


--- In 7x12minilathe@..., Druid Noibn <druid_noibn@>
wrote:

Hi John,

Just two-more-cents-worth...

One might take a quick look on some of the eBay offerings.

For

example, a vendor "800WATT" sells the calipers item at good

prices -

watch the s/h charges however. Also, this vendor has a low score
due to his poor communications style and often a bit long on
delivery time. I've purchased several items from him and all

worked

out well. I've also purchased a larger caliper from Australia and
it arrived faster than the items from the US vendors.

Take care,
DBN


born4something <ajs@> wrote:


Hi,

I see lots of interest in cheap digital calipers - presumeably

for

DRO

mods. Not sure if this helps but there are some at

ID=TD2081&CATID=&keywords=TD208&#92;

1&SPECIAL=&form=KEYWORD&ProdCodeOnly=&Keyword1=&Keyword2=&pageNumber=

&pr&#92;

iceMin=&priceMax=&SUBCATID=
<

ID=TD2081&CATID=&keywords=TD20&#92;

81&SPECIAL=&form=KEYWORD&ProdCodeOnly=&Keyword1=&Keyword2=&pageNumber

=&p&#92;

riceMin=&priceMax=&SUBCATID=> that may be of interest.

Ignore the listed price. I can buy these at Qty 1+ $12.77 Qty 5+

$11.77

Qty 10+ $10.77 (10% GST not inlcluded). The prices are in Aussie

dollars

which sit around the $US0.75 mark. I'd probably wear about $AU12

in

freight to get a delivery to my door.

I haven't physically seen one of these so the catalogue entry is

all I

have. Perhaps a 1-off retail purchase should come first. If

someone

wants to buy some I'm happy to act as middle man. If a few

people

were

closely located a bulk buy may be attractive. Contact me off

list

if

you'd like to explore details.

John
(not associated in any way with the supplier, other than as a

trade

customer).

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "mrslushy" <MrFrost@>

wrote:

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "rancerupp" rupps@ wrote:

Chris,

You're not the only one that missed it. However I am about 2

weeks

away

from ordering. I missed the $16 dig. caliper too.

Rance (sittin & watching the prices)

LMS currently has 6" digital caliper for 14.95.....check it

out.

---------------------------------
No need to miss a message. Get email on-the-go
with Yahoo! Mail for Mobile. Get started.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Ian,

If you want to drill holes then a floor standing drill press is better and a good home shop should get one before the mill.
A X3 mill is big enough but an expensive hole drilling machine.

The micromill is suitable for small hobby stuff, model trains, cars, plane etc.
mini mill for the bigger hobbies, larger models and the X3 for motorbikes etc.

Gavin

From: "steam4ian" <fosterscons@...>
Reply-To: 7x12minilathe@...
To: 7x12minilathe@...
Subject: [7x12minilathe] Re: Micromill vs Minimill .... Now milling attachment
Date: Sun, 25 Mar 2007 21:54:08 -0000

G'day gavin Andy, Steve et al.
There is some good advice here, but! I don't have a mill and am not
seriously looking at present. What I have seen is that the micro
mills and mini mills are quite limited when it comes to drilling.
Larger diameter drills have morse taper shanks, also they are
generally. A micro/mini may not have enough Zaxis to allow large
drills and the drive may not have enough grunt.
Regarding lathe attachments, the standard attachment is a large
fraction of the price of a micro mill, as Andy says it does not seem
a wise investment. The exception may be the Taig attachment which
appears quite flexible (use wise) and better value for the money.
For me, if I had twice the money to invest and twice the space I
would have purchased a much larger lathe with a decent milling
attachment rather than two limited machines.
As an alternative an erzats milling attachment could be made with a
piece of steel or aluminium angle (not my comments on not using
Aluminum). Here is Oz you can get 80 x 80 x 6 Ali angle. A cheapy
drill press vice, the type with mounting slots along the sides, could
be fixed to the angle. Adjustment would not be easy but what can you
expect for AUD$30. (63mm drill vice AUD14 + AUD10 for Ali angle +
nuts and bolts = AUD30). There are other options which use the
compound slide to provide the Y axis adjustment (see Varmint Al's
site). Some of these options may be rough eg MS or Ali angle may not
be exactly 90deg. but if this is important we have files or a cutter
can be put in a 4 jaw chuck and a pass take over the surface.
Building an adaption of the Varmint Al approach is my next major
lathe project, in the mean time I have a cross drilling atachment
which needs the finishing touches.
Summary of my opinions, The micro & mini mills are limited but a
better investment than the purchased milling attachment.

One good turn deserves another.
Regards,
Ian

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "Gavin McIntosh"
<gavinmc3@...> wrote:

A milling slide vice for lathe means you are limited by the lathe

speed.

You will not be able to mill with the smaller bits which will need

higher

speeds.

Gavin

From: andrew franks <andyf1108@...>
Reply-To: 7x12minilathe@...
To: 7x12minilathe@...
Subject: Re: [7x12minilathe] Re: Micromill vs Minimill .... Now

milling

attachment
Date: Sun, 25 Mar 2007 02:48:23 +0100 (BST)

I've got one of those vertical slides. It's fittted by removing

the

topslide and fastening it down to the "swivel disk" in the cross-

slide. It

would have been better if it had T-slots to fasten jobs (or a

vise) to the

front of it, rather than that big, overhanging, "toolpost"

arrangement.

Check if your cross-slide will wind far enough over to make full

use of its

2.7" (approx) width. To adjust the depth of cut with a milling

cutter in

the chuck (or collet), the carriage handwheel isn't nearly precise

enough;

you will need a handwheel and graduated dial on the outboard end

of the

leadscrew. As I've previously remarked, I wish I'd put the money

into a

mini-mill fund.
Andy

Steve Claggett <790racer@...> wrote:
Have you seen this?

ProductID=1681&category=1

A friend has one, he is happy doing basic work, but he said it can
only handle small cuts or he has a chatter problem.

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., Richard Stevens <rtjstevens@>
wrote:

Hi, I too have a Seig 7x12 and have been wondering about

milling too,

The smaller lathe has a milling attachment one can buy - but it

won't fit

the 7x12 (I believe). Does anyone know of one that will fit? I

do

have a DVD

from Chronos UK that shows a Taig/Peatol attachment (with a few

minor mods)

being able to fit the 7x10/12. Has anyone any experience of

doing

this? If

so, what's the max capacity for milling?

I'm sure many will say - buy the Seig X-1/2/3 but Taig/Peatol

also do a

standalone milling machine for approx ?550 (UK Pounds). Is this

better than

the equivalent mill from Seig?

Thanks

Richard (UK)

---------------------------------
New Yahoo! Mail is the ultimate force in competitive emailing.

Find out

more at the Yahoo! Mail Championships. Plus: play games and win

prizes.

_________________________________________________________________
Advertisement: Meet Sexy Singles at Lavalife today. Click here

2Ecom%2Eau%2Fclickthru%2Fclickthru%2Eact%3Fid%3Dninemsn%26context%
3Dan99%26locale%3Den%5FAU%26a%3D25448&_t=754951090&_r=meet&_m=EXT

_________________________________________________________________
Advertisement: Win tickets to see Muse at London?s Wembley Stadium. Go now!

Under a baby lathe which I own, I fitted a ?2/$4 baking tray to act as a chip pan. At 14", it wouldn't be long enough for the 8x12, but I wonder if bigger ones are available for commercial bakeries.
Andy


Druid Noibn <druid_noibn@...> wrote:
Hi,

The 8x12 does not come with a chip pan and HF doesn't sell one. Lathemaster has one but it is a bit on the pricey side. They do have a black splash guard (about $17...I believe) - no holes in the lathe for it however.

I looked on e-Bay "stainless steel" and found many (most?) can't tell the difference between polished AL and stainless.

As for the oil valves - HF does have a small pump oiler - I picked one up at the local store a couple of weeks ago. I'll have to find the # and post it.

Isn't it amazing the amount of "stuff" that comes off of the lathe - makes me wodner about the air the guys buidling it are breathing.

Take care,
DBN

rancerupp <rupps@...> wrote:
Well, I just dove in with both feet to get it cleaned up. I decided
to go ahead and disassemble the cross slide, compound, and tailstock
for the cleaning. Since the parts were away from the lathe, I just
used paint thinner for cleaning. I didn't find much more than a
little protective layer of grease, really not much. Oh, I did find
some surface rust on the cross slide. I bit the bullet and got after
it with some 400 grit and that was that. A bit of it was on the under
side of the cross slide but I think it will be ok. It was at the very
end.

Got it all put back together lubricating with Mobil 1 as I went. It
seemed to go back together well. I had to tinker with the nut for the
screw on the compound. If you don't get it juuuuuuuust right, the
compound gets tight at one end of travel. Maybe I shouldn't have
removed it for cleaning. No big deal. I may have to fiddle more with
that later.

I still have to degrease the pullys on the HS before crankin it up.
I'm thinking that removing them would be prudent. Two have clip rings
and the one on the 'other' end of the spindle has a threaded nut. Any
one know of a reason I shouldn't remove these for cleaning?

One thing I was pleasantly surprised with when I first got to looking
closer to my new toy was to see all the oil ports with the check
balls. However, could someone tell me what kind of oil can or spout I
need to oil those things? Is there a special fitting on oil cans for
those?

Lastly, during the unpacking from the crate, I found one loose screw
rolling around underneath the lathe. During the cleaning process, the
only place I could see where a threaded hole did not have a screw is
at the TS end of the bed. There's a hole in the casting below the TS.
However, I can't see where it would make a difference whether it was
installed or not.

Oh, and lastly #2, could another HF 8x12 owner tell me if it is
supposed to come with a pan underneath the lathe? I knew it did not
have a back splash but thought it DID have a pan that goes underneath
it.

Thanks to all of you for the information you have provided me and for
the encouragement that has gotten me this far in metal turning.

Rance

---------------------------------
Expecting? Get great news right away with email Auto-Check.
Try the Yahoo! Mail Beta.

---------------------------------
Don't pick lemons.
See all the new 2007 cars at Yahoo! Autos.








---------------------------------
New Yahoo! Mail is the ultimate force in competitive emailing. Find out more at the Yahoo! Mail Championships. Plus: play games and win prizes.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi,

The 8x12 does not come with a chip pan and HF doesn't sell one. Lathemaster has one but it is a bit on the pricey side. They do have a black splash guard (about $17...I believe) - no holes in the lathe for it however.

I looked on e-Bay "stainless steel" and found many (most?) can't tell the difference between polished AL and stainless.

As for the oil valves - HF does have a small pump oiler - I picked one up at the local store a couple of weeks ago. I'll have to find the # and post it.

Isn't it amazing the amount of "stuff" that comes off of the lathe - makes me wodner about the air the guys buidling it are breathing.

Take care,
DBN

rancerupp <rupps@...> wrote:
Well, I just dove in with both feet to get it cleaned up. I decided
to go ahead and disassemble the cross slide, compound, and tailstock
for the cleaning. Since the parts were away from the lathe, I just
used paint thinner for cleaning. I didn't find much more than a
little protective layer of grease, really not much. Oh, I did find
some surface rust on the cross slide. I bit the bullet and got after
it with some 400 grit and that was that. A bit of it was on the under
side of the cross slide but I think it will be ok. It was at the very
end.

Got it all put back together lubricating with Mobil 1 as I went. It
seemed to go back together well. I had to tinker with the nut for the
screw on the compound. If you don't get it juuuuuuuust right, the
compound gets tight at one end of travel. Maybe I shouldn't have
removed it for cleaning. No big deal. I may have to fiddle more with
that later.

I still have to degrease the pullys on the HS before crankin it up.
I'm thinking that removing them would be prudent. Two have clip rings
and the one on the 'other' end of the spindle has a threaded nut. Any
one know of a reason I shouldn't remove these for cleaning?

One thing I was pleasantly surprised with when I first got to looking
closer to my new toy was to see all the oil ports with the check
balls. However, could someone tell me what kind of oil can or spout I
need to oil those things? Is there a special fitting on oil cans for
those?

Lastly, during the unpacking from the crate, I found one loose screw
rolling around underneath the lathe. During the cleaning process, the
only place I could see where a threaded hole did not have a screw is
at the TS end of the bed. There's a hole in the casting below the TS.
However, I can't see where it would make a difference whether it was
installed or not.

Oh, and lastly #2, could another HF 8x12 owner tell me if it is
supposed to come with a pan underneath the lathe? I knew it did not
have a back splash but thought it DID have a pan that goes underneath
it.

Thanks to all of you for the information you have provided me and for
the encouragement that has gotten me this far in metal turning.

Rance






---------------------------------
Expecting? Get great news right away with email Auto-Check.
Try the Yahoo! Mail Beta.

---------------------------------
Don't pick lemons.
See all the new 2007 cars at Yahoo! Autos.

G'day again Rance.
Regarding the oiling. I bought some cheap squirt type oil cans for
AUD2.00 ( USD1.50 or S80p )from the cheap goods store. Where-ever you
are you must have access to such stores. In Oz we have a veritable
rash of them. full of low cost imitations of quality goods with
unlikely sounding names.
The said oil cans had a steel tube spout with a crudely formed nozzle
on the end. I managed to extract the tube from the pump without
wrecking anything and cut off the nozzle. A scrap of brass rod was
drilled out with a fine hole, one end was turned down to make a tight
fit in the end of the tube and the other end turned to a long taper.
The new nozzle was soldered to the tube and the tube forced back into
the pump.
We now have a pump type squirt can with a fine nozzle which fits into
the ball oilers.
Four oil cans reside by my lathe with the following contents: cutting
oil (Tap Magic), lub oil (for the bearings), medicinal parafin oil
(for the ways) and used chip frying oil (cutting oil for mild steel).
I seem to have made a "thing" for collecting lubricants because there
is also spray RP7 (Like WD40), spray white grease, spray silicon lube
I use it now on the change gears) and some Castrol greaee that was
meant to be suitable for plastics (change gears). I forgot the
molibdenum grease which I use sparingly on lead and feed screws, I
must get some Molyslip oil additive because the grease holds swarf.
Collecting oils, tools etc is all part of the fun!!!!

One good turn deserves another.
Regards,
Ian

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "rancerupp" <rupps@...> wrote:

?

Anyone know what is needed to oil it via the oil ports with check
valves?

Rance

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "Steve Claggett" <790racer@...>
wrote:
I appreciate you trying to find that. I want to turn some 20" small
dowel like wood that could be fed through the headstock and turn 2 to
3" at a time then move it out and do it again. there wouldn't be much
pressure against the tail stock.

I have seen a few sites, guys cutting and adding a bed extention. I
can't find my bookmarks right now, I'll keep looking. I think I would
upgrade to a 8X or 9X if I needed a longer bed than 14 inches.

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "thornappleboots"
<thornappleboots@> wrote:

Is there a bed extention for the micromark 7x14 or plans somewhere

to

make one.

Hi folks,

Update...

I hath created a monster, I think :).

After loosening the socket head screw under the tailstock I discover the
top of the tailstock flops in the X and Y axis. Raised section on the
base and the slot in the tailstock itself are mismatched by (guess) at
least 1/8", lotsa twist there.

Apparently that little slot head set screw on the back of the tailstock
is for adjusting the Z (?rotational) orientation. If it was ever
tightened down, it worked loose over time.

I'm not sure what I am seeing here, but I get top and bottom of the
quill to read zero (top set as reference zero) but the front (toward
operator) and back are both around 13 (plus to front, minus to rear),
depending on the tap of the moment.

I was using the dead center for this and I thought that it was
elliptical (flattened top to bottom). So, just to see what happened, I
rotated the dead center 90 degrees expecting the top / bottom to
increase and the front / rear to decrease. Values did not change ?!?

Tried this using the inside and outside of the quill and get the same
kind of results.

I'm perplexed!

Putting this away for today, tired of cranking on that lock nut :-).

One another note. I was thinking it might be nice to have a place were
folks could chat live, I put together a channel on chat.freenode.net:
#vmmst

Standing for: Virtual Micro and Mini-Machine Shop Tavern :-).

Any IRC client will get you there set up for the network
(chat.freenode.net) and the channel (#vmmst).

IRC has gotten a bad rep for obnoxious jerks, but the exception to this
I have found is freenode, my personal channel is there and I have yet
(in years now) to have any problem with jerks.

Only rule I have for the channel is that folks treat it like my (or
your) living room and act accordingly. I do not and will not tolerate
rude / obnoxious people. Enough said.

It's there if folks want a place to chat live, I'm there when I am up
although I may be doing other things and not notice right away.

Thought it might be a nice resource.

It;s been an exciting day!

Take care, Vikki.

Also, At HF, they carry a small variable speed 3" grinder that has a
very fine wheel as well as a felt type wheel on the opposite side.

I have had mine for a few years now and been very happy I bought it.
usually sale around 20 - 25 bux

Clint


Mike Payson wrote:

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "rancerupp" <rupps@...> wrote:

Anyone know what is needed to oil it via the oil ports with check
valves?

Rance

Nudge the ball with the spout of your oil can. The ball sits on a
little spring and should push in pretty readily so the oil can flow
around the ball. They're KISS compatible. :-)

John