开云体育

Hi Ian,

Thanks for the response, I find it most encouraging!

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "steam4ian" <fosterscons@...>
wrote:

G'day Vikki.
Looking at the comprehensive readings you have taken it appears as if
you tailstock is 8thou to the front, this would account for the
15thou taper you were getting.
Your quill alignment is good, IMHO i wouldn't do anything with that
until you have used the lathe for a while. BTW this is very good for
out of the box.

Most encouraging, thank you!

IMHO generally it is unwise to get into tuning up the lathe first off
short of cleaning up and making general adjustments eg gibs. Use the
lathe to allow surfaces to bed-in. The longer you leave it the more
time the bed has to normalise and stress relieve. Ultimately you will
get sick of working around the alignment inaccuracies and then it is
time for serious tuning.

I think I am getting over some of the intimidation at this point to even
start to approach this :-). Mostly thanks to everyone here who has
helped me understand what all this is about! The intimidation factor
has accomplished that, I have just been using it and not doing any
tuning so far :). As I learn more I am less afraid to tackle things
that were scary before.

I note that you mounted the DTI in the 3 jaw chuck. It is not safe to
assume the chuck is truely concentric, they are OK for general work,
but precision work should be either turned between centres or mounted
in a 4 jaw chuck with careful centering.

Read John's response to this a bit further along. Glad :-)! I'll have
to try the suggested experiment to really understand it though. I am
starting to realize that I do need a 4 jaw chuck, probably bigger than
3", just which one is going to be a learning experience :-).

Here in Ox we have a bird called a Bower Bird. The male builds a
bower out of grass and twigs and then collect shiny objects to place
in the bower. When complete he invites females in to see his
collection, a bit like inviting girls back to see his etching. Your
colection of "shiny things" reminds me of that. Is your bower working?

LOL, dunno about that, but I am learning and, most amazing to me,
starting to be able to make things out of metal which has always seemed
like magic(k?) to me :-).

So far all it has attracted is my landlord who wants much for nothing,
probably not a good result :). He doesn't like me having this stuff in
the apartment, but he sure doesn't mind when I use it for him :-). Will
probably result in having to move eventually, which is not a bad thing.

Perhaps it is that strange attraction for .au that I have had as long
as I can remember that leads me that way :-)! Have a net.friend in
Adelaide (electronics tech) who is trying to teach me Austrailian :-).
And another mate (see ;-) there who is a helo pilot who is also into
flight simulation :-).

I am impressed by your site.

Thanks for the kind words! Just trying to document what I am doing on
the off chance it might help someone else. I have gotten a lot of help
/ understanding from folks who have done this. Mine is by no means as
good as many, but if it helps anyone I'll be happy. That I have an
excuse to get a decent digital camera (Cannon S2 IS) and to putz with
using the linux tools to make web pages is just icing on the cake :-).

One good turn deserves another.

Indeed it does Sir!

I'm going to get brave and try to figure out how to square up the
tailstock today :-). That locking screw being on the bottom concerns
me, but we'll see.

Thanks so very much!

Take care, Vikki.

G'day Ed.
Firstly, congratulations on giving it a go.
You haven't told us whether you are cutting imperial (inch) or metric
threads. For the moment I will assume you are cutting imperial with an
imperial lead screw.
Firstly make sure the thread chasing dial pinion engages the lead
screw, a screw in the side of the dial block allows the pinion to be
swung into the lead screw.
As you traverse the saddle the dial will rotate, also if you drive the
lead screw without the saddle moving the screw will rotate. If you
engage the half nuts then the dial will remain stopped.
When cutting a thread on the first pass engage the half nuts when the
dial is at a number against the line on the block, any number, but 1 is
the best. Do the pass, withdraw the tool and disengage the half nuts.
Return the saddle to the start position, doesn't have to be precise,
and adjust the tool for the next cut. With the lathe running the dial
will have been turning through all this. Here is the crunch. watch the
dial and as the number (eg "1") comes up against the line on the block
gently engage the half nuts, the dial should stop with the number at or
near the line on the dial block.
Using "1" as the number will work for all common (I repeat common, eg
UNC & UNF) threads. As you get more confident you start using other
number combinations on the dial appropriate to different thread pitches
(see the table on the change gear cover). This saves time as you can
engage the half nuts at say 3, 6, 9 & 12, ie you don't have to wait
for a full turn of the dial each cut. Once you get the hang of this
your confidence level will take a quantum leap.
Metric threads are somewhat more difficult to understand but there is
an excellent treatise in www.mini-lathe.org.uk; read it anyway it is
good stuff.
My morning coffee has finished so I had better get on with work.

One good turn deserves another.
Regards,
Ian


is--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "Ed" <edo@...> wrote:

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

I tried to cut my first threads, but couldn't get synched up for
additional cuts. I figured out the dial needs to be adjusted to begin
with to even get it to start turning, but it stops turning when I
engage the lead screw nut. Doesn't it need to turn the whole time,
even when I move the tool back to the beginning of the cut? If so, how
do I adjust this thing to keep it turning?

You don't, at least on my Cummins 7x12. This disturbed me at first,
but it doesn't matter.

I haven't done a lot of threading, but what I have done has been
successful (one exception while learning) :-). My dial quits turning
when I engage the half nuts, which isn't a problem.

What you need to know is what marks on the dial are for what thread
(some have multiple number that are right, just use the same one each
time).

Make a very light first cut and check it with a thread gauge. Learned
that the hard way when I got the gear sequence for a metric thread
wrong :-).

Back off the cross slide enough to clear, making sure you note the
setting (I set mine to zero for the first pass, just *barely* touching).

Move the carriage back behind the work.

Move the cross slide back in for the next cut ( adding .002-.003 each
pass, is what I used). Yes, it takes a few passes :-).

Watch the dial and when it gets to the right number for the thread,
re-engage the half nuts. It doesn't matter how far behind the part
you are.

Repeat until you get the desired depth.

After the trepidation of getting the gears set up right, figuring out
the dial and doing the first one, it is pretty easy, just somewhat
tedious. Not afraid of the process any more :)!

Jose's video on the subject went a long way to getting here :-)!

Another option, that I haven't used, is to back off the cross slide
and run the lathe in reverse without disengaging the half nuts until
you get past the end of the part.

It is a *very* nice feeling when you get that first threaded part out
and it works!

Hope this helps!

Take care, Vikki.

Good thinking, Ian. I think I'll fit some sort of spring-loaded catch in place of the screw, for ease of operation.
Andy

steam4ian <fosterscons@...> wrote:
G'day Rance.
If Andy is right regarding the purpose of your mystery screw then my
advice differ from his! This screw is important unless you want your
tail stock to crash to the floor and break the handwheel and bend the
screw. It is too easy to run the saddle back or push the tailstock
back to get more working space only to end in an oops! I haven't done
it myself simply because the stop screw is in place.
If your lathe doesn't have a way of preventing the tailstock
inadvertently sliding off the bed then I recommend you use the spare
screw for that purpose, it can be your first customisation.

One good turn deserves another.
Regards
Ian

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

I think that screw is supposed to stop the tailstock sliding. Not a

lot of use, really, unless you set up your lathe on a steep hillside.

A

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






---------------------------------
Inbox full of unwanted email? Get leading protection and 1GB

storage with All New Yahoo! Mail.

---------------------------------
What kind of emailer are you? Find out today - get a free analysis of your email personality. Take the quiz at the Yahoo! Mail Championship.

Hi Ian,

Vikki's use of the DTI mounted in the 3 jaw to assess the tailstock
offset by indicating on a dead center is accurate and the result is
not affected by runout of the 3 jaw. Error arising from this source
is a common misconception covered on my site in the alignment section.

It is easily proved that chuck runout doesn't affect the results:
Record values with the DTI shaft gripped directly by the chuck. Then,
add a 30 thou or so shim between one jaw and the DTI shaft (to cause
serious runout) and record values again. The average (or difference)
for the front/back or top/bottom readings will be the same for both
conditions. This isn't really obvious and I had to go to the shop and
actually perform the experiment when I first realized how it worked --
so you're not alone :-)

John


--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "steam4ian" <fosterscons@...> wrote:

G'day Vikki.

<snip>

I note that you mounted the DTI in the 3 jaw chuck. It is not safe to
assume the chuck is truely concentric, they are OK for general work,
but precision work should be either turned between centres or mounted
in a 4 jaw chuck with careful centering.

<snip>

One good turn deserves another.
Regards,
Ian
--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "wrlabs" <wrlabs@> wrote:

Hi Ian,

Thanks for the response!

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "steam4ian" <fosterscons@>
wrote:

G'day Vikki
Your site shows you have a dial indicator. Mount it on the cross
slide and extend the tail stock quill out to the limit of its

travel

and clamp it. Run the dial indicator along the side and top of the
quill. You may well find the dial indicator moves during the

travers

indicating that the quill is not parallel to the bed axis. Unless

you

have spent time working over the tailstock you will find that it

is

too high by up to 20 thou and the the quill alignment is out by

up to

the same amount.

That was the easy part :). Spent most of the evening working at
following these directions and I am still not sure I got this right.

If you would please look at:



The first 4 are checking the quill on the tailstock and it seems to

look

pretty good, Up by 0.001 in the back and toward the rear of the

lathe

by 0.0025 (closest to the tailstock, front of quill was used as

zero).

I spent yesterday finally getting my tailstock to
near "perfect" alignment and height yesterday, this has taken me

10

months of intermittent effort.

I can understand that after tonight :-). Made the measurements

several

different ways and many different times and got somewhat different
values. Still confused, but somewhat less so (I think :-).

Measuring the dead center with the DI clamped in the chuck, you see

the

results. I tried it using the quill end (just get the ball up on

it)

and got a different set of values:

Ball sitting on top (rear of ball touching) rather than front

touching

as in the pix referenced above:

<pre>
Ball back resting on top of quill, dial up............: reference

zero.

Ball back resting on front of quill, dial front......: -0.008 / -

0.0085

Ball back resting on bottom of quill, dial down..: -0.0035 / -0.004
Ball back resting on back of quill, dial rea.........: -0.005
</pre>

Pretending I am getting a clue here, that would make the back end

of

the work closer to the front of the lathe which would cut the

workpiece

thinner than the front (chuck end).

Many different variations in the different pieces, certainly a

challenge

to get them all working the right way. Starting to think this

little

7x12 is rather amazing for as good as it is out of the box after

being

shipped halfway across the planet!

I moved the clamping screw from under
to above the foot.

Need to figure out how to do that one, not clear to me why it is on

the

bottom in the first place, just seems wrong to me. So far what

tapers I

needed were short enough to do the math and set the compound
accordingly.

Don't use the rolling centre when making alignment;

Did indeed use the dead center that came with the lathe.

for critical work
use a dead centre with the tip lubricated with molebdenum grease.

Understand, thanks.

use the method which holds a shim between the centre to verify
alignment.

Do you mean crush (dent) the shim between a pointed rod in the chuck
against the center in the tailstock to see if they match up?

BTW. It turning between centres the alignment of the headstock

will

not effect the job. If the tailstock quill is not aligned then the
alignment with the headstock will differ as the quill is extended.

With it having been fully extended to get space to work, I was

getting

all it has to give :).

Keep up the work on the laser centre and edge finder, it looks a
great project.

Problem with using cheap laser pointers to do that is that NONE of

them

(that I have tried so far) project a decent dot, if a dot at all.

One

can get a donut pretty easily, but that requires better eyeballs

than I

have to use. I looked into decent laser modules (Digikey, IIRC)

and the

folks offering them for $40-$60 are one fantastic deal. Of the 5 I

have

tried so far, none was significantly better than the first one I did
:-/. If there are decent laser modules at affordable prices out

there,

I have been unable to locate them :-(.

Thanks very much & take care, Vikki.

That threw me off at first also, but no. As soon as you engage the
leadscrew, the threading will stop turning. Since the dial is moving
at the same speed as the leadscrew, it won't be changing. The purpose
of the threading dial is so you can REengage it at the same relative
position.

Mike

Thanks, to both of you. I think you are right. However, to stop the
TS from sliding down the hillside there will need to be a bracket in
addition to the screw. I think I can handle that.

I finished up degreasing the pullys. Took two of them off and left
one on and cleaned it in place (I need to get some snap ring pliers).
Well, I thought I was careful but ended up not being able to remember
which way the pullys went back on. (And to think I had a digital
camera just 10' away and didn't use it. It has a better memory than I
do.) The only one in question is the one on the motor. I have it with
the big side toward the motor. Can anyone confirm this is correct?

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

Rance


--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "steam4ian" <fosterscons@...>
wrote:

G'day Rance.
If Andy is right regarding the purpose of your mystery screw then

my

advice differ from his! This screw is important unless you want

your

tail stock to crash to the floor and break the handwheel and bend

the

screw. It is too easy to run the saddle back or push the tailstock
back to get more working space only to end in an oops! I haven't

done

it myself simply because the stop screw is in place.
If your lathe doesn't have a way of preventing the tailstock
inadvertently sliding off the bed then I recommend you use the

spare

screw for that purpose, it can be your first customisation.

One good turn deserves another.
Regards
Ian

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

I think that screw is supposed to stop the tailstock sliding. Not

a

lot of use, really, unless you set up your lathe on a steep

hillside.

A

G'day Vikki.
Looking at the comprehensive readings you have taken it appears as if
you tailstock is 8thou to the front, this would account for the
15thou taper you were getting.
Your quill alignment is good, IMHO i wouldn't do anything with that
until you have used the lathe for a while. BTW this is very good for
out of the box.
IMHO generally it is unwise to get into tuning up the lathe first off
short of cleaning up and making general adjustments eg gibs. Use the
lathe to allow surfaces to bed-in. The longer you leave it the more
time the bed has to normalise and stress relieve. Ultimately you will
get sick of working around the alignment inaccuracies and then it is
time for serious tuning.
I note that you mounted the DTI in the 3 jaw chuck. It is not safe to
assume the chuck is truely concentric, they are OK for general work,
but precision work should be either turned between centres or mounted
in a 4 jaw chuck with careful centering.
Here in Ox we have a bird called a Bower Bird. The male builds a
bower out of grass and twigs and then collect shiny objects to place
in the bower. When complete he invites females in to see his
collection, a bit like inviting girls back to see his etching. Your
colection of "shiny things" reminds me of that. Is your bower working?
I am impressed by your site.

One good turn deserves another.
Regards,
Ian
--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "wrlabs" <wrlabs@...> wrote:

Hi Ian,

Thanks for the response!

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "steam4ian" <fosterscons@>
wrote:

G'day Vikki
Your site shows you have a dial indicator. Mount it on the cross
slide and extend the tail stock quill out to the limit of its

travel

and clamp it. Run the dial indicator along the side and top of the
quill. You may well find the dial indicator moves during the

travers

indicating that the quill is not parallel to the bed axis. Unless

you

have spent time working over the tailstock you will find that it

is

too high by up to 20 thou and the the quill alignment is out by

up to

the same amount.

That was the easy part :). Spent most of the evening working at
following these directions and I am still not sure I got this right.

If you would please look at:



The first 4 are checking the quill on the tailstock and it seems to

look

pretty good, Up by 0.001 in the back and toward the rear of the

lathe

by 0.0025 (closest to the tailstock, front of quill was used as

zero).

I spent yesterday finally getting my tailstock to
near "perfect" alignment and height yesterday, this has taken me

10

months of intermittent effort.

I can understand that after tonight :-). Made the measurements

several

different ways and many different times and got somewhat different
values. Still confused, but somewhat less so (I think :-).

Measuring the dead center with the DI clamped in the chuck, you see

the

results. I tried it using the quill end (just get the ball up on

it)

and got a different set of values:

Ball sitting on top (rear of ball touching) rather than front

touching

as in the pix referenced above:

<pre>
Ball back resting on top of quill, dial up............: reference

zero.

Ball back resting on front of quill, dial front......: -0.008 / -

0.0085

Ball back resting on bottom of quill, dial down..: -0.0035 / -0.004
Ball back resting on back of quill, dial rea.........: -0.005
</pre>

Pretending I am getting a clue here, that would make the back end

of

the work closer to the front of the lathe which would cut the

workpiece

thinner than the front (chuck end).

Many different variations in the different pieces, certainly a

challenge

to get them all working the right way. Starting to think this

little

7x12 is rather amazing for as good as it is out of the box after

being

shipped halfway across the planet!

I moved the clamping screw from under
to above the foot.

Need to figure out how to do that one, not clear to me why it is on

the

bottom in the first place, just seems wrong to me. So far what

tapers I

needed were short enough to do the math and set the compound
accordingly.

Don't use the rolling centre when making alignment;

Did indeed use the dead center that came with the lathe.

for critical work
use a dead centre with the tip lubricated with molebdenum grease.

Understand, thanks.

use the method which holds a shim between the centre to verify
alignment.

Do you mean crush (dent) the shim between a pointed rod in the chuck
against the center in the tailstock to see if they match up?

BTW. It turning between centres the alignment of the headstock

will

not effect the job. If the tailstock quill is not aligned then the
alignment with the headstock will differ as the quill is extended.

With it having been fully extended to get space to work, I was

getting

all it has to give :).

Keep up the work on the laser centre and edge finder, it looks a
great project.

Problem with using cheap laser pointers to do that is that NONE of

them

(that I have tried so far) project a decent dot, if a dot at all.

One

can get a donut pretty easily, but that requires better eyeballs

than I

have to use. I looked into decent laser modules (Digikey, IIRC)

and the

folks offering them for $40-$60 are one fantastic deal. Of the 5 I

have

tried so far, none was significantly better than the first one I did
:-/. If there are decent laser modules at affordable prices out

there,

I have been unable to locate them :-(.

Thanks very much & take care, Vikki.

I tried to cut my first threads, but couldn't get synched up for
additional cuts. I figured out the dial needs to be adjusted to begin
with to even get it to start turning, but it stops turning when I
engage the lead screw nut. Doesn't it need to turn the whole time,
even when I move the tool back to the beginning of the cut? If so, how
do I adjust this thing to keep it turning?
Ed

hello, seems like a few of us got a new machine this week. just a note
to them. I thought a neat little thing to start with would be a mt3
fly cutter, so i looked up the dems, set the compound to 5 and started
cutting. must have done that wrong too cause mine don't make chips.
just tiny fine curls. anyway the mt3 don't fit. looked it up again and
sure enuf, it says 5. what it don't say is that it's 5 total. not 5
from center line. an old hand could have spotted that right off, but
that's OK. I can start a fire with just a couple of sticks.
fri...

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.

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

_________________________________________________________________
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

G'day all.
Well said John. Shimming and packing of work pieces is one of the
skills of the job. Fellow groupies will know by now that I am not a
fan of QCTPs. I am a cheapskate! But I do have 5 standard tool
holders all set up with a range of tools. That is equivalent to a
QCTP with at least 10 holders. Theoretically you could put 4 tools on
each standard holder but two tools is the minimum.
My advice, get used to shiming, any piece of flat scrap will do,
iron, brass or aluminium (don't use aluminum it is too soft!); tuna
tins are a good source, failing that brass sheet can be purchased
from a hobby shop.
One day I will build a QCTP just for the sake of it but at the moment
there are too many things to turn my hand to.

One good turn deserves another.
Regards,
Ian

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

Hi,

If they are the red painted ones with braised carbide tips, they

are

crap. Other than practice the only reason for putting them in the
box was so you had something to do on Christmas afternoon if Santa
forgot the accessories.

Unless you get a QCTP, get used to shims. It's normal practice. If
your lathe is designed to support 5/16 tooling it will be
DELIBERATELY a tad low on 5/16" tools. That's to allow you to shim
the last bit. If they tried to get the height exact, tolerances
would often land them on the high side so shims wouldn't work. Of
course, you can grind HSS tools lower. But you get the idea. You're
actually MEANT to shim tools on fixed height turret holders.

John


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

I just got my cumming 7x12 mini lathe, it came with 5 crappy

5/16"

bits. They seemed to contact the work are a bit low, and needed

to be

shimmed UP.
I like the idea of being able to use the indexable bits (3

sided)

what size shank should I be looking to get?
1/4 " ? 3/8"?
Thanks guys.

Hi Steve,

The tangential has steeper than normal back and side rake - this
causes it to cut more easily (using less power) than regular tools but
also causes self-feeding on material like brass and even on some
aluminum and plastic when taking deep cuts. I expect that packing the
front of the sharpening jig up to reduce the back/side rake would
reduce the self-feed tendency but I infrequently cut brass so I
haven't tested this yet.

The other thing about the tangential is that the finish is generally
better cutting from left to right (or facing from center out) but the
cut must be shallow, 2-4 thou or chatter can occur. Roughing cuts are
done right to left, where I routinely cut up to 70 thou per pass in
steel.

Glad to hear you found other interesting gadgets on my site.

John


--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "cedge11" <cedge@...> wrote:

John
I had the pleasure of building a Tangential cutter based on the
description on your web site. While it's not much for working in
brass, I find it winds up mounted on my QCTP far more often than any
cutting tool in my collection. I really love using it for turning and
facing steel, aluminum and even the odd bit of stainless. It still
amazes me at just how agressively it will cut when everything is nice
and sharp, yet it will do the finest of cuts with ease.

It's not all that difficult of a project and the results are quite
rewarding. After several months trial use, it's definitely a tool I'd
miss now that I've owned one.

I've "duplicated" a couple of the other tools shown on your site and
each added to the fun of operating my lathe, especially the tool post
mounted ball turning tool.

Steve

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

Hi Mark,

Check Frank Ford's site for how he adapted a similar large toolholder
to fit his QCTP:

Frank has lots of interesting ideas so his site is well worth checking
out.

The toolholder in the blurry picture looks like it is made for facing
while the shank is mounted perpendicular to the spindle axis (the
normal position).

My tangential for the QCTP is similar in some ways since it can turn
or face without changing position on the toolpost - depending on the
shape of the bit, the blurry holder might be able to do the same. The
difference would be the simplicity of making a jig to sharpen the
tangential.

John



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

Yeah, that 90 degree turn is a bit of a mystery alright.

It may not be out of the hands of the home shop machinist to build
his/her own tool holders. A short while back there was a discussion
about tangential tool holder, which for all purposes on our 7x's can
use 1/8" tool bits, and gadgetbuilder (where are ya' dude!...help me
out here...) has built a piece that sure inspires me. Before I can
make one, however, I am going to have to wait until I get myself a

mill...

Mark
==========

G'day Rance.
If Andy is right regarding the purpose of your mystery screw then my
advice differ from his! This screw is important unless you want your
tail stock to crash to the floor and break the handwheel and bend the
screw. It is too easy to run the saddle back or push the tailstock
back to get more working space only to end in an oops! I haven't done
it myself simply because the stop screw is in place.
If your lathe doesn't have a way of preventing the tailstock
inadvertently sliding off the bed then I recommend you use the spare
screw for that purpose, it can be your first customisation.

One good turn deserves another.
Regards
Ian

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

I think that screw is supposed to stop the tailstock sliding. Not a

lot of use, really, unless you set up your lathe on a steep hillside.

A

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






---------------------------------
Inbox full of unwanted email? Get leading protection and 1GB

storage with All New Yahoo! Mail.

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

Another source, if you have access to the newsgroups, is:

alt.binaries.e-book.technical

These military manuals show up frequently along with a lot of info
that may or may not be of any use. 'Course, there's a ton of spam to
weed through as well, but where do you really get away from THAT?

Just make sure you've got some space on your hard drive, you'll
probably grab more than you might expect!

Bill

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "Charles E. Kinzer"
<ckinzer@...> wrote:

I happened to see this on ebay when looking for something else. (I

have no connection with this item). The title says 7 manuals, but it
seems there are 8.

Pages_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ26197QQitemZ130093099816QQrdZ1

The description says:

These high quality manuals have been moved to CD ROM
They are in PDF Format and can be viewed Adobe Software
If you don't have Adobe it is a free download from their site
Easy to move to your Hard Drive or Open to View
You can print these on your printer if you want a hard copy
These are NOT viewable on your TV style DVD Player
They are Recent Manuals not old or vintage

EIGHT US ARMY MACHINIST MANUALS ON CD ROM
Band Saw Operations
Lathe Operations
Machine Shop Calculations
Metal Properties, Characteristics, Uses and Codes
Milling Machine Operations
Precision Measuring and Gages
Principels of Drafting and Shop Drawing
Shop Safety

The pricing says:

$6.95 and $5.25 shipping if to U.S. or Canada, but they ship

worldwide

Chuck K.

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

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but there are a LOT of manuals online for free.













Charles E. Kinzer wrote:

I happened to see this on ebay when looking for something else. (I have no connection with this item). The title says 7 manuals, but it seems there are 8.



The description says:

These high quality manuals have been moved to CD ROM
They are in PDF Format and can be viewed Adobe Software
If you don't have Adobe it is a free download from their site
Easy to move to your Hard Drive or Open to View
You can print these on your printer if you want a hard copy
These are NOT viewable on your TV style DVD Player
They are Recent Manuals not old or vintage

EIGHT US ARMY MACHINIST MANUALS ON CD ROM
Band Saw Operations
Lathe Operations
Machine Shop Calculations
Metal Properties, Characteristics, Uses and Codes
Milling Machine Operations
Precision Measuring and Gages
Principels of Drafting and Shop Drawing
Shop Safety

The pricing says:

$6.95 and $5.25 shipping if to U.S. or Canada, but they ship worldwide

Chuck K.

John
I had the pleasure of building a Tangential cutter based on the
description on your web site. While it's not much for working in
brass, I find it winds up mounted on my QCTP far more often than any
cutting tool in my collection. I really love using it for turning and
facing steel, aluminum and even the odd bit of stainless. It still
amazes me at just how agressively it will cut when everything is nice
and sharp, yet it will do the finest of cuts with ease.

It's not all that difficult of a project and the results are quite
rewarding. After several months trial use, it's definitely a tool I'd
miss now that I've owned one.

I've "duplicated" a couple of the other tools shown on your site and
each added to the fun of operating my lathe, especially the tool post
mounted ball turning tool.

Steve

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

Hi Mark,

Check Frank Ford's site for how he adapted a similar large toolholder
to fit his QCTP:

Frank has lots of interesting ideas so his site is well worth checking
out.

The toolholder in the blurry picture looks like it is made for facing
while the shank is mounted perpendicular to the spindle axis (the
normal position).

My tangential for the QCTP is similar in some ways since it can turn
or face without changing position on the toolpost - depending on the
shape of the bit, the blurry holder might be able to do the same. The
difference would be the simplicity of making a jig to sharpen the
tangential.

John



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

Yeah, that 90 degree turn is a bit of a mystery alright.

It may not be out of the hands of the home shop machinist to build
his/her own tool holders. A short while back there was a discussion
about tangential tool holder, which for all purposes on our 7x's can
use 1/8" tool bits, and gadgetbuilder (where are ya' dude!...help me
out here...) has built a piece that sure inspires me. Before I can
make one, however, I am going to have to wait until I get myself a

mill...

Mark
==========

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "Charles E. Kinzer"
<ckinzer@> wrote:

Did some minor searching and ETCO is Engineering Tooling Corp.,

"Quality Tools and Inserts for Swiss Style CNC Screw Machines"

A couple of the tool holders shown on their home page seem to hold

these inserts, just not at the 90 degree angle of the one on ebay.

The screw machine world is a bit of mystery to me. I suspect they

buy the "micro inserts" ready ground, and being small, they are

cheaper.

I suspect it would be too much of a project to make a similar tool

holder for the home shop and use small HSS tool bits.

Chuck K.

----- Original Message -----
From: markzemanek
To: 7x12minilathe@...
Sent: Saturday, March 24, 2007 2:12 PM
Subject: [7x12minilathe] Anybody know what this is?


Howdy gang:

I've come across an interesting looking, alternative tool post on
ebay, of the likes I've never seen before.

The seller does not mentio what advantage it has over thet

nomral type

tool post. The photo is quite poor, and the seller further seems

more

interested in terms of payment.

Looking beyond all this, though, might anybody here know what the
application is for this type of toolpost?



Thanks, Mark

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.

Vikki
Here is some more tail stock info.

This can be a bit mind boggling at the start, just keep reading and
learning. Mr Kruger's pages help me a LOT. My TS is repeatable to
.0003 after 8-10 hours of work (head scratching).