# Newbie shop - 7x12 Grizzly mini-lathe cleanup



## Rayanth

Decided that I had digressed too much from the original purpose of the 'taking the plunge' thread in Q/A forum, as I have now purchased the lathe and am in the process of cleaning it up.

To everyone who answered my endless questions in that thread and PM's, I thank you greatly.

I will chronicle the cleaning up and putting together of my lathe here, and figured I would show the workbench I ended up with based on guidance from others.

The "shop" is being limited mostly to a one-car garage which has to share room with my girlfriend's 250cc scooter, and lots of random junk that we just don't have room for in the house. Presently everything is being limited to the single 8ft x 3ft workbench: 






I had already begun cleaning the lathe a little a week ago, but Simple Green just wasn't cutting it, and I didn't want to spend the first year of ownership with tennis elbow from all the scrubbing. I got very little cleaned in that attempt, but I did at that point have the 3-jaw removed, and the gear case opened. I had cleaned some accessories as well.

Today I hung the light seen above, then cleaned up the workbench - amazing how Ive only had it for a week and it's so covered in junk already. Brought my laptop and Canon Rebel t1i dslr out with me, and set everything up for work.










The laptop was primarily to follow the minilathe 'getting started' walkthrough on mini-lathe.com, which uses the same lathe I purchased, and had some very good tips. Figured it wouldn't hurt to follow along while I worked.

There was not as much of the goop as I have seen in some pictures elsewhere, but still plenty to get through:






Switching to kerosene ($5.88 a quart at walmart), I doubled up the nitrile gloves and got to work. I started off by testing the kerosene on the ways, and found it cut RIGHT through the 'chicken fat'. The tailstock was removed so that I could move the carriage further, the turret was removed to gain a little more breathing room, and once the ways were clean enough to feel comfortable moving the carriage around, the leadscrew retaining bracket on the right end was removed so the carriage would come completely off. Notice also the control panel cover has been opened up to gain access to the other end of the leadscrew as well. Care is being taken to prevent the kerosene from splashing on the electronics, and if it's noticed on any plastic it is removed immediately.






The leadscrew proved to be a little more tedious to clean than I had hoped, the goop on it was not particularly thick, but well embedded in the threads.






I did not have a decently stiff brush that could flex all the way around the screw, so I disengaged the thread-cutting gears, and backed off the retaining screw for the gear directly attached to the leadscrew shaft, just enough to get it to slide past the gear that drives it. This let me turn the gear, and thus the leadscrew, with one hand while vigorously brushing with the other.










At this point I went to lunch, and came back to find that my overhead light would not turn back on. It pops angrily, flickering on briefly, then goes dark... and if I leave the switch on it tries to pop/flicker occasionally but refuses to come on and stay on. I suspect a bad bulb, and will take them out and inspect them tomorrow.

I had not realized until it stopped working how much difference that light was making - it was impossible to make out enough detail to ensure that I was getting all the gunk off of the parts without the light, and this was just shy of 11am, plenty bright outside, just not in the shop. At this point I called it quits, and here I am writing all about it.

This thread is serving me a few purposes - one it gives me practice in writing up a work-in-progress type post, two it lets those of you with more experience see what I'm doing, spot thing sin my pictures that might be questionable, and chime in to give me advice - ALL advice is welcome. Third, it might bring back some nostalgia for some of you that haven't had the opportunity to open up a new machine like this in a while ;D

Comments, suggestions, advice and warnings are all welcome at any time.

- Ryan


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## 1Kenny

Nice to see your shop, Ryan. Cleaning and oiling your machines will pay off over the long haul. Your better-halfs tooth brush is good to clean gear teeth. Just make sure you clean it real good when you put it back where she keeps it.

Kenny


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## steamer

Looks good from here Ryan....keep at it, you'll get done.

Dave


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## ShedBoy

Looking good so far, I have the same job to do now that I have less projects to do. I will be watching along.
Brock


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## b.lindsey

Even if not making chips yet, it sounds like you are having fun and enjoying the new toy!! Its certainly time well spent,,,and the bench looks good too!!

Bill


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## Troutsqueezer

It's fun to occasionally glimpse the tip of someone's iceberg. New lathe, clean bench top, nothing hung on the walls yet. Man, is that gonna change...

-T


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## Herbiev

Got the makings of a great workshop there. Keep the photos coming. Just a suggestion but I would give the workbench a couple of thick coats of 2pack epoxy before you get grease/oil stains in the timber :bow:


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## speedyb

A new Lathe, and a Girlfriend with a Scooter. What more could a guy ask for 



well, except paint that wall white. will help a lot with lighting.


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## Rayanth

Alas, this is a rental, and I'm not allowed. it's actually the only finished wall in the garage.

- Ryan


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## Rayanth

Sorry about the terseness of the last post, SWMBO was getting antsy for something.

As I was saying, that's the only "finished" wall in my garage - and that's only because it's required for fire code - that wall shares the other side of the wall from the circuit breaker box in a room I have no access to.

After previous post I went out and took down the malfunctioning shop light. First, I pulled out the tubes to make sure there was no charring on the prongs - arcing on the prongs would make the sound I was hearing, and if they are wired in series, would also explain why they were flickering in unison.

No charring on the tubes was evident, so I took down the fixture, with SWMBO's help. popped the shield off of the backbone, to look at the starter, and there is no visible ballast on it, so i would have to replace the whole starter. darn. well, plug the tubes back in and plug it into the wall - maybe I can see or hear more precisely where the popping is coming from and narrow down the problem.

Lights right up.

Ok, so there's only two possible explanations here. One I can solve by simply running up an extension cord to the darned thing. The other would take a lot of problem solving.

1) I have the light plugged into a light socket. Since light sockets have no Ground and this is a three-prong plug, this means I am converting the light socket to a two-prong, then to a three by 'ignoring' ground. Either the ground prong not being utilized is a problem for this light, or there's an issue with the plugs I'm using to make the conversion.

2) There's a loose connection in the light that got jostled back into place when I took it down. THAT would not be fun/easy to track down.

- Going to hang it from the ceiling again and see what happens. if it goes out again, I will suspect it's something in the plugs or the lack of ground plug, and just run an extension cord to it from the one outlet on the wall. It shouldn't draw enough power to cause any sort of issue for the machinery on the other half of the outlet.

- Ryan, who gets annoyed when things go right and they're not supposed to.


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## Tin Falcon

well ray if yo are not allowed to paint the wall and it is a rental I suggest you get a back on that bench .
1) you can paint the back of the bench white to reflect light and knock down shadows. 
2) you can mount stuff to the back or drill holes if you like
3) and maybe the most important machines sometimes sling oil from around the spindle I have a thin line on the wall behind the shaper and I have a plexiglass shield behind the lathe to protect the window. the minis are not to bad but the land lord would no like an oil stain on the sheet rock. An ounce of prevention could save a few pounds of security deposit. 
IMHO if I were the land lord I would be happy to let tenants fix up and improve the place. Heck I to not think it unreasonable to buy the materials if the tenant wants to pitch in the labor to improve the space. it is a garage so what what if the craftsmanship is not great.  but I also understand some folks would likely want the labor value deducted from the rent. and in a complex that could be expensive to the owner lack of cash income. But I am not a landlord sooo. ... good luck setting up shop. 
Tin


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## Rayanth

Tin - thanks for the heads up, though this wall has already been hit with doses of spray paint and other questionables, so I'm not thoroughly worried about it.

Light reassembled, plugged into wall, works. hung from rafters, plugged into wall, works. plugged in to light socket, doesn't work.

Light socket, or plug adapters, are at fault here.

Light is now plugged into wall, cord hangs in the way a little but I can get a short extension cord to reroute it later.

Back to cleaning!

- Ryan


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## speedyb

those fluor lights, yea what a pain  some of mine work... luckily the main ones work, but others not so much. starters/ballast thingie quality I would imagine. $ka-ching$
all of mine are the older no-bama energy sucker-downers, lol. way older!


about the paint....and your rental deposit....

eventually you are going to get some lubricant spray off the lathe onto the wall...the kind that soaks in, and paint wont stick too... and ruin a bare wall , so a drop cloth is in order.
if you do paint, use an exterior high gloss, should be easier to clean.... should be... lol.


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## Rayanth

there are nails already in the wall above the workbench. i need to replace my shower curtain liner anyway. when i put the new one up, i'll wipe off the old one, and hang it as a backdrop. it should work out fine.


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## d-m

Rayanth  said:
			
		

> Alas, this is a rental, and I'm not allowed. it's actually the only finished wall in the garage.
> 
> - Ryan


Ryan if you go to your big box store in the bath area you will find sheet plastic used for showers and splashes. It comes in 4X8 sheets and is white in color. The name of the material slips my mind at the moment maybe melamine? not sure but I think it is less than a gallon of paint and you can take it with you when you move. It also cleans up with soap and water.
Most of all have fun !!!!!
Dave


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## Rayanth

Have been busy around the house and work and not had the chance to upload the few photos from this weekend's work cleaning the lathe. Here's my chance (don't tell SWMBO)

I left off having cleaned the leadscrew, but losing lighting. After lighting issue was solved (at least temporarily), I found I needed some more cleaning on the leadscrew as I'd missed a few spots. Or they just created themselves during the week. I'll go with that. Following that, some minore more disassembly and some of the nooks and crannies of the base were cleaned up, and I had a shiny clean lathe!






I do still have to clean the chip tray, it's sitting in a spare bucket on the floor out of the way at the moment.

Unfortunately some of the red paint (not sure what the purpose of this is) rubbed off, or wasn't really there to begin with, along the side of the front way.






I'll ignore this for now, unless someone tells me i cant' get a clean cut without this spot of red paint.

I do still need to attack the gears, they're kind of ugly. The jury is still out on what to do about these once they're clean - White Lithium Grease?






Moving on to the removable parts, the tailstock was dismantled and cleaned up, however I did not touch the setscrew for side to side play. I am not sure if the tailstock is trued already but on the off chance it is, I did not want to end up having to mess with it from the get-go.






Then the Compound or Carriage or Whatever-It's-Called-In-Your-Neck-of-the-Woods was nearly completely dismantled - I left the threading indicator gear in place, and the main drive gear, but everything else needed to come off to access the machined surfaces, which seems to be where they focused the majority of the "chicken fat" (cosmoline) There was a close call with a very tiny little nubby thing on top of the base that the tool post rests on, it stayed well put while I was cleaning everything, and then for some reason when I turned it over, that little thing clattered out. Startled the heck out of me, and I'm sure glad I didn't lose it - it appears to help get the toolpost lined up to 90 degree increments as it seats into a groove cut into the bottom of the toolpost. After some headscratching I got it put back in, in what I hope is the proper orientation (it seems to do its job anyway) (picture does not show its proper orientation)










I also had another close call when removing the cross-slide indicator, and it solved a mild curiosity at the same time:






That itty bitty little bent piece of steel adds enough force to the dial that it will rotate when the shaft is turned, but not so much that the dial cannot be turned by hand, so you can reset it or set it or what have you.

As it stands right now, The compound-carriage-thingamajiggy is mostly reassembled, but was waiting on way oil for some of the moving stuff, and it now sits somewhat like this:






Monday morning, bleary-eyed from a long night at work, I headed the hour north to Grizzly's showroom/warehouse in Bellingham, WA to pick up some of the things i didn't realize I would need when I bought the lathe. This trip's tally includes:

- 4pc center drill set
- mt2 quick release drill chuck (for tailstock)
- replaced the tube micrometer I had mistakenly gotten with the 4pc measuring tool set I should have gotten from the last trip (their mistake, they gave me something worth nearly three times what I paid for)
- vice jaw protectors so I won't mar up parts in the vise (magnetic with rubber pads)
- ... they were out of stock on vices, so that makes the above rather useless at the moment
- live center for tailstock
- southbend way oil for lathes
- 6" DeWalt bench grinder
- a couple of cutoff blanks (5/8", and since my lathe is supposedly 5/8" I am HOPING they fit and are the right height)
- an enormous wish-list

- Ryan, who probably has terminology and other stuff totally wrong, but he's a newbie so he feels entitled to do so.


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## mklotz

This should help you with nomenclature...

http://www.lathes.co.uk/latheparts/index.html

The red paint is so the blood doesn't show - kind of like the surgery on a British man of war.


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## rhitee93

New toys are fun. ;D


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## gmac

Ryan;
This may be of interest to you;

http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/projects/prepguides/C3 Mini-Lathe Preparation Guide.pdf

Cheers Garry


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## steamer

Hey Garry,

Nice reference....thanks for that!

Dave


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## Rayanth

Garry, I had started by trying to follow that guide, but too many little things are different and it wasn't as easy to follow for some reason

I found http://www.mini-lathe.com/Mini_lathe/Start/start.htm which happens to be the exact lathe I purchased. It's been very easy to follow, and while I could hope for more pictures, it's been fine so far. It also goes into how to make adjustments to reduce backlash and other goodies.

- Ryan


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## IanR

That bit for locating the toolpost, that you nearly lost, should have a small coil spring behind it to make it pop out. Is the spring on the floor somewhere?
Ian


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## Troutsqueezer

Many folks leave that little locating pin out when reassembling. It can get in the way more than it helps sometimes.


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## ProdEng

My locating pin went in the bin on day one and now the toolpost has followed it 

Jan


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## Rayanth

the spring behind the locating pin did not fall out. it's still springy.

pictures and all that later, but the lathe has been reassembled. ways are oiled. gears are being oiled right now but I simply couldn't resist - I fired it up on Low speed as recommended by the manual...

Alright so it's tad bit noisier than I'd anticipated, but I don't think it'll be a problem with the neighbors =)

It runs! Just a few more steps to making chips.

- get the bench drilled and bolts installed (acquired, including washers and rubber washers, hopefully enough washers to level the thing) - and leveled
- Get the bench leveled (probably before the lathe, duh)
- clean up and mount vice to bench
- clean up and mount grinder to bench

- clean up bench. what a mess... and I haven't even DONE anything!

- Ryan


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## Grimm1966

Congrats on the new lathe, I have the same one and it's been a hoot.   I too just removed the locating pin and put it in a box with all of the other parts I don't use anymore. You will probably want to get a QCTP at some point in time and the pin will not likely work with it anyway (and because it will drive you nuts, as you can only turn the tool post clockwise). 

Here is a list of things I have done to my lathe that makes working with it sooo much nicer. 

1- Put a cover on the saddle gears, you will be much happier especially when you are doing a cut and the saddle jams because a piece of swarf got in the gears. Don't ask me how I know this.  :

2- Install a cam-lock on the tail stock, Little Machine Shop sells a kit. It's easy to install and makes using the tailstock much, much nicer.

http://www.littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=2018&category=1070498684

3- Get a QCTP, LMS sells them too. You will want one after you spend 15 minutes trying to shim the tool bit to get it at the correct height. BTW spark plug feeler gauges work well for shims while you are waiting for the QCTP to arrive. 

4- Last but definitely not least, do Rick Kruger's tapered saddle gib modification. You will need a mill (or if you have a friend with one), but it makes the machine sooo much tighter with less chatter and other problems (like having to take the saddle off to adjust the gibs). 

http://warhammer.mcc.virginia.edu/ty/7x10/vault/Lathes/7x10-7x12-Projects/TaperedSaddleGibs/

Also see Bog's post on fixing up one of these lathes using Rick's modification here:

http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=627.0

His super glued pin replacement for Rick's jig is the bees' knee's and works great! The only thing I did differently was to have two screws on either side of the tapered gib instead of the one shown in Rick's plans. Here is a picture of the modification I did on mine and shows one of the screws with a "L" bracket to keep the gib in place:







To adjust the gib you just loosen one side and snug up the other. Even after 2 years of use I still have not had to adjust it.

Good luck with the lathe, I'm sure you will have just as much fun as I have had with mine. 

Jason


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## Rayanth

Wrapping things up, I put the lathe back together after oiling the ways with southbend way oil for lathes. Then I had to tear apart the 3-jaw, and clean it all up. that bevel gear with the spiral drive on the other side of it turned out to be a big PITA to get out, but I persevered.

All clean and dismantled, I did my best to keep everything in the same order it came out, but then remembered belatedly that I still had to put them back on in a specific order, and I never looked for numbers on the jaws. Fortunately, they were there.






Just to be sure, i ran it down after assembly to make sure the jaws came together at the same point and time.






Mounted back on the lathe, It all looks nice and shiny! Except I had to wipe down the ways and re-oil them again. I've been cleaning with kerosene, and while cleaning the 3-jaw, some kerosene splattered onto the ways, and made a really interesting pattern, but most assuredly did not do much in the way of helping the way oil do its job.






Finally I attacked the gear mess, seen in an earlier photo, and got those guys reasonably clean as well.






Sorry about the image rotation, I forgot to fix it before I uploaded.

I recalled reading something somewhere about a washer on one of the gears. I had not fully understood what was being said, but now I do. If you look at the second gear up, you'll see that both gears are inset from their respective mating gears. A washer of appropriate thickness behind the large gear (in this pic, to the right of it) will set it back into the proper alignment. Sure, the gears will work as-is, they have about 2/3 of their tooth face meshing, but I'd rather it be correct. I'll be making that change as soon as I can.






To round off my day, I put my new vise to use with the hacksaw and chopped up the stock into the lengths I'll need for the EZ engine. At least, I hope it's the lengths I will need. I intentionally went long, not knowing how straight I can cut with a hacksaw, and leaving enough to get decent facing cuts in the lathe.

I intend to try and drill the holes in the valve and piston body with the lathe, by mounting the part in the 4-jaw and the drill arbor in the tailstock. This is when it occurred to me that I'll need to remove the 3-jaw again and clean up the 4-jaw, as it won't be possible to grip square stock in the 3-jaw for facing.






As for my cats. they spent the day being lazy. They're cats. what do you expect? Furthermore, they're ragdolls - they know nothing BUT how to be lazy.






In a few hours I'll head back out and dismantle the 4-jaw for cleaning, and hopefully get the grinder unpacked and ready to make some bits.

Yes, I do intend to work on some modifications later, but right now I've had the lathe for 3 weeks, and barely even turned it on! I'm ready to make some chips, and get to know the processes before I decide what really needs fixing. The QCTP is on the list, but I've put a fair chunk of change in already with nothing to show, so it will have to wait, as other "nice-to-haves" will wait, while the"must-haves" are taken care of.

- Ryan


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## Troutsqueezer

IMO, an apron gear cover is a must have. After only one session of spinning brass, the carriage gears on my machine were filled with brass swarf, not a good thing. I recommend the very first thing you do is make a carriage gear chip guard. 

http://www.mini-lathe.com/Mini_lathe/Modifications/modifications.htm#Chip_Guard


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## Rayanth

Thanks for the recommendation, Trout, as part of my first project is indeed brass... that will be something I will keep an eye on. I'm not sure I'm ready to be punching holes in my lathe already, but I might think of something.

- Ryan


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## Tin Falcon

ray I have to agree with trout. I have had my 7x for something like 15 years now . have not done a lot of mods but the gear cover is one I have done. I think if it was my only lathe I would do the carriage lock and lever tail stock lock. 
I understand not wanting to drill holes in a new machine or an old one Like my 1937 south bend . but IMHO many of the mods that people do to the minis are things the factory should have done but do not do because they are pumping them out by the hundred and want to keep the cost affordable for the hobby .So we get nice little affordable preassembled kits that need diassembly cleaning deburring adjusting and addition of parts and features that are real nice to have and are standard on real lathes. (whatever that is) the point being is make that little 7x into the lathe you want. Improving it will improve its value. 
tin


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## Grimm1966

Rayanth  said:
			
		

> Thanks for the recommendation, Trout, as part of my first project is indeed brass... that will be something I will keep an eye on. I'm not sure I'm ready to be punching holes in my lathe already, but I might think of something.
> 
> - Ryan



I understand, I felt the same way. But, as trout said, you will get swarf in the gears. At the very least you should try taping some card stock over them as a temporary measure, that way you can use the lathe without worrying about the gears getting jammed. 

Jason


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## Rayanth

Will look into a temporary workaround. Don't have a drill press or mill, or immediate access to one, so don't even have a method of a permanent solution just yet.

- Ryan


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## Rayanth

So, the more I look into the various mods, the more of them I want to do. Sadly many of them require a mill, so those are all off the table for now. Any that require a drill press *might* be doable in the near future - my contact at work is back from his trip to france, and still has a tabletop drill press he received as partial payment for something that he wishes to part with for $50. I probably still need a vise for it, but it's a start.

My question at the moment involves a possible workaround for a mini-lathe shortcoming. There is no carriage lock. while there are some easy quick fixes, they have their drawbacks, and the more 'correct' quick fixes are a bit beyond my current skill range and tooling.

But, I think I may have stumbled on a temporary solution. provided the top slide's angle isn't needed for something else, and I need the carriage locked for some good cuts, would it be feasible to simply disengage the lever that allows the gears to drive the leadscrew ( so it isn't turning), lock the carriage into the leadscrew, and then use an angle to the top slide, to get my left/right in the right place (since the leadscrew won't allow perfect placement) ? Seems this would stop the carriage from moving, because it's trying to be driven by a worm gear that isn't turning - but I suspect there is a drawback I'm not seeing.

- Ryan


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## arnoldb

Hi Ryan

Your solution will work for light facing operations, but there will still be backlash on the leadscrew, so the carriage will be able to still move a bit left to right.

The main reason for the carriage locking is to eliminate this backlash and make things more rigid for heavier parting and facing operations.

Don't worry too much about making modifications at first; just start off on a simple project and start using the lathe. You'll soon start to get a "feel" for it that will help you better judge which modifications to make first - as well as learning the basic machining skills needed.

Kind regards, Arnold


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## Blogwitch

Ryan,

There are a few ways you can lock up the saddle, and you can buy bolt on kits, but for the sake of one bolt, a brass slug for going into the hole first, if you have a tap and a hand drill, this is a fairly simple fix.

http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=627.msg5085#msg5085

Sorry to send you to another site, I am just in the process of transferring a few of my old postings from there to here.

BTW, the whole post is concerned about straightening up a banana shaped old version of your lathe, and a tapered gib mod I did on it.


John


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## Rayanth

Bogs, I have read your post quite thoroughly, as I was sent to it earlier in this thread. My problem is the limitations I have due to lack of mill (and at present even drill press, and it will be quite some time before I can acquire one. My question was aimed mostly at a temporary workaround until I can do some of the more involved mods.

- Ryan


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## Rayanth

I picked up some .020" aluminum sheet for a chip guard on the gears as suggested earlier. For some reason it's painted Boeing Primer Green. Can't quite figure that out... I'm very familiar with the color, since I work there.

Anyhow, That will be the project for tomorrow - making the chip guard. It won't be drilled and screwed on. it will most likely just be super glued on in a few corners so it can be pried back off.

Today (and admittedly a little last weekend), I decided to chuck up some of the round brass I'd ordered, in the 3-jaw and give it a whirl. I have all the tools necessary to start making chips, but it's not entirely ideal just yet - nothing is bolted down, for example. And I still have no chip tray on the lathe, it's sitting on the cardboard I had it on for cleaning.

First was to grind up a lathe bit to one of the multitude of directions Steamer sent me in a private message, I chose I think the Sherline instructions and did my best to follow along. I'm rather pleased with the way the bit came out, but evidently the brass was not. Later found out brass likes less or no top rake. Was also cutting at I think too slow of a speed. The main idea was to see how much adjustment would have to be done to the bits to get on center. With .030" of feeler gauge 'shims' in place, I got very close.

Today I redid it all. Ground up a new bit, didn't touch the top face at all (that IS the top rake right? ... I need to look at those instructions again), took out the feeler gauge shims and faced the end again to see where it would end up. Once again, I had a nib of almost precisely .060" (just a hair over, immeasurable), so I added .030 feeler gauge, and came out really darned close... still a hint of a nip on the end, but evidently I'm too uneducated to figure out if that's good enough or how to deal with it.

I also turned down the side to get a feel for feed rate for a good finish there, taking it nice and slow. My lathe has no decent RPM readout on it, it merely has a non-segmented dial for speed, in lo it's 0-1150 rpm, in high it's 0-2500. I had it in high gear, about halfway up the dial or so, so in the 1250 range. Probably too fast? I was taking very light cuts.

Top Left and Bottom Left - the practice part. The turned portion is a little under a half inch long.
Top Right - the 'new' bit ground without the top face being touched.
Bottom Right - the 'old' bit ground pretty much as close as possible to the sherline instructions, the first bit I ground.






My results, to me, are admirable for a fresh start with no training. There is still some rifling to the cuts, but it's barely enough to feel as a faintly rough surface with a fingernail - is this about right, and I should just sand/file to get a better finish, or am I still needing work in my methods of grinding my bits ? (I did round the tip) Also for that little nib on the face - is that about what to expect, or do I still need to fine tune to get absolutely perfectly flat face?

- Ryan


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## mklotz

Keep working on the nib. Once it's gone, take the opportunity to make yourself a tool height gage...

Pick a good lathe reference surface (e.g., a flat way or the top of the cross slide or the top of the compound). Now with your new found turning skills machine a cylinder* (any metal will do) to a length such that when set on the reference surface, a thumbnail drawn across tool top to cylinder top will detect no step. Voila, a height gage - and a very sensitive one at that - fingers are incredibly good at detecting steps.

Mark its purpose on the side, not ends, of the cylinder and find a warm, cozy spot for it in your toolbox.

* If you're still getting pips while machining, drill the cylinder through so there will be no pips. Technically, the end of the gage that sits on the reference surface should be relieved so that it will sit dead flat. If you wish, you can do that easily by counterboring the base, either with the lathe or with a largish end mill. Leave at least a 1/8" wide annulus for the cylinder to sit on.


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## Tin Falcon

Learn to hone the tool. I have photos of how to somewhere around here. 
Tin


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## Rayanth

Thanks for the suggestion, marv,

Tin, I will look into honing tools (whatever they might be called =) When I make a trip to the store later. Ran into some issues this morning.

Pulled out the tray for the lathe and cleaned it all up. Made the appropriate measurements off of the frame of my workbench so I could bolt through it rather than into it, then lined up the tray to transfer the hole pattern. Punched all four holes through with my newfangled DeWalt drill and a 5/16" bit, and then found out just how hard it is to line up a tray, rubber washers, and only half-visible holes on a 100 lb lathe all in line with the holes on the workbench. After a great deal of cussing and fiddling and nudging and probably a little more cussing (I lost track), I got the bolts started into the feet of the lathe, and stopped.

Should mention, Prior to this I had SWMBO's help in trying to shim up the workbench a bit to get it closer to level. Got it about as close as she was willing to give me the time for, and decided to level the rest on the lathe itself.

While resting from all the grunt work, I transferred the hole pattern for my bench grinder on the other end of the bench, where there's less light, but it's also well out of the way and won't get grinding dust into the lathe or electrical stuff. At this point I decided I wasn't entirely certain I had the best method in mind for handling the lathe, so I called up the father and had him come over to give it a gander.

With his help I got the bench much more level, this time with the lathe on it so it was so darned heavy I could only lift it a fraction of an inch for a brief second at a time. We then used some of his more precise levels to figure out how far off the lathe would be - and it's really not that far off. With the bolts still loose enough to lift the edges of the lathe to slide under anything to help shim it, we used a post-end bubble level (really nifty type of level, and dirt cheap but it's much easier to visualize what's going on in all dimensions) to find that we only needed to slip one little fender washer under one corner and it's about as level as it's going to get.

Then went to tighten the bolts and found that they're way too long. So I'll be making a trip up to the toy store today to get some shorter bolts - I believe I had obtained 75mm bolts, and 50mm would seem to be right about the right length if my measurements are correct - then I need also to get some longer bolts for the grinder, and some lag screws for the 4.5" vise.

After this, a "quick" tear down of the lathe so I can get the pattern for the gear cover traced over to the stock I have for it, and I'll be pretty much ready to run!

Just in time for my classes to start at the community college, and suck all my free time away

- Ryan


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## steamer

Definitely no top rake on brass. and run it fast...you really can't run brass or aluminum too fast.

As Tin and I have recommended, a honed polished tool will cut a polished surface.

You need to get yourself an oil stone.  The ones used for sharpening knives will work fine.

Dave


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## Rayanth

Pleased to report that everything is now bolted down nice and sturdy. I'm ready to make chips ... in a year, when i have time away from school 

Also nabbed a "shop-vac" - which is really just a homedepot branded vacuum motor that clamps on to a standard 5 gallon bucket, for $22. Not a bad price, if you ask me 

The list is getting smaller, though:

- Lathe currently has carriage removed, to get a pattern drawn onto the .020" aluminum sheet that will be used to make the gear guard (even from my little bit of goofing around there was some brass chips in the gears) (pattern is drawn, just need to cut it to size/shape and superglue it on or doublesided tape or something.)
- 4-jaw needs to be cleaned before use with the square stock
- lathe bit grinding needs to be learned better to get more consistent finish on the brass (and probably aluminum)
- Oilstone things are needed to assist with the previous item.
- plans need to be printed for the EZ so I don't need the laptop in the shop with a barely functional wifi signal to view them...
- Time needs to be found in order to do the above, as well as make room for classes, and still enjoy something of life. Going back to school at 32, with a full-time over-time job ought to prove interesting.


Thanks again everyone for the invaluable advice given thus far. Hopefully next weekend I can start a thread in Work In Progress.

- Ryan

- Edit : Also need to add a parting bit holder to the list. and might need smaller parting bits. seems that thin little piece of metal can't be held in a turret toolpost. Don't know if there's room for a holder that can hold a 5/16" parting tool ... and I'm not making another trip up to Grizzly, will have to find something online. Suggestions welcome.


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## Rayanth

Finally got the drill press from the colleague, haven't checked it to see how it runs yet. Didn't have a vise of course so I ordered one from LMS as well as a cutoff tool holder, a boring bar , and some boring bars. Didnt think to see if they had oilstones for honing bits, but I have several options nearby for that, harbor freight has a small nearby store, and there is a Grainger nearby as well. Plus home depot, Lowes, and ace hardware...Walmart with a decent sporting goods section....I'll find something.

This weekend should see more than some playing around, I hope...maybe a few roundish parts for an EZ ;D

- Ryan


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## bdambrose

Hi Ryan,

I love your setup, especially the bench.  Can you email me more detailed pictures of where the legs are joined to the 2x4's on top and on bottom?  I'm going to build a bench
just like that and I'm wondering how you joined the legs to the 2x4's and also how the cross support 2x4's are connected for the bottom shelf.

I just can't tell from the pictures if you are connecting the horizontal 2x4's on top directly to the 4x4 and if you are joining the 4x4 legs with something additional to the 
2x4 that i can see in the picture.  Because it looks like there is a set of screws going into the 2x4 in between the legs, making me think you have a 4x4 connecting the 4x4 legs
together, then put the 2x4 on the outside for look and extra support.

So any detail you can give on how the legs are joined to the table would be greatly appreciated to this newbie.

Thanks,
Brian


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