Harbor Freight Lathes and Mills?

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could be a good deal . Sooth bends are good lathes I have seen heard of prices from free to over a $1000 .
Tin
 
That is a good price but a couple of things should be checked. It's not unusual for older lathes to have a lot of wear on the ways next to the headstock where most of the turning is done. Also, I believe the Southbend lathes have poured babbitt bearings in the headstock and if there is too much wear, the spindle may not be parallel with the ways. Both of these issues are fairly expensive to correct.

Chuck
 
Finally got out to harbor freight and picked up a 7x10 lathe ;D

everything is great! even though i spent hours cleaning off all the red oil. thanks to who ever mentioned using WD-40 somewhere on this forum, it worked wonders.

When i was there i also bought: 6 piece lathe tool set (the one with arc shaped bits). some plain bits. and a pack of metric center drills (i use imperial measurements, but these will be fine for making an accurate pilot hole.

They didn't have stock of any tail stock drill chucks.... a shame. Also, they didnt have stock of the 30piece or 20 piece lathe tool kit (contains a knurler, cut off bar, calipers....) also a shame :-\

I wish i had known that Grizzly isnt open on weekends, i would have picked up the equivalent kits that they supply. Also would have been able to get the drill chuck tailstock.

I'll go to my local scrap metal yard tomorrow and pick up some metal rod. I'll try making the pistons for the V6 engine i drew up.

First cuts were taking the head off a nail. Then i found some garbage PVC pipe, faced it, and then turned down one end so that it looked something like this:

______________
|.....................|____
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Time to have some fun! :big:
 
my first working lathe was a 7x still have it and use it . have fun.
Tin
 
UH OH!!!

I went back again to turn my flywheel for my elbow engine, but the chuck wont turn!

i took off the panel on the left end, and when i turn on the lathe, the motor turns, and the belt moves, and the other gear where the belt turns turns, but non of the gears in the front turn!

Help please!
 
Check to see if you have it stuck between high and low gear.

Additionally, did you change gears while the spindle was on?

Dave

 
While rotating the chuck by hand, move the High/Low lever one way or the other. It will only "engage" at certain points of the spindle's revolution. So always turn the chuck by hand when shifting until you feel it lock in.
 
That's all i had to do, just have to rotate it by hand and the lever moved over alot more.
And i was about to completely take the whole lathe apart
It works! Thanks, can't believe i didnt think of that.
 
First non destructive use of the lathe :p

I ground down the head of a countersink 1/4" x 1x1/2" robertson machine screw into a Robertson Cap Screw. :D Okay, it may be destructive, but it's still constructive use of the lathe.

8eb86c4c.jpg

0417e40a.jpg


Sorry for bad photos... Camera doesn't take good closeups.
 
AssassinXCV said:
I ground down the head of a countersink 1/4" x 1x1/2" robertson machine screw into a Robertson Cap Screw.
Click to expand...
You have an abrasive toolpost grinder already? Or maybe you just meant turned down the head with a tool bit. ;)

That's not a bad idea for making SHCS, though. I've always been afraid to cut down store-bought fasteners for fear they're hardened and will make a mess of my cutting tool.
 
tylernt said:
I've always been afraid to cut down store-bought fasteners for fear they're hardened and will make a mess of my cutting tool.
Click to expand...

Yes, i noticed that some 1/4" aluminum rod that i had (originally from Canadian Tire) and tried to lathe was really difficult. They must have been hardened rods.
 
AssassinXCV said:
Yes, i noticed that some 1/4" aluminum rod that i had (originally from Canadian Tire) and tried to lathe was really difficult. They must have been hardened rods.
Click to expand...
If you're using brazed carbide tool bits, they have zero rake and don't do great on aluminum, especially at low RPM. A nice sharp, raked HSS bit should work a bit better.
 
I noticed that using some WD-40 as cutting fluid helped majorly. HF didnt have any instock when i was there, and sadly Grizzly is closed on weekends and long weekends.
 
AssassinXCV

Tylernt has the right answer. You need some top rake, and ditch the carbide on a mini lathe cutting aluminum. Keep the material overhang from the chuck as small as possible while "TURNING" material off.

WD-40 does made a good cutting lubricant. A decent kerosene product is all it is....but it is convienent.

I believe there is a section on cutting tools here

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=9413.0

If you don't find it, let me know and I can send you some information.

Dave
 
What about Stainless steel?? should I use carbide for that?

When I was at harbor freight, all they had were carbide tipped bits. I bought a two 5/16" sets for $5 each. I bought a set of the 1/2" as well; I just found out they're above the center line, but I can still use them for when turning bigger sizes such as flywheels.

I'll try to find some HSS blank bits, and sharpen them on my table top grinder.
 
I ended up getting my HSS tool bits online. You can get them from littlemachineshop.com and use-enco.com. 5/16th is the "correct" size, but typically still require a bit of shimming to bring them up to centerline after grinding an edge on them. That's why quick change tool posts (QCTP) are so popular as they allow height adjustment with a knob instead of messing with shims. A bunch of QCTP holders can get spendy though, which is why I've stuck with the stock 4-way turret tool holder. In fact, I bought two spares for theoretical total of 12 tools on tap with the ability to change almost as fast as a QCTP system.

I don't have any experience with stainless yet. I bought some stock but haven't tried to turn it yet. I plan to use HSS, as from what I have read, HSS will do the job. What kind of stainless do you plan to cut? I got some 303 and 416 which are the "free machining" grades. You probably don't want to start off with something like 304 or 316... those can be a pain even for real machinists on full-size lathes. ;)
 
In my metal thread, gmac said that 303 Stainless Steel is the usual for Valves, and he said C1144 Stressproof steel for the crankshaft and camshafts. In other posts someone said that they like 1144 the best since it's easy to machine and it's strong too.

I'm planning on making that V6 engine in the "Questions sub-forum", i've revised the design to make it more compact, relative volume of space that the whole engine would take up: 3"W x 5 1/4"L x 4"H. being that size, maybe the type of metal isn't much of a concern, and i could get away with making cam and crank shafts out of the 6061 aluminum.

I got one of these packs:
image_2289.jpg


Looking around for stores near by that sell HSS blanks for hobbyists.
 
The camshaft made of 6061 would wear out in no time - the contact loads would wear out the cam lobes rapidly. Either drill rod or C1144 Stressproof. The crankshaft made of 6061 would have the same problem with contact loads as the cam - this time due to the connecting rod loads; but also the torsional stresses and bending loads would wreck havoc on such a crankshaft. So either a built up crank of drill rod for the "shaft" portions of the crankshaft and steel of some description for the "disc" portions; or a one piece crank machined out of C1144 would give better results. I highly recommend you check some of the build threads on here to see how others have constructed cranks and cams - they're the pro's not me :big:.

As for HSS toolbit blanks try Busy Bee (store in Vanc area) these are made in China;

http://www.busybeetools.com/categories/Cutting-Tools/Cutting-Tools/Tool-Bits-HSS/

KBC Tools can supply USA made bits (as well as the Chinese) and can send you a three inch thick catalog - also Vanc store;

http://www.kbctools.com/can/main.cfm

As for stainless steel valves, since they are small, save time and go buy a handfull of SS screws and machine those like you've already done ;)

Keep at it.
Cheers Garry

 
I knew about Busybee, but not KBC

It's half the distance away compared to KMSTools that i found earlier tonight.

I'm in need of a parting tool too, so i'll pick one of them up

Thanks.
 
Me and my father have purchased several items from Harbor Freight. Their goods are the worst of the worst and almost unusable. Save up your money and buy somewhere else. Check out the lathes and mills at BILLS TOOL CRIB. I bought a 13x40 geared head gap lathe that hold .0001 tolerances. Unbelievable. Best price in the world also. Larry
 
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