South Bend 8K photos

[herrointment]

One sweat-soaked shirt later and the rough work is complete.

I'll break out the secret weapon tomorrow afternoon.

 

[herrointment]

The secret weapon......a bit hard to set up but deadly accurate when done so.

 

[herrointment]

So what do you think....good enough to hold the lathe or will the seasonal movement be a deal breaker? I'm not married to the thing so let me know what you think.

And yes, someday soon I hope to actually use the lathe but I'm not there yet!

 

[Tanshanomi]

Wow, even my bench sucks.

 

[mikbul]

So what do you think....good enough to hold the lathe or will the seasonal movement be a deal breaker? I'm not married to the thing so let me know what you think.

And yes, someday soon I hope to actually use the lathe but I'm not there yet!

My bench is oak sitting in a wooden building on blocks but I don't care about that, I glued a 2.5" thick piece of oak down the middle of the oak bench and added aluminum angle. The only thing I care about is twist, as long as the lathe bed ways stay parallel your good to go. Think about it, a major customer for South Bend is the US Navy and their onboard machine shops are never level but the lathe doesn't know that.
It's been 10 months and my bed ways are still parallel. That piece of oak is sealed in poly so changes in humidity don't seem to affect it.

To answer your question more clearly I think since you laminated very thick pieces together as long as the top is sealed top and bottom its should be fairly stable. Any stresses in the wood should be held by the adjoining laminations.
Altogether a nice job!

 

[mikbul]

Wow, even my bench sucks.

If your bench does the job that's all that matters!

 

[herrointment]

Alright then!

The secret weapon misfired as I had a bear of a time getting a good, even set on the cutter. Used a low-angle jack plane to finish up and a quick sand before I tossed on some shellac.

Used a bit of recycled HDPE for a splash guard but I'll have to use a whiteboard (marker board?) for a proper background.

So it now sits where it's gonna sit, the best spot in my shop!

Someday I hope to build something as nice as this custom machined equatorial telescope mount, made by one Alan Bell in 1984. I saw it for sale and had to have it.....a real beauty.

Next time...no more froggin' around!

JE

 

[mikbul]

One thing I came across after my bench was done is 6061 aluminum rectangular tube in 2"x6" .25" thick wall found on "Online Metals", I think a 36" long piece would be long enough at $50.00. A length of that would be perfect to bolt the lathe to solidly and let it float of sorts on the wood top. Any wood movement would be irrelevant.
BTW I use a Starrett machinist level to level the ways, a standard level is not accurate enough. Once mounted on that tube and shimmed to eliminate any twist in the ways they should hold with only the occasional check.

 

[mikbul]

Looks nice JE!
Won't be long and chips will flyin!

That's a cool plane you have, I've got a smaller wooden one I've yet to try out. I use my old Stanley jack plane I found at a flea market in mass. My newest are a set of mini planes from Harbor Freight, They're pretty nice with brass sides and the middle is some nice looking hardwood. One is actually a scraper, one a mini bench plane and one a bull nose plane. They look so nice I bought two sets and one sets on display in the L/R!
I put them to work on a swiss micrometer wood case that was warped and they did a nice job.
Mikbul

 

[Tanshanomi]

I haven't gotten mine up and running yet, either, but plenty checked off the list. Main unit de-cosmolined and oiled, plus all the lube points greased/oiled tonight. Just switched the motor on for the first time for just a few seconds, just to say I had. Now I need to tackle the cross-slide, compound, tool holder and tail stock.

 

[mikbul]

I haven't gotten mine up and running yet, either, but plenty checked off the list. Main unit de-cosmolined and oiled, plus all the lube points greased/oiled tonight. Just switched the motor on for the first time for just a few seconds, just to say I had. Now I need to tackle the cross-slide, compound, tool holder and tail stock.

Sounds like your doing it right and on your way! If you can submerge the chuck and keep turning the scroll, you should get a bunch of stuff on the bottom that you don't want in there. I made the mistake of not doing that and the chuck behaved poorly, not it's fault, CLEAN! LOL

 

[Tanshanomi]

Sounds like your doing it right and on your way! If you can submerge the chuck and keep turning the scroll, you should get a bunch of stuff on the bottom that you don't want in there. I made the mistake of not doing that and the chuck behaved poorly, not it's fault, CLEAN! LOL

Appreciate the advice. I'll do that.

 

[mikbul]

One sweat-soaked shirt later and the rough work is complete.

I'll break out the secret weapon tomorrow afternoon.

Here's a couple photos of my bench, being oak I didn't even look at the plane and made a router sled. Still a lot of work getting the top flat.

Now my router sled is shortened and fits right over the ways to protect them when changing chucks etc.

I forgot to mention the extra vertical oak legs I added to the bench along with diagonal bracing and angle iron runners to tie them all together.

 

[mikbul]

The router sled/way cover, Stanley #4 and old wooden hand plane that came over on the Mayflower.

 

[herrointment]

I guess I better start thinking about adding some mass!

Ok, so last photo and yes, I am showin' off!

Hand planes are wonderful tools and really grow on a fella. Addictive even!

Again, thanks for the great thread, Mike. It's been beyond helpful!

 

[mikbul]

I guess I better start thinking about adding some mass!

Ok, so last photo and yes, I am showin' off!

Hand planes are wonderful tools and really grow on a fella. Addictive even!

That's an awesome collection of woodworking tools in a cool cabinet! Now I know who to ask questions about hand planes! Any thoughts about that old wood plane?
On another note you might want to look at some of the woodworking books I have advertised on Astromart non- astro book section. There's some nice books in there but you have to go back 30 days to find the ads.

The Workbench, hardcover and a beauty
Table Saw Magic
The Workshop book
Understanding wood finishing
Mastering Woodworking Machines

All are $10.00 except The Workbench which is $20.00 and shipping is cheap by media mail.

 

[mikbul]

JE you will probably appreciate this more than others except maybe Larry 1 who has been a steadfast follower of this thread.
That tripod head is finally done (you can see the added bracing under the tripod head) and ready for six days in the Adirondacks. You can see the aluminum spacer I machined out of an old Cave Astrola motor mount. (back a page or two and BTW that's the South Bend 5" camlock chuck )
My 102 f11 is in the case I made and those are solid Polaris legs. The chair I found on the side of the road! Somebody was sending it to the trash? It works great at the telescope as it screws up or down. Pretty cool lathe work on that wooden screw!
(I'll probably bring my TV 102 and try that on the new tripod.)

 

[mikbul]

This is how I found out what was causing the wiggles at the eyepiece, the oak mounts were twisting .002" each way when I pulled at the end of the tripod leg.

 

[mikbul]

Some left for sale in all price points. All have been checked out with my guage blocks.

 

[Tanshanomi]

I cannot express how much I hate working with wood. But I think that's because I don't have the proper experience and skill to know how to persuade it to do what I want. Being a natural product, it's reaction can be frustratingly inconsistent and unpredictable. I find wood to be much too...um...disobedient.