Kyle gets the mini lathe home....

wrote:
On Aug 17, 12:21 pm, "Morgans" wrote:
"Dan" wrote

. There are videos on youtube that show one how to do basic work.
Good point! I had never thought of that!

I had unlimited access to a full sized Taiwan knock-off for a while at
school, and nobody knew anything about running it, so I taught myself a few
things. Since the ag teacher that had it in his shop didn't know how to use
it, it went off to surplus sales.

I made a few adapters for some scaffolding, and a few other machine parts,
and got so I was not totally incompetent, but I knew I was incompetent
enough to not want to make anything on it for an airplane! g

I might have to get a small (but not too small) lathe sometime in the next
year or two, and get with someone that can teach me how to properly use it
to make some things my life would depend on. Even some self study books
would go a long way toward learning some good basics, and then go from there
with some more advanced learning.

I could probably get into a machine shop class at the local community
college. They seem to have a pretty good shop, but I don't know anything
about the teacher.

And yes, I could see how you could get hooked, in a hurry!
--
Jim in NC

I got spoiled by 12 years of running decent lathes and
other stuff for a living in the machine shop, and my own 13 x 36 at
home. Made up to $40 an hour with that one. Then we moved and I sold
all that stuff and now, in the shop at work, we have an ancient South
Bend 9" belt-driven machine that is horrible, and a Bridgeport knee
mill that's wonderful. One of these days I'd like to get another
Taiwanese lathe at home, not one of those little tiny Chinese toy
lathes. My projects tend to be too big for machines like that, and
light lathes can't maintain accuracy because they flex too much under
load.

Dan


A big lathe can do tiny work also, but it's not a warm fuzzy feeling
to turn a small object next a huge chuck. If it was up to me I'd have
one of each.

The machine shop at Eglin AFB had lathe with something like a 4 foot
bed. I never asked what they used it for.

A show on television showed a lathe turning a drive shaft for an
aircraft carrier. Now that was a tad too large for me.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

"Dan" wrote

A show on television showed a lathe turning a drive shaft for an
aircraft carrier. Now that was a tad too large for me.

How about a milling machine large enough to profile and balance an aircraft
carrier propeller?

Yep, a bit big for me, too.

I wonder if that 4 foot lathe was used for truing compressor wheels from jet
engines?
--
Jim in NC

Morgans wrote:
"Dan" wrote

A show on television showed a lathe turning a drive shaft for an
aircraft carrier. Now that was a tad too large for me.

How about a milling machine large enough to profile and balance an aircraft
carrier propeller?

Can you imagine the click a breakaway torque wrench needed to tighten
the nut holding that prop on would make?


Yep, a bit big for me, too.

I wonder if that 4 foot lathe was used for truing compressor wheels from jet
engines?

That would be depot level. The lathe I saw had a 4 foot bed, not 4
foot swing.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

Dan wrote:
A big lathe can do tiny work also, but it's not a warm fuzzy feeling
to turn a small object next a huge chuck. If it was up to me I'd have
one of each.

The machine shop at Eglin AFB had lathe with something like a 4 foot
bed. I never asked what they used it for.

A show on television showed a lathe turning a drive shaft for an
aircraft carrier. Now that was a tad too large for me.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired


The problem with small pieces on a big lathe is spinning them fast
enough to get a good surface finish. I had an employee with a sherline
lathe and mill that we set up in the lab at work. I used to tease him
about the fact that I could chuck his whole rig up in either one of my
big lathes. None the less, I used his lathe at work quite often to get
a number of our jobs done. After a while he was ribbing me when he
noticed me bringing small jobs into work to do on his lathe since it was
so mush easier and more pleasant. Even though I already had three
lathes, I bought a Chinese mini lathe for small parts for my shop. I
also bought a really small lathe that I could pack in a suitcase and
take with me on extended business trips. Actually built a small steam
engine in a hotel room with it.

Charles.

Charles Vincent wrote:
Dan wrote:
A big lathe can do tiny work also, but it's not a warm fuzzy feeling
to turn a small object next a huge chuck. If it was up to me I'd have
one of each.

The machine shop at Eglin AFB had lathe with something like a 4 foot
bed. I never asked what they used it for.

A show on television showed a lathe turning a drive shaft for an
aircraft carrier. Now that was a tad too large for me.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired


The problem with small pieces on a big lathe is spinning them fast
enough to get a good surface finish. I had an employee with a sherline
lathe and mill that we set up in the lab at work. I used to tease him
about the fact that I could chuck his whole rig up in either one of my
big lathes. None the less, I used his lathe at work quite often to get
a number of our jobs done. After a while he was ribbing me when he
noticed me bringing small jobs into work to do on his lathe since it was
so mush easier and more pleasant. Even though I already had three
lathes, I bought a Chinese mini lathe for small parts for my shop. I
also bought a really small lathe that I could pack in a suitcase and
take with me on extended business trips. Actually built a small steam
engine in a hotel room with it.

Charles.


I wasn't trying to make an "either or" comparison. If I had the space
I'd get a decent sized lathe and keep my little one. I'm not looking
forward to spending my son's inheritance on up tooling for a bigger
lathe. Not that I really need a 10 inch 6 independent jaw chuck anyway.
OK, "need" might be the incorrect word, is it OK to say I want to be the
first kid on my block with one?

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

"Charles Vincent" wrote

Even though I already had three lathes, I bought a Chinese mini lathe for
small parts for my shop. I also bought a really small lathe that I could
pack in a suitcase and take with me on extended business trips. Actually
built a small steam engine in a hotel room with it.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the perfect illustration of how far down
the rabbit hole that a lathe can draw a person.

"Oh, the humanity!"

Nice story, Charles, but really, seek help. There is no know cure for your
illness, but it can be controlled! g
--
Jim in NC

Morgans wrote:
"Charles Vincent" wrote

Even though I already had three lathes, I bought a Chinese mini lathe for
small parts for my shop. I also bought a really small lathe that I could
pack in a suitcase and take with me on extended business trips. Actually
built a small steam engine in a hotel room with it.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the perfect illustration of how far down
the rabbit hole that a lathe can draw a person.

"Oh, the humanity!"

Nice story, Charles, but really, seek help. There is no know cure for your
illness, but it can be controlled! g

Contact Lathes Anonymous - "My name is Dan and I am a lathe-aholic..."

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

"Dan" wrote


Contact Lathes Anonymous - "My name is Dan and I am a lathe-aholic..."
"
My name is Jim, and it has been 17 days since I laid tool steel to metal on
a lathe."
g
--
Jim in NC

On Aug 20, 12:37 am, "Morgans" wrote:
"Dan" wrote



Contact Lathes Anonymous - "My name is Dan and I am a lathe-aholic..."

"
My name is Jim, and it has been 17 days since I laid tool steel to metal on
a lathe."
g
--
Jim in NC

The smell of machine preservative oil is what does it to
me. You know, that odor that pervades the places that sell machine
tools. Makes me want to pull out my wallet. Kids can sniff glue; I
need Cosmoline or whatever it's called. I wonder if there's an aerosol
can with that smell that I can spray in my car and office?

Dan

wrote

The smell of machine preservative oil is what does it to
me. You know, that odor that pervades the places that sell machine
tools. Makes me want to pull out my wallet. Kids can sniff glue; I
need Cosmoline or whatever it's called. I wonder if there's an aerosol
can with that smell that I can spray in my car and office?

Huummm, there probably is a pretty small market for such a product, but I
like your idea.

After all, even if the aerosol "machine smell in a can" was very expensive
compared to other "smell in a can" products, it would still be many
magnitudes cheaper than coming home with a new lathe, every time you picked
up on some of the "lathe smell." g
--
Jim in NC