Who has machine tools?!?

[flyweightnate]

-Are you using those brazed carbide tools now? If so, that's actually amazing work for those things, those brazed bits are really best suited for things like cutting off ratty mill scale and rust on big, heavy lathes.

Pick up some 3/8" square HSS stock and a cheap bench grinder, and start learning how to grind a proper cutting edge. (Assuming you haven't already. ) Also, if you haven't already, find a copy of Southbend's How To Run A Lathe, which has a lot of excellent information on things like tool tip grinding, tool height setting, machine maintenance, and other stuff.

Another suggestion, floating along with the post in the other thread- for your prototype banjo bolt, hit eBay or something, and snag some 5/16" or so hex-shape 12L14 steel. As I said in the other post, it's "free machining" steel, and you should be able to get better finishes and more accurate dimensions. That hardware store bolt you used is Velveeta-grade steel; if it's regular steel, it's going to be gummy and hard to get a good finish on, and if it's stainless, it's going to cut like cold "Juicy Fruit". As me how I know.

Doc.

No, no such foolishness as those brazed tools. Some equally cheap carbide 60-degree insert tools in half-inch holders, though, and not a cutoff or grooving tool in the bunch. Rather hard to work on something that small with a tool that big. Chamfers got "smushy" pretty quick, too, which backs up your Velveeta theory.

What I've heard from the machinists at my old job: 12L14, 41L40, and if austenitic is really needed, 303, are my friends, as well as the normal brasses and aluminums. The bolt was leftover from a storage rack, and yep, it was a mess. But it worked, and I didn't break anything, so I'm feeling pretty good about it all! I think those absurd 60-degree o-ring glands are even going to seal based on my test fit with some o-rings today.

I definitely need to get that South Bend book. I got my tooling up to height by making a test cut and measuring the resulting diameter. I have a bunch of half inch HSS in the box, but it's been a decade since I even looked at how to grind a tool. And I don't even know where to start with maintenance and truing things up (except the Grizzly manual had good suggestions for truing up the tailstock laterally via centers and checking taper). Actually, this brings up a good question. What's the best way to cut a center for the head on a lathe like this - set the compound to 60 and just keep it long enough that the toolholder clears the chuck?

[DocsMachine]

Yep, just need some HSS so I can grind the proper profile for an o-ring gland. Oh... and I guess that means I need a grinder!

-Are you using those brazed carbide tools now? If so, that's actually amazing work for those things, those brazed bits are really best suited for things like cutting off ratty mill scale and rust on big, heavy lathes.

Pick up some 3/8" square HSS stock and a cheap bench grinder, and start learning how to grind a proper cutting edge. (Assuming you haven't already. ) Also, if you haven't already, find a copy of Southbend's How To Run A Lathe, which has a lot of excellent information on things like tool tip grinding, tool height setting, machine maintenance, and other stuff.

Another suggestion, floating along with the post in the other thread- for your prototype banjo bolt, hit eBay or something, and snag some 5/16" or so hex-shape 12L14 steel. As I said in the other post, it's "free machining" steel, and you should be able to get better finishes and more accurate dimensions. That hardware store bolt you used is Velveeta-grade steel; if it's regular steel, it's going to be gummy and hard to get a good finish on, and if it's stainless, it's going to cut like cold "Juicy Fruit". As me how I know.

Doc.

[latches109]

Sounds fun! I just stripped and rebuilt an m54 engine. Broke 4 vanos pistons, terrible casting on some of them. I had to pull 6 vanos from the junk yard to get enough “good” parts. Lucky they labeled them metal oil housing $7 haha. Any progress updates on the swap?

[flyweightnate]

Yep, just need some HSS so I can grind the proper profile for an o-ring gland. Oh... and I guess that means I need a grinder!

[Axel]

Banjo bolt! Nice

[flyweightnate]

Finally joining the club - I didn't even have a drill press to my name. Made my first part (then promptly started looking for tooling that isn't more than the lathe itself) so I'm planning to enjoy this for a long time.

[KMDPB]

-You got a write-up of that anywhere? (Anywhere that isn't Facebook, that is. ) What control are you using?


Doc.

No I haven't done a write up, I probably should. I'm using linuxcnc as the controller with parallel breakout and stepper drivers.

[DocsMachine]

So, any advice for buying used milling machines?

-Yes, tons. But it'd take a week to type it all out here- there's YouTube videos and other resources already out there that can explain things in greater detail.

But, just to get started: That Bridgeport wouldn't make a bad choice at all. It's probably a little worn, but that's not as big an issue as you might think. More of a drawback is that it's an older M-head, probably pre-WW2. Which in itself isn't terrible, but it has a Morse Taper #2 spindle. You can still do good work with that, but it's limited to 1/2" tools and smaller.

The seller has an ER collet adapter, which brings that back up to 3/4", but adds a lot of overhang and reduces rigidity.

Unless that's one of your only choices, I'd hold out for something with an R8 spindle.

No new machines but I am working on converting my mill to cnc. A more involved process than I imagined in my head but slowly getting there.

-You got a write-up of that anywhere? (Anywhere that isn't Facebook, that is. ) What control are you using?

or a small desktop router I can mill aluminum with ...

-That's a tricky bit. There's very few desktop routers I've seen that can do aluminum well. There's plenty that can do it, sure, but you have to take tiny cuts and get lots of chatter. What's your expected work envelope? Carbide 3D's 'Nomad' supposedly does aluminum reasonably well. Ain't cheap, though.

Doc.

[XEMON]

No new stuff here either (unless a portable bandsaw with a few mods count?) but I'm getting better with the whole M- & G- code on my lathe (all by hand)
also looking at a CO2 laser or a small desktop router I can mill aluminum with ...
(I have extremely limited space available)

[XEMON]

Make sure the rails are smith (no work spots) and straight ... That's the most important and most difficult to fix ...
Also make sure the bed stays level from one end to the next ... If someone left it offset for a while, the bed can sag on one end ...

[KMDPB]

No new machines but I am working on converting my mill to cnc. A more involved process than I imagined in my head but slowly getting there.

[rawbutter]

That speed lathe is adorable.

I don't personally have any new tools to show off just yet, but I'm seriously considering getting a better milling machine. I've seen a few old machines on craigslist near me in the $1000-$2000 range, but I'm not sure what I should be looking for. I mean.....I know what kind of machine I want, but I'm not sure how to "kick the tires," so to speak. The machine I have right now is a mini mill/lathe combo thing from Harbor Freight, which I got new, but everything else I'm looking at is fairly used, and I don't know how to spot problems that I should avoid.

Take, for instance, this small Bridgeport. It's pretty perfect for me. Well, maybe a bit too large, but I'll grow into it eventually. Problem is I'm not sure if this is a fair deal or not. And if I go to check it out, of course I'll make sure that it turns on, and I'll check that and all the hand wheels move smoothly....but beyond that I'm not really sure what to look for.

So, any advice for buying used milling machines?

[DocsMachine]

Waking this thread back up, I'm sure some of you have picked up (and hopefully not sold off) more machines for your shop. Let's see 'em!

Personally, for '21, I've added three more machines. The first of which was this cute little Hardinge HSL-59 "speed" lathe, which I got as usual, as a junker that I had to rebuild.



Picked that one up as a "second op" lathe to complement the turret lathe I installed last year, and to run some small, high-accuracy parts.

The second of which is my first real, production-level CNC turning center!



That one's only been here about two weeks, and I'm still getting a few details sorted out- I still need some more tooling, a new light for inside the enclosure, etc. And then, of course, to brush way up on my gang-tool programming, but then, hopefully before the end of the year, parts will start falling out of this thing on a regular basis.

The third one? Stand by. We'll get to that in due time.

Doc.

[WORR13]

yeah i need some kind of tray for it. i was surprised how quiet and smooth this thing runs, man i miss American made. she's been starting to leak a bit on me (like an old Harley), i researched these lathes quiet a bit and was aware of that, but most of the things i have leak oil haha. i treated the block with mineral oil, really soaked it in. still gota clean the chucks and tooling for it and start making stuff

[DocsMachine]

-Noice!

For half a second there I was wondering what kind of motor you had powering it in the second picture.

You might think about finding something that can put between it and the table as a drip tray. Old machine like that, especially with plain-bearing spindles, as I said earlier in the thread, live in oil. You can't over-oil them, at least not until your socks start to squish.

I know those 'butcher block' tops are fairly fluid-resistant, but a "lip of a tray or something helps keep the mess contained.

You might find an HVAC shop to just 'brake' you a tray slightly larger than the overall dimensions of the machine, with a 3/4" or 1" lip, just out of galvanized 20 ga or something.

Doc.