(AD FREE) Some Upgrades for the Lathe
Added 2023-03-16 14:00:03 +0000 UTCAfter using these machines for over a year I've built up a lengthy list of improvements I'd like to make to them. So in this video I'm taking on a couple problems that have bugged me the most on the lathe. One is a revisit of a past "upgrade" while the other turned out to be more important that I originally thought!
Comments
The pressure fluctuation makes a lot of sense. If that's the only issue with the compressed air (aside from the cold) it's probably not worth spending money on it. When you need the upgrade for something else, you'd have the specs you need. But don't listen to me too much. I ran a 3/4" drill in a cheap tabletop drill press and messed up the fixturing like four times, even using strap clamps. It was entirely beyond specs and incredibly janky.
Michael Faragher
2023-03-21 07:59:13 +0000 UTCThanks, Michael! I do try to do a dive into what went wrong on projects when they do but it might make for an interesting video topic to review all the "successful" designs for their shortcomings. Because they have have them to some degree, even if very small. In the case of why the slitting saw arbor "slipped" I think my root cause is my air compressor actually. It has an old pressure switch on it (old as in older than me by a long shot) and the tank pressure can fluctuate from 75 to 150psi. This means sometimes my quill impact isn't getting as tight and I can usually hear the difference. It's never bit me before on any other cutters, but the slitting saw has the potential to be a lot higher load. Especially if I stall. I didn't think of this issue until someone mentioned it in the comments otherwise I might have talked about it in the video.
Brandon Sander
2023-03-20 14:11:44 +0000 UTCLovely as always. I don't know if it's something your viewers would enjoy or not, but I'd love to see/hear some . . . post mortem, lessons learned, whatever the term would be. I mean, we hear a lot of it, but these are basically all one-off prototypes (possible exception of the knurler) and they all have little things that can go wrong. Like the holes in this one, which you mostly avoided by continuing on the first prototype. Great lesson learned there! But the slitting saw is an interesting one, if you'll pardon me getting even more long winded. The arbor jammed because of multiple incidents, it looks like. The knee-jerk reaction could be to reinforce the slot or blame hardness, but really damage to the arbor is not damage to the mill. If you're running at reasonable speeds and feeds, that may indicate a problem with the taper itself. I don't actually know, I'm not a machinist, but I tend to do risk assessments and look at failures to see what went wrong and how to remedy those problems in the next prototype. I think it'd be really cool to see your process on that.
Michael Faragher
2023-03-16 21:30:16 +0000 UTCI hadn't thought about it but might have to add it in there. Though it's pretty uncharacteristic for me to not use the 4 jaw and try to get it within half a tenth ๐ Thanks as always, PJ!
Brandon Sander
2023-03-16 17:38:59 +0000 UTCThanks! If you have the room you might be able to make bigger dials as well
Brandon Sander
2023-03-16 17:36:29 +0000 UTCThanks. Go for it! Especially the bearing. It really is a night and day difference
Brandon Sander
2023-03-16 17:35:39 +0000 UTCAnother fantastic video. I can see both of these enhancements applied to my lathe.
Fred Townroe
2023-03-16 17:32:55 +0000 UTCReally nice upgrades! I would like to do something like that for my Atlas 618. Tiny, tiny little hashes and numbers on those small dials.
Dennis Shubitowski
2023-03-16 16:25:26 +0000 UTCIs there a bump roller in the future build list? Never tried it with a piece of bar. I made a double end with inner/outer bearings for different ร on RB or washer type material. Bummer about the R8, Ouch. Interesting design for the Indicator holder and seems to work real good and the thin wall dust shield on the thrust bearing housing was artwork! Giggled OL on the AutoPad...I have boxes of them (grid books) over the decades. I call them thought pads. Real fun, Nice, Handy builds Brandon! Thanks Much!
PJ
2023-03-16 16:02:23 +0000 UTC๐
Brandon Sander
2023-03-16 15:08:54 +0000 UTCThanks, Jeffrey! Another idea I had was to mount a digital caliper similar to how people put them on their mill and tailstock quills. Might be an improvement on the limited stroke of the dial
Brandon Sander
2023-03-16 15:08:36 +0000 UTCMake one!
Brandon Sander
2023-03-16 15:06:09 +0000 UTCAutoPad LOL!
Jose Rodriguez
2023-03-16 14:52:40 +0000 UTCAnother great episode Brandon. This one may end up in my future. I just picked up a Clausing 5914 that I may have to do something similar to. My other lathe has a DRO, so this may be a necessity. As always, thanks for the inspiration and entertainment!
Jeffrey Spoor
2023-03-16 14:39:55 +0000 UTCI could use one of these at my school haha
Alexander Ha
2023-03-16 14:28:08 +0000 UTC
