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Al Smith

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I've said before it's all about location as to what you can find and how much it costs .Generally speaking in this area of Ohio they are relatively inexpensive ,On the plains in Kansas not so much .Atlas and Southbend made some sturdy smaller lathes that would work well and chucks etc are plentiful .However as Randy said a ball headed lathe,no tooling you can spent three times the cost of the lathe in just the tooling so that has to be taken into account.
In addition with about any machine you can surf the net and find forums on them with lots of info .I happened to lucky enough to have a Monarch 10 "EE toolmakers lathe .12.5" by 20" which normal;y you don't find one cheap .Right place right time .I need to install a new electronic control unit on it which I can't seem to find the time to do and I have the new controller already
 

HYPERSAWS

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Get the best tool you can possibly afford.

That said, if you are fairly handy, you can make a 9 x 20 into a excellent lathe for the small items that you'll be working with modifying saws engines.

I use a 9 x 20 from Enco, but they are all pretty much the same. Jet, Grizzly, Enco, etc. Same tool, different paint.

You'll end up spending far more on chucks, collets, collet closers, live centers, quick change tool posts, etc than you will on the lathe itself.

On these 9 x 20 machines, there are a bunch of blogs, and forums dedicated to improving the machine. The first of many simple but effective mods needs to be a stronger compound mount. Detailed instructions are out there about building one.
Thank you for your input I am a complete greenhorn on machining so all the info helps.
 

Nutball

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How long does it take most of you to center a cylinder in a 4 jaw chuck? I haven't timed myself, and I'm not the fastest worker, but I feel like it takes me 30-90min to finally get within about .002".
 

mdavlee

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How long does it take most of you to center a cylinder in a 4 jaw chuck? I haven't timed myself, and I'm not the fastest worker, but I feel like it takes me 30-90min to finally get within about .002".

For cutting a chamber or base? That seems about right for a chamber to me but I was slow at it and cut 99% of mine by hand like tree monkey did.
 

Mastermind

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How long does it take most of you to center a cylinder in a 4 jaw chuck? I haven't timed myself, and I'm not the fastest worker, but I feel like it takes me 30-90min to finally get within about .002".

I can do a squish band in about 20 minutes or so.
 

Al Smith

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I only use a 4 jaw rarely so it would take me a long time to tram one in .If I were to cut the chamber down I'd most likely use the Bridgeport mill .On a base I use a screw on arbor like thing made of hard nylon mounted on a 1" ground shafting in a collet in a Hardinge collet chuck .I make the individual nylon arbors to fit whatever size cylinder I'm working on .So far I think I have 48-50-52 and whatever size a 200T is .They fit tight held in place by a live center in the tail stock. Set far enough in to be able to chamfer the cylinder . .Unfortunately I can't find the picture of the set up but it works very well .
 

Nutball

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For cutting a chamber or base? That seems about right for a chamber to me but I was slow at it and cut 99% of mine by hand like tree monkey did.
For the chamber. I think a dial indicator would speed things up a lot since right now I feel around with the cutter. Bases are easy in a 3 jaw chuck.
 

srcarr52

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I use a long reach dial indicator in the bore to center up the cylinder on a plate in the 4-jaw to cut squish bands. I first rough in the center line and then run the dial indicator up/down the bore with the carriage to rough it parallel with the spindle. It takes about 15 minutes to setup and cut a squish band.
 

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For the chamber. I think a dial indicator would speed things up a lot since right now I feel around with the cutter. Bases are easy in a 3 jaw chuck.

This is what you need. Much cheaper than a comparable Interapid or Mitutoyo.

Screenshot_20200918-105712_Chrome.jpg
 

Al Smith

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Now I've used some some real red neck methods that worked .This is a McCulloch block using a boring bar made from the beater bar axle from a mortar mixer .The tool was indexed a step at a time using a set of verniers .It's nice to have the right tooling but sometimes it just takes a vivid imagination.. Took me two hours to tram the part and mill head and about 20 minutes to make the cut .
index.php
 

Mastermind

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Now I've used some some real red neck methods that worked .This is a McCulloch block using a boring bar made from the beater bar axle from a mortar mixer .The tool was indexed a step at a time using a set of verniers .It's nice to have the right tooling but sometimes it just takes a vivid imagination.. Took me two hours to tram the part and mill head and about 20 minutes to make the cut .
index.php

Your picture ain't showing up some reason Al.
 

srcarr52

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ucm931

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Do I need to push some buttons...get the US Space Force involved to get more satellites in on this site action? :lol::lol:
It's probably your dickering wif the wiring on dem planes. They fly up and cause all sorts of interference and *s-worde.
 
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