Question for Machinists!?

[TopCatGr58]

Little Machine Shop of Horrors!

Hey folks,

Well, I got the beast home, and after another 2 hours of fabricating brackets, I was able to fit the lathe onto the cast iron feet I had left over from my old lathe!

I plugged it in, and both motors spin, the one for the lathe as well as the one for the mill/drill head. HOWEVER, the MILL head I think had some hardened caked up grease in it cause it was spinning much slower than it should have been! Also, when I was spinning the lathe spindle by hand with the belt OFF, it too felt like the grease was gummed up.

Looks like I'll be taking it partly apart to get it cleaned up and regreased and such. I D/L'd the manual from HarborFreight's web site, but it just says to oil it daily, and shows the oiling points. SO.....was wondering what kind of grease should it have, vs. the type of oil needed to keep it working without being too thick!?

The bracket on the Spindle looks like the universal 3 bolt flange for mounting a Plain Back lathe chuck!? It does have 2 lock screws on it!

The slowest spindle speed is rated at 500rpm! Does this mean that I won't be able to lathe the outer edge of the piece, being 5" diameter, that equates to only about 150rpm for the 200fpm work rate????? Or....will I need to get carbide tipped tools vs. HSS???

Neil, I plan on getting an end mill and working on removing the bulk of material that way, and then use the lathe for cleaning up the surfaces!
T.C.

[gerkenbruce]

Hey TC
My averige spindel seed at work is 3000 rpm as long as you have the hp you will be all right . I sent you tools they sent them back my mistake I will send them back out tomrow.

XSively
Bruce

[LoserShoes]

Probably preserative grease. Good idea to take it apart and check for casting sand and other trash anyway.

Steve

[TopCatGr58]

Trying to find a Lathe Chuck?!

Hey guys,

Well, I took off the spindle back plate, and then the spindle bearing cover, and the grease was still very moist, clean, pliable, just resmeared it all around the nice clean needle bearings, and put the cover and backing plate back on!

Got more questions! As mentioned, my bargain lathe didn't have the lathe chuck...no biggie cause it would have been too small for what I needed anyways! I have figured out that it has a 1-1/2" x 8 tpi spindle fitting, and the plain chuck backing plate is about
4-1/4" diameter, it has 3 holes about 1-5/8" from center hole to center of the mounting hole. It's 2-7/8" between each mounting hole.

I'm looking for a 6" 4 jaw independent chuck, and have found a variety in Plain Back. A few I've seen the back side of, show a 3 hole pattern, but they don't give any dimensions about these holes? I've read that the plain back chucks require a backing plate to mount them to the spindle.

I have the above mentioned mounting plate but I don't know whether it will fit any of these plain back chucks!? I've got a machine tool catalog from SHARS, it has a listing for threaded backing plates for plain back chucks, several different diameters with the required spindle threading size?

The 3 jaw chucks have the 3 hole pattern, but the 4 jaw has a 4 hole pattern, so I'm thinking I would need a second plate to mount to my existing threaded plate to use this chuck? Am I going to have to drill the required mounting holes into the backing plates for any or all of these chucks?

Hopefully someone can clear up my confusion!?
T.C.

[LoserShoes]

Give the guys at littlemachineshop.com a call, they should be able to get you the right parts.

Steve

[TopCatGr58]

Little Machine Shop....Little help!

Hey Steve, and others,

Okay, I've been to the LMS site before, regrettably their Online catalog is a PDF, so I can't post photos of what they have, but they are limited in the sizes due to they supply mostly for "MINI" lathes and mills.

First, they only have Lathe chucks up to 5" diameter!

On page 11, they show adapter plates for larger chucks, but again, only go up to 5" diameter!

On page 12 they list adapter back plates that screw onto spindles, they have the 1-1/2" x8thread 6" diameter size listed, but doesn't say anything about any mounting holes?
It's part #1919

But down on page 18 they show a faceplate #1199 designed to fit a mini lathe, looks to have the proper 3 hole pattern to fit my spindle adapter/backplate, and has 8 slots cut into it, is 6.25" diameter, and so I think it might work for mounting a 6" diameter Plain Back Lathe Chuck with a 4 hole outer rim pattern to it, provided I get the proper studs/bolts, washers to fit!?!?
What do ya'll think about this solution vs. the item from page 12?

Also.....the description for my Mill didn't list any Drawbar. I've been reading on both LMS catalog about R8 end mill holders, and they mention the use of a drawbar. I thought the R8 fitting was like the MT fittings just a pressure fit? I see a slot cut into the side of the R8 end mill holders, but I can't feel or see any tang inside the mill head itself? Do I need to get R8 end mill holders designed to use a drawbar, or just the plain R8 holders and just pressure fit them into the mill head??

Sorry to be a nuisance, trying to learn, and trying to spend only the $ I need to for only the parts I need to get!
T.C.

[xswilly]

an R8 holder is normally used in a bridgeport type machine
it is held in with a drawbar
in the end of the holder you will see a hole with threads in it
you will need a drawbar for your lathe

[LoserShoes]

Try THIS

Steve

[LoserShoes]

Oh yea, and if you knock out part number 136, you will find that you have an R8 taper for mills and such. The hole up through the spindle is where the drawbar goes.

You might already know this, but there it is.

Steve

[LoserShoes]

Ignore that last one, it's wrong.

Steve

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Steve,

I found a modest manul online for this thing on the Harbor Freight site, it's mostly a series of exploded views and parts list, no where near as good as that Grizzly manual! I'm just waiting for the tax return check to hit the bank, and then I'll be ordering a bunch of parts, and I'll let you know what I find, what I have to do to get the chuck mounted, etc.!

The top of this mill doesn't have an opening in the mill head cover, it just closes down over the pulleys, so I've figured that it's a pressure fit. A morse taper 2 will fit into it, but the manual states is an R8! IF I end up needing a drawbar, then I'll just either get one or make one after I get the end mill holders!?

I'll be getting just the 6" 4 jaw independent chuck first, and I'll try that 6.5" faceplate and see how it goes. I might have to get the 6" threaded backplate, and probably drill mounting holes to fit the chuck!? But, I should be up and running and cutting in a few weeks. Will post hopefully positive results afterwards!!
T.C.

[LoserShoes]

A good tip is to always check the Grizzly site to see if they have a manual for that Harbor Freight equipment you just bought. Much better manuals. Also order your parts from Grizzly, you'll have them much sooner.

Speaking of diagrams, on page 21 of the Harbor Freight manual, doesn't part #97 look like a cap? It does seem to show a hole through the spindle. Maybe if you pop off the cover (98) you can see it.

By the way, there is a 3in1 group over at yahoo groups you might want to look at.

Steve

[planedick]

Better way?

Seems to me that making a routing fixture to make that part would be far less complicated. The aircraft companies use routers for lots of their parts. Another way would be to drill the center hole first and make an adaptor that's split with a taper thread like a pipe thread in the center and chuck it into the lathe and put the plate on it for machining. I also have one of those Harbor freight lath/mill things and I will tell you for sure, if you're not a really good machinist you will have a very difficult time making good parts.

[TopCatGr58]

Gettin' there!

Hey folks,

Just a short update. I want to thank either JWSanders, or LoserShoes, can't remember exactly who suggested it, deleted that email, but I got a new 6 tooth/inch metal cutting bandsaw blade, and what a difference!!

Put that 5.25" log on there, and let it rip, and after only 15 minutes, it had sliced thru that log!!! Much better than the over 1 hour it took with that 14T/inch blade! I only had to rotate the log once, to bring up a section that the blade couldn't reach due to hitting the log with the upper arm of the cutting arm!

I sprayed some WD 40 on it cause it was making this nice scratching noise, but it didn't help, just was the harmonics developing from the blade running on the log. The blade NEVER got warm, much less hot, and that was BEFORE I had used the WD40!

Now once my other parts arrive in a couple of days, the 6" 4jaw chuck, end mill holders, mill vice, then I'll be able to get started and see what this thing can do!! Stay Tuned!
T.C.

[pathfinder]

Wax on Wax off

Hey TC with the blade running take a candle or a parifin block found in the canning section of any grocery store to both sides of the blade to lube it. Bees wax if you can find it works even better. Just hold it against the running blade. Don't cut your finger off. All WD40 will do is smoke and smell. Also run you band speed at a higher RPM and that should knock some of the vibration out of it.

How are you holding your part? If not rock solid that will cause you problems.

One hint don't take SWMBO's favorite candle to test this out or you will be sorry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!