An excellent and simple solution 👍👍 I machined up a custom screw with a wide flat head that I could drill and tap for a handle on my WM180. Does the trick but took a lot more work than your solution.
Good job. I shorten hex keys many times working in a machine shop. Being colorblind makes it good if the colors don’t match. (What does that even mean?) Black, white, and every shade of grey goes together I thought.
hello Keith, now i bought a 80 mm. Chuck with back plate for my four inch rotory table, it arrived by dhl the seller made me sign a waiver that he would not be responsible for any claims, amazing they never mention these kinds of things until they have taken your money from your account and the item has been shipped! I can after receiving this chuck now understand why the seller pulled a fast one on me having sign this waiver eliminating his responsibilty if the chuck came not as shown in his ad. Well here is what received , first the the face of the chuck had all these dents smashed into it about four mm in length, then i stuck the chuck key into the chuck jaw slots to turn the jaws back i could not turn the chuck key, the jaws where locked in place forced closed i had to use a hammer to bang each jaw out of its slot first i thought the India seller placed the numbered jaws in the wrong slots upon further inspection i noted that the slots for each jaw had not been polished at all leaving metal sharp metal sticking out in each slot ,next i removed the gear for each jaw by first pulling out the three screws that keep each gear in place, the gears each one was pressing against very rough petruding lines on the surface of each gear hole unfinished slots , i took out each gear and noted that the teeth on each gear was infact pressing against wall of each hole catching the surface lines petruding . The surface of each hole was completely un finished, the little shaft of each chuck gear that goes into the centre hole when you push the gear in was not rounded and had flat surfaces. A terrible chuck i could have sent it back as un suitable for holding any stock in the rotory table, but i desided to take about four hours with needle files and 150 grit sandpaper now the jaws travel freely and i have one gear done it slides easy into its hole, when i first pulled out all the screws that hold the three gears in place the gears where stuck in their holes and would not come out at all. Anyway i have had to finish the chuck my self, i do not have 250 or 300 grit emery cloth for a nice smooth surface, i need to buy some then i will smoothen the chuck out , i will be milling the inside of it slightly on my new lathe as their again lines sticking out on the surface. I leveled my lathe today no problem i bought a spirit level , i made my first cut in mild steel on the lathe a test piece with my dull cutter the finish was good at 1200 rpm but anything less in mild cold rolled then 1200 will not provide a smooth finish, the nine hundred watt motor had no issue at cutting 5 thou what so ever like butter in my 1 1/2 dia round bar. I have to remove the saddle it seems that the side of the saddle on the chuck side is digging in slight into the vslot so before i cut again it must be removed as their is a sharp spot under the saddle that cutting into the vgroove close to the chuck. I checked the tail stock aliegnment with the chuck its dead on, next the saddle comes off, i will file out this spot, then i will do a test on the chuck to see the accuracy see if any runnout is present i expect non maybe under 1 thou say half thou is accepable. I will be buying a five inch wide piece of stock to make the new back plate for my four jaw. allthough Tubal Cain a model engineer in the states indicated that you can infact make the eccentric sheaves on a three jaw using packing between the stock and one of jaws i prefer the four jaw especially when i finish the bores on my cylinders. I also have a war hatchet its called an Estwing but not from the viking days. Keith i successfully sent my four inch Bridgeport designed vise back to Vevor today which is bigger then my milling machine table. Ending this i will state that i think canada wants us to leave the nation? My new lathe came with a carriage stop. The one thing i noticed that i did not like, Keith is the limited travel of the compound slide when its maxed out i do not think i can mill any metal that is more then five inches in diameter. Check the three bolts under each side of your saddle on your 180 they will press the plates on each side tighter up against the saddle of course you already know all this my saddle is tight no slop at all, i fear changing the bolt settings they are very tricky to ajust the last time i ajusted the saddle for slop it took me two hrs it was tricky but that lathe was damaged by a break in to our storage unit. I checked my metal inventory i have the material for the steam chests and i have three finished fly wheels so i will build three steam engines at the same time the first i will keep since i will have many errors i expect this i will be making all kinds of mandrels since speeding cloning is required i will be selling these units i may send you one Keith for your expert opinion on the quality and finish and would appreciate your imput you can keep it as a gift from me. I will ask you a question on the eccentrics before i stop here when you have please give me a quick simple reply. I was thinking either bronze or gun metal for the eccentric and the sheaves from cold rolled round stock, i wanted to ask can i use brass for the eccentrics brass plate that is i think about 3 /16 thick? I will check the drawings my plans are from Ray Hasbrook i miss spelt his name you can see some of his steam engines on youtube the one iam building is his No” 1 it does not have a square cylinder its round. Some of the drawings have me a bit lost but as the engine is built i will figure out these parts , i do not know if i have to drill two holes through the bottom and top of the cylinders for steam ports its not indicated in the drawings again as i build the first i will know at the appropriate time. Must Go Keith, i will be making your cylinder mandrel in one of your earlier video’s i thinks it is great stick one end in the tail stock chuck then slide it into the four jaw that speeds up the individual alignment of the four jaws. Any other tricks you have please by all means show these in your Top Tip Time for me: Regards Daniel ottawa
Hi” Keith, its the tool holder allen head bolt on the chinese tool holders that the problem, the ajustable screw weakens over time creating enlarged threads then the tool holder start leaning in toward the chuck. I think they used 12 L 14 for the tool post ajusting nut. Regarding the slop in the saddle well their are three bolts on each side of the saddle underneath you have ajust these tighter so that the saddle is just tight enough to sort of free travel along the bed with some miner resistance then your saddle will stop moving about. Next a story about my India made rotory table chuck i received from DHL from india thats next after my dinner: warmest Regards Daniel
The Allen bolt was the first thing I changed, i only bought it out of curiosity as is was stupidly cheap .......it works for now as this Lathe doesn't get much turning use anyway }:-)))
@@keithappleton Ya sorry Keith for the Long Long sa i wrote you, i know your busy, tell me, are their any flats for rent near you?. The Aluminum tool post is not bad but i say again the tool holders adjusting bolt is made from from very soft steel as you put pressure on it it over time digs into the threads the brass adjusting nut is frankly well i need a magnifine glass just to get the teeny wrench on it then the tiny allen wrench. I am happy you responded Keith , i hope that Andrew does more video’s on his no’ 7 and i think he should not give up on his airplane engine. Must go its movie time for me and the mrs. Look forward to your next video tomorrow my far away friend. Regards Daniel Ottawa
Have you found a way to reduce the backlash in the crossfeed gears? I haven’t bought the small harbor freight lathe because of not knowing if the backlash can be reduced or eliminated on it.
No as I have previously mentioned - I will not be doing much serious turning on this machine. It is just convenient to have it in my second smaller Workshop ........
An excellent and simple solution 👍👍 I machined up a custom screw with a wide flat head that I could drill and tap for a handle on my WM180. Does the trick but took a lot more work than your solution.
This seemed to be a simple method as I already had the Allen Key with the damaged end . . . .
Keith, your grinder will be found in the last place you look for it. Presto!!😄
Dear Sir,
Congratulations from Brazil! Live long and prosper! 🖖
Eugenio.
Many thanks!
Good job. I shorten hex keys many times working in a machine shop. Being colorblind makes it good if the colors don’t match. (What does that even mean?) Black, white, and every shade of grey goes together I thought.
hello Keith, now i bought a 80 mm. Chuck with back plate for my four inch rotory table, it arrived by dhl the seller made me sign a waiver that he would not be responsible for any claims, amazing they never mention these kinds of things until they have taken your money from your account and the item has been shipped! I can after receiving this chuck now understand why the seller pulled a fast one on me having sign this waiver eliminating his responsibilty if the chuck came not as shown in his ad. Well here is what received , first the the face of the chuck had all these dents smashed into it about four mm in length, then i stuck the chuck key into the chuck jaw slots to turn the jaws back i could not turn the chuck key, the jaws where locked in place forced closed i had to use a hammer to bang each jaw out of its slot first i thought the India seller placed the numbered jaws in the wrong slots upon further inspection i noted that the slots for each jaw had not been polished at all leaving metal sharp metal sticking out in each slot ,next i removed the gear for each jaw by first pulling out the three screws that keep each gear in place, the gears each one was pressing against very rough petruding lines on the surface of each gear hole unfinished slots , i took out each gear and noted that the teeth on each gear was infact pressing against wall of each hole catching the surface lines petruding . The surface of each hole was completely un finished, the little shaft of each chuck gear that goes into the centre hole when you push the gear in was not rounded and had flat surfaces. A terrible chuck i could have sent it back as un suitable for holding any stock in the rotory table, but i desided to take about four hours with needle files and 150 grit sandpaper now the jaws travel freely and i have one gear done it slides easy into its hole, when i first pulled out all the screws that hold the three gears in place the gears where stuck in their holes and would not come out at all. Anyway i have had to finish the chuck my self, i do not have 250 or 300 grit emery cloth for a nice smooth surface, i need to buy some then i will smoothen the chuck out , i will be milling the inside of it slightly on my new lathe as their again lines sticking out on the surface. I leveled my lathe today no problem i bought a spirit level , i made my first cut in mild steel on the lathe a test piece with my dull cutter the finish was good at 1200 rpm but anything less in mild cold rolled then 1200 will not provide a smooth finish, the nine hundred watt motor had no issue at cutting 5 thou what so ever like butter in my 1 1/2 dia round bar. I have to remove the saddle it seems that the side of the saddle on the chuck side is digging in slight into the vslot so before i cut again it must be removed as their is a sharp spot under the saddle that cutting into the vgroove close to the chuck. I checked the tail stock aliegnment with the chuck its dead on, next the saddle comes off, i will file out this spot, then i will do a test on the chuck to see the accuracy see if any runnout is present i expect non maybe under 1 thou say half thou is accepable. I will be buying a five inch wide piece of stock to make the new back plate for my four jaw. allthough Tubal Cain a model engineer in the states indicated that you can infact make the eccentric sheaves on a three jaw using packing between the stock and one of jaws i prefer the four jaw especially when i finish the bores on my cylinders. I also have a war hatchet its called an Estwing but not from the viking days. Keith i successfully sent my four inch Bridgeport designed vise back to Vevor today which is bigger then my milling machine table. Ending this i will state that i think canada wants us to leave the nation? My new lathe came with a carriage stop. The one thing i noticed that i did not like, Keith is the limited travel of the compound slide when its maxed out i do not think i can mill any metal that is more then five inches in diameter. Check the three bolts under each side of your saddle on your 180 they will press the plates on each side tighter up against the saddle of course you already know all this my saddle is tight no slop at all, i fear changing the bolt settings they are very tricky to ajust the last time i ajusted the saddle for slop it took me two hrs it was tricky but that lathe was damaged by a break in to our storage unit. I checked my metal inventory i have the material for the steam chests and i have three finished fly wheels so i will build three steam engines at the same time the first i will keep since i will have many errors i expect this i will be making all kinds of mandrels since speeding cloning is required i will be selling these units i may send you one Keith for your expert opinion on the quality and finish and would appreciate your imput you can keep it as a gift from me. I will ask you a question on the eccentrics before i stop here when you have please give me a quick simple reply. I was thinking either bronze or gun metal for the eccentric and the sheaves from cold rolled round stock, i wanted to ask can i use brass for the eccentrics brass plate that is i think about 3 /16 thick? I will check the drawings my plans are from Ray Hasbrook i miss spelt his name you can see some of his steam engines on youtube the one iam building is his No” 1 it does not have a square cylinder its round. Some of the drawings have me a bit lost but as the engine is built i will figure out these parts , i do not know if i have to drill two holes through the bottom and top of the cylinders for steam ports its not indicated in the drawings again as i build the first i will know at the appropriate time. Must Go Keith, i will be making your cylinder mandrel in one of your earlier video’s i thinks it is great stick one end in the tail stock chuck then slide it into the four jaw that speeds up the individual alignment of the four jaws. Any other tricks you have please by all means show these in your Top Tip Time for me:
Regards
Daniel ottawa
Wow, that's a story
Hi” Keith, its the tool holder allen head bolt on the chinese tool holders that the problem, the ajustable screw weakens over time creating enlarged threads then the tool holder start leaning in toward the chuck. I think they used 12 L 14 for the tool post ajusting nut. Regarding the slop in the saddle well their are three bolts on each side of the saddle underneath you have ajust these tighter so that the saddle is just tight enough to sort of free travel along the bed with some miner resistance then your saddle will stop moving about. Next a story about my India made rotory table chuck i received from DHL from india thats next after my dinner: warmest Regards Daniel
The Allen bolt was the first thing I changed, i only bought it out of curiosity as is was stupidly cheap .......it works for now as this Lathe doesn't get much turning use anyway }:-)))
@@keithappleton Ya sorry Keith for the Long Long sa i wrote you, i know your busy, tell me, are their any flats for rent near you?. The Aluminum tool post is not bad but i say again the tool holders adjusting bolt is made from from very soft steel as you put pressure on it it over time digs into the threads the brass adjusting nut is frankly well i need a magnifine glass just to get the teeny wrench on it then the tiny allen wrench. I am happy you responded Keith , i hope that Andrew does more video’s on his no’ 7 and i think he should not give up on his airplane engine. Must go its movie time for me and the mrs. Look forward to your next video tomorrow my far away friend.
Regards Daniel Ottawa
If you want to keep it in the allen bold, a dose of Loctite (I don't know which one) might work. Just a thought.
It stays in there anyway without any Loctite ........ I jut want to keep it simple }:-)))
Have you found a way to reduce the backlash in the crossfeed gears? I haven’t bought the small harbor freight lathe because of not knowing if the backlash can be reduced or eliminated on it.
No as I have previously mentioned - I will not be doing much serious turning on this machine. It is just convenient to have it in my second smaller Workshop ........
Keith how do I get in touch with you
sales@mainsteam.co.uk