The outside of cast iron is hard because it cools off quickly, that creates iron carbide. I don’t want to get into the chemistry, but that and often, tiny silicon particles from the mold embed themselves in it. You have to cut under that hard surface and lift it off. Also, if you’re using inserts, you need ones for that purpose or they will dull and chip quickly. You have to be aggressive, not timid about it. If you’re timid and cut too shallow, then the hard abrasive surface will wear the carbide away and a small silicon chip, often too small to see, will catch it and chip it. You did a great job with the chuck itself.
I am absolutely sure that I am beyond the situation. Unfortunately, I don't have the necessary knowledge to fully understand what happened. All I know is that through the process of heating followed by slow cooling, I hope that this disc will be workable. I received a lot of comments from people like you who know more than me and I hope I will receive more. I will use all the information to elucidate this mystery. I will buy another identical disc (several even) and with all your information we will discover together whether or not it is possible to be processed. I will make a video about it. I will cut it, put it under a microscope, keep it at high temperature for hours....I I need some exact data in return (please)..temperature...slow cooling medium....and all the necessary information that you have about such a thing. Thank you very much sir !
@@JIMMY916 the best I can do is give you some info. This is likely just grey iron. Anything else is too expensive. No need for ductile iron for weights. If you want to attempt to anneal it, bring it up to around 1,500-1,600 f. I would have to look up Celsius. Leave it for about a half hour per 1 inch/25mm thickness. Then let it come back down very slowly. Overnight. If your kiln/forge will hold temperature after being turned off that would work if you close off any open ends. Or put it into a large container of heated sand. Again, even if the annealing works, there could be tiny silica particles in the surface. You would still need to cut under the surface. A brazed carbide tool would likely work better than an insert. Often a polycrystalline diamond tool would work too. This has been done before carbide with high speed tooling and even before that, with “tool steel” I. E. Plain high carbon tools. So it can be done. I’ve done it a lot myself.
Thank you for all the details provided. I will also look on internet for avaible information to understand better. Thank you again for your comments! There is valuable information there.
I have good teachers. Until four video I ware gloves when turning. All those who follow my channel are former or current machinist with a lot experience and have been enough to correct many of my amateur mistakes.If I remain at the amateur stage, this hobby of mine will remain anonymous and even dangerous for me. Thank you again for your time and for your comments !
Yes, it is a winning idea. I would not repeat the attempt from the first part and I would modify the chuck without thinking about it. From now on I know it is possible. Thank you very much for your comment !
I didn't have the inspiration to choose the winning option from the beginning. All the channels I've seen on TH-cam build plates for the chuck, no one modifies the chuck and of course I chose the same option. It's just that it didn't work for me and from a fiasco at the beginning, I think I succeeded in the end. Thank you very much for the appreciation. Your comment helps me !
In the UK i find weights from flee markets very cheap, but i only buy the ones with YORK on the disc these are wider & better cast, i use a brazed on carbide with a good rad, its a good idea to have the tool upside down run in reverse & have a vacuum cleaner hose fix it to tool post real close to the tool & paper over the ways it makes for a much cleaner job, hope my advise helps. From Coventry in UK 🇬🇧.
Nice work. I just subscribed and wanted to say that it is good to show the process of deciding when to quit on an idea and move on to a different plan. Fixation on completing a job in a certain way is difficult to overcome and can result in a lot of time wasted and things wrecked.
I hope that someone wants to borrow the idea will use my video and give up before they start. Don't waste your time like I did. Thank you very much for your comment and subscription !
Try starting with a thicker piece of iron. While it may have a hard exterior it will have cooled slower and may have usable material. I doubt there was much if any metallurgy done with the piece you have. Cast iron normally does not respond to heat treatment except to relieve stresses in castings. The exception being white/malleable iron which is cast hard and heat treated to a usable state. I hope that is helpful.
@@pvtimberfaller Your information is very valuable and will help me make a video dedicated to heat treatment cast iron. I will use all the information from you to solve this mystery. Thank you very much!
I would suggest grinding off the outer hard skin which is often used to expose the soft iron underneath. others have already answered in greater detail but thats all you need to know. Great project keep going!
At 24:25, There is a hard surface on the cast iron weight/disc from the casting process, plus there may still be some sand in the surface as well. The core of the iron weight/disc, past the surface is reasonably normal soft iron.
Are you referring to the sand from the casting form of the disc or can the disc contain sand as an additive material intentionally put into the composition by the factory? Some comments suggested this too.
@@JIMMY916 Cheap recycled iron can contain anything. It is 80%-20% chance that the iron used to cast weights for weightlifting is junk, anything they could find including sand and dirt still hanging onto recycle material, small rocks that may have been on the ground when the shovel picked up the next bite of recycle, glass maybe stuck to the chunk to go into the furnace, and anything else that won't blow up while melting or pouring. Mainly tho, even just the surface where the black paint is, 0.050"-0.100" surface material is very hard, glassified almost. If you had a larger weight, say 20lb-45lb, you would want to take an angle grinder and grind most of the surface material away from your actual working/tooling area, before trying to process your finished part. Still there are probably still air pockets and other voids in the center areas to ruin your finish, and possibly the final dimensions. Good Luck and be safe! Thanks for making this video!
I am surprised by the amount of information I received in all the comments received from you related to this topic. That's why I'm determined to resume this whole heat treatment process with other identical discs and use all the information here to see a different result. I will break, I will cut, I will put under a microscope its internal structure. I will slowly cool in hot sand and all the things I learned here. Of course, I will film everything I do. There are things that I will clarify with you all. Good luck to you too and thanks for comments.
One way to cut the hard casting is to mount it on the rotary table and put a grinding wheel in the mill. Be sure the cutter rotation opposes the feed rotation. It is said that leaving comments helps the channel. Use an effective method to avoid getting abrasive all over the machine. Afterward, assume there is abrasive to clean up.
I hope I never encounter this type of material again. It is probably made by NASA or from another galaxy. Thank you very much for the comment and for your ideea. P.S And yes, probably the comments help the channel, but I'm very sure they help me. Make me feel ”little important”. :))
Wow, you really do have an eagle eye for precision. I never tire of people making their own Chuck plate adapters, and yours was cool and entertaining. Can I ask a question of your 3-in-1 machine? I have the more inferior Smithy 1225 XL Midas, or what I call my POS SUX 3000. My milling head moves by a large threaded ring along the same threading on its column, and it’s BS because it’s on a cylindrical column. I’ve had the head move whilst flyi cutting steel ensue of this column. Can you share how your head moves up and down, to get a better idea of modifying my colum/mill head? Thank you.
The main column that connects to the lathe has some pinions that raise or lower the whole assembly. The milling or drilling head is lowered or raised exactly as with a boring machine with a usual bench column, only a little more complex and precise. But the principle is exactly the same as with a bench drilling machine. A toothed wheel lowers or raises the milling head. Unfortunatelly, I don't know how to describe exactly... Thank you very much for your comment !
I think You do it wrong when You put in the collet? You must fasten the collet in the ring first, then I don't think the collet can be stuck but will follow the ring out?
I've tried all methods known and same results. Do you think if I greased the collet it will be ok? Or do they have to be clean !? I haven't tried this before. Thank you for your suggestion !
@@JIMMY916 No grease, You know that You must tillt the collet one way to get it stuck in the ring. You se that in the inside bottom the little holding ring is not centered so it would be possible to get the collet stuck.
@@magnuscarlander2464yes, definitely. You tilt the collet. It slips under the part of the ring that’s wider, then you push down and snap the other side of the collet in. If you don’t do that, it will never work correctly. It could damage the snap ring in the nut and you can’t fix it, it would have to be replaced, or throw the nut away and get a new one. No grease! Collets and the tapers must be clean and dry. Clean with acetone if they’re greasy. The shank of tools and the inside of the collet must be clean and dry too. The nut must be clean. Any chips in any threads will offset the nut which will offset the collet and tooling. The outside of cast iron can be very hard and may contain fine silicon chips from the sand in the casting process. Use carbide and go deep enough to cut under that surface where it will be soft. I use good hearing protection for loud machinery. I’m 74 and I’ve been doing this for over 55 years and I still hear well, so it works.
Nice work Jimmy. You overcame the challenges.💯👍👍 To anneal that hardend cast iron or cast steel you could try heating it up and bury it in lime powder. May work. Have a great week.👍
Hello my friend Ed ! I have a suspicion that this cast iron disk is made by NASA. I hope they don't offer me to test their gym discs anymore because I will politely refuse. I had this suspicion since I bought it. It was to cheap :)) I'll use your idea but very soon I hope I won't be getting closer than a hundred feet to cast iron. Thank you Ed for your comment and for your suggestion. A great week to you too.
Nice video and presentation. There are inserts catered for cast iron. Cast iron can be friendly but usually it is not because of its impurity of sand and quartz are insert killers.
This cast iron was my nightmare ! Now I understand that impurities are imune to the two thermal treatments. So my ”battle” was lost from the start...Thanks for the hints and appreciation !
I've never seen anyone use the same backplate for multiple chucks. Usually every chuck has it's own backplate which is changed along with the chuck when need be.
I have seen that when milling you take 0,05 mm by each pas. This is a lot. The pressure on the insert becomes to high and will not cut but rubbing the materiaal. You should take less each pas you make. Like 0,01 to 0.02 max. May one good advise.... if you turn cast iron the chips are so small and tiny that it looks like dust. Do not blow it away with compressed air. Use a vacuum cleaner in stead. Because that dust damage your lathe en milling machine. The rest i liked the video. Good job :)
Yes,, I exaggerated with the 0,05 mm, it's true, but I could see that everything I was doing was doomed to failure. My patience was severely tested by that disc. As for that cast iron dust, I didn't know until today that it is abrasive. Here 's another thing I learned from you. I receive many lessons for free and for that I thank you !
I don’t know why you think 0.05 mm is a lot. It’s not. Iron weights aren’t hard. You have to get under the hard surface. So you take heavier cuts for the first, a good mm is called for. Even that may not be enough.
I wonder why you didn’t just drill clearance holes in the mounting plate and then use the boring setup on the chuck to match the flange, especially because it does not appear tapered like many other chuck interfaces such as D1-4
Your idea would have been a good isolution for me if I consider myself sufficiently prepared for the precision I needed and to use the boring head for the first time at the precision of 0.00 mm. My milling machine is more of a bench drill than a profi milling machine. I think that the chosen solution was the best for me. I have more confidence and ”experience” on the lathe. Thank you very much for your comment and for your suggestion !
grind the outside first before trying to cut on lathe, but there is castiron white and grey the white is very hard, even harder as the insert or hardened toolsteel. runout of 4 jaw is less important, than the 3 jaw, you have to center your part anyway
Can you please tell me if a special grinding stone is needed for grind white cast iron ? And this must be rough or smooth ? I need this information and you can help me (please). Thank you very much for your time!
I'm wondering about the process of making barbell weights out of, I suspect, Bainite. Curiouser and curiouser as Alice once said. The carbon and alloy content is resisting tempering. Simply put, Bainite can be almost as hard as Martensite but slightly ductile, highly resistant to being brittle. By the way, that lathe has an open frame motor, getting sprayed with and inhaling chips. You should put a shroud on it on stand offs so it can breath fresh cooling air. Concentricity suggestion when machining a chuck or backing plate. Cut the relief in the back of the chuck with a .01mm taper so it is a slight interference fit. Forever eliminates that union if you have concentricity issues. Now take your new chuck apart and wash all the grinding sludge out of it.
I will do somae tests with these cast iron disc using all the information on this channel. After these tests (in a future video) we will draw all the cnclusins together. We will see after the microscope its structure before thermal treatments, we will see how the transformation of the structure look and many others. All your advices are very useful for me and thank you very much for that.
@@JIMMY916 Looking forwards to the video. Very puzzling. I know of several irons that have those properties, but just for simple barbell weights is strange. My money is on a Bainite structure. A quote, "Unlike martensitic steels, alloys based on bainite often do not need further heat treatment after transformation in order to optimise strength and toughness." You heat treatment may actually have toughened it. Time to break out those fantastically expensive ceramic inserts.
After the first temperature treatment , the boring head was able to widen the inside of the disc more easily, but still very hard. The inner surface , however, looks very strange (I didn't pay attention to show the zoom footage). I asume this means several types of cheap materials in the composition. Or with a higher density than cast iron to increase the weight to the disc in relations to its size. Otherwise, I think it is a mandatory condition thet these gym discs are not brittle in order not to cause injuries by breaking them. I'm sory that I didn't put it in the press to see how it breaks. Some conclusions could be drawn from how they break, if they break? But I promise I will test them. Very soon :))
@@JIMMY916 A word of caution from metallurgy class. Some alloys virtually explode at critical, capable of blasting shrapnel in all directions. Consider a blast blanket such as fiberglass cloth. But it's fractures would certainly be informative.
The quality of the iron is suspect, as it's simply used for weights, no great care may be taken. Probably made from scrap. Its composition may be closer to a high carbon steel, and if dropped into water whilst still at a high temperature, to remove the sand, it may become hardened. Sand casting can suffer 'chilling' on narrow sections, also giving hard surfaces. And sand can also turn to glass on the surface. A heavier initial cut may get under the 'hard' skin - but risking your work holding method. Philoso mentions hard materials than can be trapped in the casting ('inclusions'). I don't think your temperature was sufficient to anneal the cast iron - i.e., 850-950 C and held for a couple of hours, then left to cool slowly. Well done, you finished the job!
The temperature in the furnace almost warped the edge of this disc. The increase in flame temperature is greatly increased with the help of compressed air. And the heat accumulated by the furnace is kept for a very long time. The next day it was still warm (I mean the second attempt, not the one with the forge). So the cooling was very slow. Yes, it could be an explanation that its composition contains many components immune to temperature. The disc was kept on fire for almost 40 min. (please tell me, It should have been held longer?) The exposed part has almost melted. Perhaps the time was not enough to break down the martensite? It's a mystery to me. Thank you for your comment and appreciation !
@@JIMMY916 You have control over the temperature, by adjusting the gas flow. I'm not sure whether your furnace can reach the melting point of cast iron, about 1200 C. Hard to judge on a screen, but your temperature looked about 800 C or so, higher near the flame entry position.
At exactly 18:57 next to the inscription 2.2 lb you can see the deformed edge from the temperature. I have the possibility to lower the temperature at the furnace by adjusting the combined air flow. It's burner is not the classic Venturi model, but is much improved by injecting compressed air from the compressor. (I made this furnace too ) :)) Anyway, I'm very surprised by this material. It is the hardest one that I fixed in the lathe. Thanks again sir !
There are different grades of cast iron based on the carbon content the iron in the weight you tried to use it is not a higher grade of cast or normal machining cast iron more than likely or you were getting so much noise from the setup not being rigid enough
Yes, I thought about that too. Anyway, I'm over it. I could turn all types of materials, but not this one. I think if I continued and in the end I would have succeeded in, what I was doing when I had to drill and thread? :)) Anyway, a bad choice. Thank you for appreciating me and thank you for your comment!
It may be true that. I haven't tried. But what were we doing with drilling and threading the holes ? I'm sure I couldn't continue. Thank you very much for the comment !
@@JIMMY916 Thanks for the reply Jimmy. I've often wondered about combination Lathe / Mills available. . I must say that if they all have such a tedious procedure to mount a chuck , I'm glad I don't own one. Speaking of which, the good old Face - Plate has been all but forgotten in today's shops. With a Face-Plate your mounting options are greatly expanded. Your new chuck has T-Slots for the jaws. These are ideal to mount on a Face -Plate. On the same note you took a very big chance using the chuck jaws on your spindle nose/plate. That surface is usually precision ground at the factory. This just another vote for Face-Plate mounting. All that said, I do enjoy your videos and wish you a thousand more subscribers. Wakodahatchee Chris
I am honored by this comment, my friend. They may seem like big words, but your appreciation and experience shared with me gives me great satisfaction. I learn from all comments like this. Thank you very much !
@@JIMMY916 I'm flattered but besides what my machinist father taught me back in the 50's I'm a total amateur. What I know, I've learned right here on TH-cam by industrious guys like you. Thank YOU!
Yes Kathryn, but just like the old joke...."I just found out". This type of cast iron is clearly unworkable for me. At least not with my machine. Thank you very much for your comment and I am honored that you follow my chanel ! It means a lot to me.
That cast iron isn’t hard, it’s abrasive. There is a lot of dirt in cheap cast iron which will ruin your tools if you run them too fast. Your surface speed on the outside of the flange was too high. Cast iron can be cut well with low surface speed and high feed rate. If your tool rubs instead of cutting a real chip it will be destroyed in a short time. Nice job on making the chuck fit anyways!
Unfortunately, my lathe has a lower speed than the one in the video (160 rpm). Being a hobby lathe I certainly don't have high expectations from it. It is true that it is a carbide killer in a very short time and the dirt in its contents makes it amazingly unworkable, but even if I had managed to turn it I would not have been able to drill and thread it to be used. At least not with my machine. The idea of using this disk was supposed to be a cheap and innovative one, but in the end it turned out to be a bad and expensive one. Thank you very much for your comment !
We had to machine some cast iron weights to convert from metric to imperial weight.. It seems that when made, the weights were queched in ice, to make them resistant to damage.. The machinist ruined a lot of inserts working on them..
@@Brocks-Travels I will avenge you. I will make a video on these discs an see if there is any way to process them. I will destroy some. :)) Thank you for your comment !
Destruction is always educational... and fun.. It seems that to soften cast iron,it needs to be heated to around 950°C for around 2 hours, then allowed to cool slowly. Maybe in a sand bed..
Hi . K130 with four independent jaws ? I can't find it !! Only with four jaws (but not independent). I know this model. K130. Mine model is k125, four independent jaws. Thank you very much for your comment !
To build a plate to be able to clamp the lathe chuck without modifications. In the absence of a metal plate, which I do not have, this disc had the necessary dimensions for adaptation. It's just that it's unworkable. If I can explain anything else, please don't hesitate to ask me.
You messed up now, it's going to be out of time at least 20°, is it advanced or retarded? 🤦 It should still run tho. It may effect cold starts, and poor off idle performance. And fuel economy. You shouldn't have any trouble with spark knocking. Don't forget to change the oil/filter and timing belt now‼️😳🏁 it should win races! And keep the blinker fluid topped off! Running low can cause camshaft failure! Seriously tho, Great work, one question, if modifying is an option, why not go to a larger chuck? As in overall size And make a spacer adapter? ✌️
I do not recommend anyone to put on a larger chuck. The difference in weight will destroy bearings that can support a maximum weight limit designed for the type of lathe they are mounted on.(not to mention the gears). As for the overheated turbo charger, the problem may be from the spare wheel. :))
God must really love you ! you show great tenacity to stick with it ! very well done !
I'm sure He loves us all. Your message made my day. God bless you !
The outside of cast iron is hard because it cools off quickly, that creates iron carbide. I don’t want to get into the chemistry, but that and often, tiny silicon particles from the mold embed themselves in it. You have to cut under that hard surface and lift it off. Also, if you’re using inserts, you need ones for that purpose or they will dull and chip quickly. You have to be aggressive, not timid about it. If you’re timid and cut too shallow, then the hard abrasive surface will wear the carbide away and a small silicon chip, often too small to see, will catch it and chip it. You did a great job with the chuck itself.
I am absolutely sure that I am beyond the situation. Unfortunately, I don't have the necessary knowledge to fully understand what happened. All I know is that through the process of heating followed by slow cooling, I hope that this disc will be workable. I received a lot of comments from people like you who know more than me and I hope I will receive more. I will use all the information to elucidate this mystery. I will buy another identical disc (several even) and with all your information we will discover together whether or not it is possible to be processed. I will make a video about it. I will cut it, put it under a microscope, keep it at high temperature for hours....I I need some exact data in return (please)..temperature...slow cooling medium....and all the necessary information that you have about such a thing. Thank you very much sir !
@@JIMMY916 the best I can do is give you some info. This is likely just grey iron. Anything else is too expensive. No need for ductile iron for weights. If you want to attempt to anneal it, bring it up to around 1,500-1,600 f. I would have to look up Celsius. Leave it for about a half hour per 1 inch/25mm thickness. Then let it come back down very slowly. Overnight. If your kiln/forge will hold temperature after being turned off that would work if you close off any open ends. Or put it into a large container of heated sand. Again, even if the annealing works, there could be tiny silica particles in the surface. You would still need to cut under the surface. A brazed carbide tool would likely work better than an insert. Often a polycrystalline diamond tool would work too. This has been done before carbide with high speed tooling and even before that, with “tool steel” I. E. Plain high carbon tools. So it can be done. I’ve done it a lot myself.
Thank you for all the details provided. I will also look on internet for avaible information to understand better. Thank you again for your comments! There is valuable information there.
@@JIMMY916 good luck. You seem sincere about learning and that’s always to be admired.
I have good teachers. Until four video I ware gloves when turning. All those who follow my channel are former or current machinist with a lot experience and have been enough to correct many of my amateur mistakes.If I remain at the amateur stage, this hobby of mine will remain anonymous and even dangerous for me. Thank you again for your time and for your comments !
Very well done, sir! I'm working on a 4 jaw with backplate now, but I only have my lathe. I still got some very good information to help me though!!
That's the beauty of TH-cam. We can learn from each other. Good luck with your lathe and I appreciate your kind words. It means a lot to me.
I did the same like you did here. Adapting the chuck to the existing back plate. Works perfectly fine.
Yes, it is a winning idea. I would not repeat the attempt from the first part and I would modify the chuck without thinking about it. From now on I know it is possible. Thank you very much for your comment !
I'd say you did very well. Looks like it is dialed in nearly perfect. Thumbs Up!
I didn't have the inspiration to choose the winning option from the beginning. All the channels I've seen on TH-cam build plates for the chuck, no one modifies the chuck and of course I chose the same option. It's just that it didn't work for me and from a fiasco at the beginning, I think I succeeded in the end. Thank you very much for the appreciation. Your comment helps me !
In the UK i find weights from flee markets very cheap, but i only buy the ones with YORK on the disc these are wider & better cast, i use a brazed on carbide with a good rad, its a good idea to have the tool upside down run in reverse & have a vacuum cleaner hose fix it to tool post real close to the tool & paper over the ways it makes for a much cleaner job, hope my advise helps. From Coventry in UK 🇬🇧.
I am honoured by the all advice received. I will definitely use a vacuum cleaner next time and I will use your ideas. Thank you very much, sir !
Nice work. I just subscribed and wanted to say that it is good to show the process of deciding when to quit on an idea and move on to a different plan. Fixation on completing a job in a certain way is difficult to overcome and can result in a lot of time wasted and things wrecked.
I hope that someone wants to borrow the idea will use my video and give up before they start. Don't waste your time like I did. Thank you very much for your comment and subscription !
nice work, nice machinery...thank you for sharing! 👍
Thank you very much ! I am happy when I receive such messages.
Try starting with a thicker piece of iron. While it may have a hard exterior it will have cooled slower and may have usable material.
I doubt there was much if any metallurgy done with the piece you have.
Cast iron normally does not respond to heat treatment except to relieve stresses in castings.
The exception being white/malleable iron which is cast hard and heat treated to a usable state.
I hope that is helpful.
@@pvtimberfaller Your information is very valuable and will help me make a video dedicated to heat treatment cast iron. I will use all the information from you to solve this mystery. Thank you very much!
I would suggest grinding off the outer hard skin which is often used to expose the soft iron underneath. others have already answered in greater detail but thats all you need to know. Great project keep going!
@@nick1bb1 Thank you very much !
At 24:25, There is a hard surface on the cast iron weight/disc from the casting process, plus there may still be some sand in the surface as well. The core of the iron weight/disc, past the surface is reasonably normal soft iron.
Are you referring to the sand from the casting form of the disc or can the disc contain sand as an additive material intentionally put into the composition by the factory? Some comments suggested this too.
@@JIMMY916 Cheap recycled iron can contain anything. It is 80%-20% chance that the iron used to cast weights for weightlifting is junk, anything they could find including sand and dirt still hanging onto recycle material, small rocks that may have been on the ground when the shovel picked up the next bite of recycle, glass maybe stuck to the chunk to go into the furnace, and anything else that won't blow up while melting or pouring. Mainly tho, even just the surface where the black paint is, 0.050"-0.100" surface material is very hard, glassified almost. If you had a larger weight, say 20lb-45lb, you would want to take an angle grinder and grind most of the surface material away from your actual working/tooling area, before trying to process your finished part. Still there are probably still air pockets and other voids in the center areas to ruin your finish, and possibly the final dimensions. Good Luck and be safe! Thanks for making this video!
I am surprised by the amount of information I received in all the comments received from you related to this topic. That's why I'm determined to resume this whole heat treatment process with other identical discs and use all the information here to see a different result. I will break, I will cut, I will put under a microscope its internal structure. I will slowly cool in hot sand and all the things I learned here. Of course, I will film everything I do. There are things that I will clarify with you all. Good luck to you too and thanks for comments.
I would have bought a cut off from a breight mild steel bar at a steel supplier. Then machine it to fit lathe and new chuck.
I wanted to offer a different idea, but which was not a winner. I finally solved this task. Thank you for your comment!
One way to cut the hard casting is to mount it on the rotary table and put a grinding wheel in the mill. Be sure the cutter rotation opposes the feed rotation.
It is said that leaving comments helps the channel.
Use an effective method to avoid getting abrasive all over the machine. Afterward, assume there is abrasive to clean up.
I hope I never encounter this type of material again. It is probably made by NASA or from another galaxy. Thank you very much for the comment and for your ideea. P.S And yes, probably the comments help the channel, but I'm very sure they help me. Make me feel ”little important”. :))
Wow, you really do have an eagle eye for precision. I never tire of people making their own Chuck plate adapters, and yours was cool and entertaining.
Can I ask a question of your 3-in-1 machine? I have the more inferior Smithy 1225 XL Midas, or what I call my POS SUX 3000.
My milling head moves by a large threaded ring along the same threading on its column, and it’s BS because it’s on a cylindrical column. I’ve had the head move whilst flyi cutting steel ensue of this column. Can you share how your head moves up and down, to get a better idea of modifying my colum/mill head? Thank you.
The main column that connects to the lathe has some pinions that raise or lower the whole assembly. The milling or drilling head is lowered or raised exactly as with a boring machine with a usual bench column, only a little more complex and precise. But the principle is exactly the same as with a bench drilling machine. A toothed wheel lowers or raises the milling head. Unfortunatelly, I don't know how to describe exactly... Thank you very much for your comment !
I think You do it wrong when You put in the collet? You must fasten the collet in the ring first, then I don't think the collet can be stuck but will follow the ring out?
I've tried all methods known and same results. Do you think if I greased the collet it will be ok? Or do they have to be clean !? I haven't tried this before. Thank you for your suggestion !
@@JIMMY916 No grease, You know that You must tillt the collet one way to get it stuck in the ring. You se that in the inside bottom the little holding ring is not centered so it would be possible to get the collet stuck.
Thank you for all informations sir ! I will follow your indications from now on. I still learn. Thank you again !
@@magnuscarlander2464yes, definitely. You tilt the collet. It slips under the part of the ring that’s wider, then you push down and snap the other side of the collet in. If you don’t do that, it will never work correctly. It could damage the snap ring in the nut and you can’t fix it, it would have to be replaced, or throw the nut away and get a new one. No grease! Collets and the tapers must be clean and dry. Clean with acetone if they’re greasy. The shank of tools and the inside of the collet must be clean and dry too. The nut must be clean. Any chips in any threads will offset the nut which will offset the collet and tooling. The outside of cast iron can be very hard and may contain fine silicon chips from the sand in the casting process. Use carbide and go deep enough to cut under that surface where it will be soft. I use good hearing protection for loud machinery. I’m 74 and I’ve been doing this for over 55 years and I still hear well, so it works.
Thank you very much ! God bless you.
Nice work Jimmy.
You overcame the challenges.💯👍👍
To anneal that hardend cast iron or cast steel you could try heating it up and bury it in lime powder.
May work.
Have a great week.👍
Hello my friend Ed ! I have a suspicion that this cast iron disk is made by NASA. I hope they don't offer me to test their gym discs anymore because I will politely refuse. I had this suspicion since I bought it. It was to cheap :)) I'll use your idea but very soon I hope I won't be getting closer than a hundred feet to cast iron. Thank you Ed for your comment and for your suggestion. A great week to you too.
@@JIMMY916 Thank you Jimmy.
Take care, Ed.
Nice video and presentation.
There are inserts catered for cast iron. Cast iron can be friendly but usually it is not because of its impurity of sand and quartz are insert killers.
This cast iron was my nightmare ! Now I understand that impurities are imune to the two thermal treatments. So my ”battle” was lost from the start...Thanks for the hints and appreciation !
Olá amigo trabalho perfeito como sempre!!!
O meu sonho de consumo é ter uma placa de quatro castanhas também!!!
Abraço e boa sorte sempre!!!
Thank you very much for the appreciation. Your nice words mean a lot to me.
I've never seen anyone use the same backplate for multiple chucks. Usually every chuck has it's own backplate which is changed along with the chuck when need be.
That's what I wanted to do too. Thank you for your comment !
I have seen that when milling you take 0,05 mm by each pas. This is a lot. The pressure on the insert becomes to high and will not cut but rubbing the materiaal. You should take less each pas you make. Like 0,01 to 0.02 max. May one good advise.... if you turn cast iron the chips are so small and tiny that it looks like dust. Do not blow it away with compressed air. Use a vacuum cleaner in stead. Because that dust damage your lathe en milling machine. The rest i liked the video. Good job :)
Yes,, I exaggerated with the 0,05 mm, it's true, but I could see that everything I was doing was doomed to failure. My patience was severely tested by that disc. As for that cast iron dust, I didn't know until today that it is abrasive. Here 's another thing I learned from you. I receive many lessons for free and for that I thank you !
I don’t know why you think 0.05 mm is a lot. It’s not. Iron weights aren’t hard. You have to get under the hard surface. So you take heavier cuts for the first, a good mm is called for. Even that may not be enough.
I purchased a piece of 3/8" steel plate. It was much easier to work with... And in the end I got the same result with less headache.
It's good to know. Thank you for your comment ! Take care
I wonder why you didn’t just drill clearance holes in the mounting plate and then use the boring setup on the chuck to match the flange, especially because it does not appear tapered like many other chuck interfaces such as D1-4
Your idea would have been a good isolution for me if I consider myself sufficiently prepared for the precision I needed and to use the boring head for the first time at the precision of 0.00 mm. My milling machine is more of a bench drill than a profi milling machine. I think that the chosen solution was the best for me. I have more confidence and ”experience” on the lathe. Thank you very much for your comment and for your suggestion !
grind the outside first before trying to cut on lathe, but there is castiron white and grey the white is very hard, even harder as the insert or hardened toolsteel. runout of 4 jaw is less important, than the 3 jaw, you have to center your part anyway
Of course, it was a good idea to grind the surface of the disc. Thanks for the advices and for your comment.
Can you please tell me if a special grinding stone is needed for grind white cast iron ? And this must be rough or smooth ? I need this information and you can help me (please). Thank you very much for your time!
a wonderful result .
Thank you very much!
I'm wondering about the process of making barbell weights out of, I suspect, Bainite. Curiouser and curiouser as Alice once said. The carbon and alloy content is resisting tempering. Simply put, Bainite can be almost as hard as Martensite but slightly ductile, highly resistant to being brittle.
By the way, that lathe has an open frame motor, getting sprayed with and inhaling chips. You should put a shroud on it on stand offs so it can breath fresh cooling air.
Concentricity suggestion when machining a chuck or backing plate. Cut the relief in the back of the chuck with a .01mm taper so it is a slight interference fit. Forever eliminates that union if you have concentricity issues.
Now take your new chuck apart and wash all the grinding sludge out of it.
I will do somae tests with these cast iron disc using all the information on this channel. After these tests (in a future video) we will draw all the cnclusins together. We will see after the microscope its structure before thermal treatments, we will see how the transformation of the structure look and many others. All your advices are very useful for me and thank you very much for that.
@@JIMMY916 Looking forwards to the video. Very puzzling. I know of several irons that have those properties, but just for simple barbell weights is strange. My money is on a Bainite structure.
A quote, "Unlike martensitic steels, alloys based on bainite often do not need further heat treatment after transformation in order to optimise strength and toughness."
You heat treatment may actually have toughened it. Time to break out those fantastically expensive ceramic inserts.
After the first temperature treatment , the boring head was able to widen the inside of the disc more easily, but still very hard. The inner surface , however, looks very strange (I didn't pay attention to show the zoom footage). I asume this means several types of cheap materials in the composition. Or with a higher density than cast iron to increase the weight to the disc in relations to its size. Otherwise, I think it is a mandatory condition thet these gym discs are not brittle in order not to cause injuries by breaking them. I'm sory that I didn't put it in the press to see how it breaks. Some conclusions could be drawn from how they break, if they break? But I promise I will test them. Very soon :))
@@JIMMY916 A word of caution from metallurgy class. Some alloys virtually explode at critical, capable of blasting shrapnel in all directions. Consider a blast blanket such as fiberglass cloth. But it's fractures would certainly be informative.
Yes, I will take all my precautions. Thank you very much for the advice. It is an honor for me to share your experience.
The quality of the iron is suspect, as it's simply used for weights, no great care may be taken. Probably made from scrap. Its composition may be closer to a high carbon steel, and if dropped into water whilst still at a high temperature, to remove the sand, it may become hardened. Sand casting can suffer 'chilling' on narrow sections, also giving hard surfaces. And sand can also turn to glass on the surface. A heavier initial cut may get under the 'hard' skin - but risking your work holding method. Philoso mentions hard materials than can be trapped in the casting ('inclusions'). I don't think your temperature was sufficient to anneal the cast iron - i.e., 850-950 C and held for a couple of hours, then left to cool slowly. Well done, you finished the job!
The temperature in the furnace almost warped the edge of this disc. The increase in flame temperature is greatly increased with the help of compressed air. And the heat accumulated by the furnace is kept for a very long time. The next day it was still warm (I mean the second attempt, not the one with the forge). So the cooling was very slow. Yes, it could be an explanation that its composition contains many components immune to temperature. The disc was kept on fire for almost 40 min. (please tell me, It should have been held longer?) The exposed part has almost melted. Perhaps the time was not enough to break down the martensite? It's a mystery to me. Thank you for your comment and appreciation !
Of course, If I had to keep it in the furnace longer, I would have to lower the temperature because otherwise I would have melted it.
@@JIMMY916 You have control over the temperature, by adjusting the gas flow. I'm not sure whether your furnace can reach the melting point of cast iron, about 1200 C. Hard to judge on a screen, but your temperature looked about 800 C or so, higher near the flame entry position.
At exactly 18:57 next to the inscription 2.2 lb you can see the deformed edge from the temperature. I have the possibility to lower the temperature at the furnace by adjusting the combined air flow. It's burner is not the classic Venturi model, but is much improved by injecting compressed air from the compressor. (I made this furnace too ) :)) Anyway, I'm very surprised by this material. It is the hardest one that I fixed in the lathe. Thanks again sir !
There are different grades of cast iron based on the carbon content the iron
in the weight you tried to use it is not a higher grade of cast or normal machining cast iron
more than likely or you were getting so much noise from the setup not being rigid enough
By the way that's a nice multi purpose machine!
Thank you !
could be wrought Iron or made by forging, can be horrible to machine love your channel 👍
Yes, I thought about that too. Anyway, I'm over it. I could turn all types of materials, but not this one. I think if I continued and in the end I would have succeeded in, what I was doing when I had to drill and thread? :)) Anyway, a bad choice. Thank you for appreciating me and thank you for your comment!
the 4 jaw may be case hardened
Yes sir. Thank you for watching !
I think if you try hss cutting tool and very low speed you should be able to cut cast iron without any big problem.
It may be true that. I haven't tried. But what were we doing with drilling and threading the holes ? I'm sure I couldn't continue. Thank you very much for the comment !
Wow! You lost me right out of the gate! Why didn't you bore that hole on the lathe!
Wakodahatchee Chris
Because the hole was too narrow to fit in the chuck and the diameter of the disc was too big for my chuck.
@@JIMMY916 Thanks for the reply Jimmy. I've often wondered about combination Lathe / Mills available. . I must say that if they all have such a tedious procedure to mount a chuck , I'm glad I don't own one. Speaking of which, the good old Face - Plate has been all but forgotten in today's shops. With a Face-Plate your mounting options are greatly expanded. Your new chuck has T-Slots for the jaws. These are ideal to mount on a Face -Plate. On the same note you took a very big chance using the chuck jaws on your spindle nose/plate. That surface is usually precision ground at the factory. This just another vote for Face-Plate mounting. All that said, I do enjoy your videos and wish you a thousand more subscribers.
Wakodahatchee Chris
I am honored by this comment, my friend. They may seem like big words, but your appreciation and experience shared with me gives me great satisfaction. I learn from all comments like this. Thank you very much !
@@JIMMY916 I'm flattered but besides what my machinist father taught me back in the 50's I'm a total amateur. What I know, I've learned right here on TH-cam by industrious guys like you. Thank YOU!
Nice words. Thank you for this !
All cast iron is not the same. Those weights are crude cast iron with a lot of carbon.
Yes Kathryn, but just like the old joke...."I just found out". This type of cast iron is clearly unworkable for me. At least not with my machine. Thank you very much for your comment and I am honored that you follow my chanel ! It means a lot to me.
That cast iron isn’t hard, it’s abrasive. There is a lot of dirt in cheap cast iron which will ruin your tools if you run them too fast. Your surface speed on the outside of the flange was too high. Cast iron can be cut well with low surface speed and high feed rate. If your tool rubs instead of cutting a real chip it will be destroyed in a short time. Nice job on making the chuck fit anyways!
Unfortunately, my lathe has a lower speed than the one in the video (160 rpm). Being a hobby lathe I certainly don't have high expectations from it. It is true that it is a carbide killer in a very short time and the dirt in its contents makes it amazingly unworkable, but even if I had managed to turn it I would not have been able to drill and thread it to be used. At least not with my machine. The idea of using this disk was supposed to be a cheap and innovative one, but in the end it turned out to be a bad and expensive one. Thank you very much for your comment !
We had to machine some cast iron weights to convert from metric to imperial weight.. It seems that when made, the weights were queched in ice, to make them resistant to damage..
The machinist ruined a lot of inserts working on them..
@@Brocks-Travels I will avenge you. I will make a video on these discs an see if there is any way to process them. I will destroy some. :)) Thank you for your comment !
Destruction is always educational... and fun..
It seems that to soften cast iron,it needs to be heated to around 950°C for around 2 hours, then allowed to cool slowly. Maybe in a sand bed..
@@Brocks-Travels Yes, I will try this method too. It will be inspired from all comments from this channel. Thank you for watching !
Well done….problem solved 👍
Thank you very much ! Yes it's solved ! From now on I'm prepared. Thank you for your appreciation !
Der Flansch müsste bei der ersten Spannung im Schraubstock Plangefräßt werden sonst gibt das nichts
At that moment I wasn't really sure what I was doing. Thank you for your advice !
Hi, You need a k130 chuck. Search the internet.
Hi . K130 with four independent jaws ? I can't find it !! Only with four jaws (but not independent). I know this model. K130. Mine model is k125, four independent jaws. Thank you very much for your comment !
As we say in Yorkshire. Jobs a gud'un.
Thank you very much sir !
Я один не понял, нахрена нужны были издевательства над диском от гантелей?
To build a plate to be able to clamp the lathe chuck without modifications. In the absence of a metal plate, which I do not have, this disc had the necessary dimensions for adaptation. It's just that it's unworkable. If I can explain anything else, please don't hesitate to ask me.
At 22:00 A much better idea ++
Thank you very much ! Better late than never.
You messed up now, it's going to be out of time at least 20°, is it advanced or retarded? 🤦
It should still run tho. It may effect cold starts, and poor off idle performance. And fuel economy. You shouldn't have any trouble with spark knocking. Don't forget to change the oil/filter and timing belt now‼️😳🏁 it should win races! And keep the blinker fluid topped off! Running low can cause camshaft failure! Seriously tho, Great work, one question, if modifying is an option, why not go to a larger chuck? As in overall size And make a spacer adapter? ✌️
I do not recommend anyone to put on a larger chuck. The difference in weight will destroy bearings that can support a maximum weight limit designed for the type of lathe they are mounted on.(not to mention the gears). As for the overheated turbo charger, the problem may be from the spare wheel. :))