I had a boss that loved taking on large or oddly shaped workpieces. The stranger the better. He was good about spending some time brainstorming with whoever he put in charge then going away and letting you figure it out. If he thought the job might be a regular gig, you got some extra time to come up with a repeatable procedure and build durable tooling. This was before CNCs and DROs were common.
9:12 Used to make simple billet crankshaft. Just on a centrelathe. Very small volumes. When you machine the rod journal you end up needing a very long and overhung tool. We simply welded, near the tip, a narrow piece of steel with a pad on the bottom to the underside of the tool. The toolpost did its normal thing controlling the tool but the downward cutting forces went straight down to the top surface of the carriage. Rigidity achieved. Very necessary dealing with intermittent cuts and being able to get stuck in.
We had a leblond sliding gap lathe that was 26" that had a sliding gap that would swing 48" x 48" and would open up to 12" bed with the gap fully open was a very versatile machine and built heavy
Howee, I will cirlce back on this one. Keep cranking them out. Really loved you vids on cheap line boring worn out pin eyes. I now know where to buy ready made line boring equip. and fabing my own.
How much more do you have to charge for all the extra work and materials that were needed for that job? What would be a standard machining job on a bigger lathe seems to be a major production instead.
No extra charge, shop was fixed cost. This was a captive repair shop for Red Dog mine, It cost the same regardless of production output. 2 weeks to get the setup made, or leave the machine broken. If the decision had been made to buy a bigger lathe, it would have waited until the spring barge in 8 months, as the planes available could not carry such a machine. We could get a dump truck flown in if needed, but that was about the limit for our airport & available planes. No road access, sea or air only.
Yes that's a good starter. The belt drive is more forgiving when you happen to do something you shouldn't. It's heavy enough to do good work with a decent range of holding size. I would recommend getting the qcgb or find one, change gears suck. I can't remember if the 10k comes standard with it or not
If it is cheap, or very good condition & not much money. Many people get too exited about a particular model. Buy what is the best deal you find locally & then start in. For some the best is a new Grizzly, others an Old Monarch. If this lathe is available now, for a good deal, then that is good. Pluses on the 10K, lots of used parts available, however the parts are more expensive than other comparable machines, and it's better to buy a lathe that doesn't need a lot of parts. I see a lot of them for $2500-$4000, I would not even consider those overpriced machines. A friend of mine bought one for $100.00 It was rough, but it worked until He bought a slightly larger Jet Lathe. The worst lathe is better than none & the best lathe, if bought for too much money is useless, because you won't have money left for other tools & supplies.
You’re like an old friend of mine he’s 91 , told me he would always find a way to do something , even went to Poland to get a lathe bed extension , had to machine it himself in their factory! They didn’t offer extensions but after that they came and inspected it and then offered extensions . He showed me where he joined the lead screw it was very hard to notice it had been joined . Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge with us . My friend is hard to get information out of . Cheers from New Zealand
@HOWEES Have you ever seen a job where the lathe spindle was used to spin a cutter rather than spin the part? The old saying was that the lathe was the only machine that could replicate itself, which implies that for some pieces the machine is effectively a horizontal mill. I've never seen a lathe used that way, but it sounds like you have tried all the tricks so I thought I would ask.
I had a boss that loved taking on large or oddly shaped workpieces. The stranger the better. He was good about spending some time brainstorming with whoever he put in charge then going away and letting you figure it out. If he thought the job might be a regular gig, you got some extra time to come up with a repeatable procedure and build durable tooling. This was before CNCs and DROs were common.
9:12 Used to make simple billet crankshaft. Just on a centrelathe. Very small volumes. When you machine the rod journal you end up needing a very long and overhung tool. We simply welded, near the tip, a narrow piece of steel with a pad on the bottom to the underside of the tool. The toolpost did its normal thing controlling the tool but the downward cutting forces went straight down to the top surface of the carriage. Rigidity achieved. Very necessary dealing with intermittent cuts and being able to get stuck in.
We had a leblond sliding gap lathe that was 26" that had a sliding gap that would swing 48" x 48" and would open up to 12" bed with the gap fully open was a very versatile machine and built heavy
Howee, I will cirlce back on this one. Keep cranking them out. Really loved you vids on cheap line boring worn out pin eyes. I now know where to buy ready made line boring equip. and fabing my own.
Good idea there’s always a way around
How much more do you have to charge for all the extra work and materials that were needed for that job? What would be a standard machining job on a bigger lathe seems to be a major production instead.
No extra charge, shop was fixed cost. This was a captive repair shop for Red Dog mine, It cost the same regardless of production output. 2 weeks to get the setup made, or leave the machine broken. If the decision had been made to buy a bigger lathe, it would have waited until the spring barge in 8 months, as the planes available could not carry such a machine. We could get a dump truck flown in if needed, but that was about the limit for our airport & available planes. No road access, sea or air only.
@ interesting. It’s like being on retainer.
Do you think a Southbend 10K is a good lathe to start on? enjoy the videos btw!
Yes that's a good starter. The belt drive is more forgiving when you happen to do something you shouldn't. It's heavy enough to do good work with a decent range of holding size. I would recommend getting the qcgb or find one, change gears suck. I can't remember if the 10k comes standard with it or not
If it is cheap, or very good condition & not much money. Many people get too exited about a particular model. Buy what is the best deal you find locally & then start in. For some the best is a new Grizzly, others an Old Monarch. If this lathe is available now, for a good deal, then that is good. Pluses on the 10K, lots of used parts available, however the parts are more expensive than other comparable machines, and it's better to buy a lathe that doesn't need a lot of parts. I see a lot of them for $2500-$4000, I would not even consider those overpriced machines. A friend of mine bought one for $100.00 It was rough, but it worked until He bought a slightly larger Jet Lathe. The worst lathe is better than none & the best lathe, if bought for too much money is useless, because you won't have money left for other tools & supplies.
Just a curiosity, could you have done that job with a large horizontal boring mill?
Yes, but the 26" lathe was our biggest machine of any kind & we had no road access.
You’re like an old friend of mine he’s 91 , told me he would always find a way to do something , even went to Poland to get a lathe bed extension , had to machine it himself in their factory! They didn’t offer extensions but after that they came and inspected it and then offered extensions . He showed me where he joined the lead screw it was very hard to notice it had been joined . Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge with us . My friend is hard to get information out of . Cheers from New Zealand
@@HOWEES Gotcha, I admire outside the box thought, love the channel
@HOWEES
Have you ever seen a job where the lathe spindle was used to spin a cutter rather than spin the part?
The old saying was that the lathe was the only machine that could replicate itself, which implies that for some pieces the machine is effectively a horizontal mill.
I've never seen a lathe used that way, but it sounds like you have tried all the tricks so I thought I would ask.
Yo Bert...where de fook is Ernie?