Author Topic: I wuz wonderin'...  (Read 3967 times)

Offline CharlieDaTuna

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I wuz wonderin'...
« on: January 12, 2007, 05:25:58 AM »
How many of you guys have Mini-Lathes and Mini-Mills and what you are doing with them and how?  I have both but I can't "show and tell" cuz in my case, I'd have to do ya in...lol.. I do enjoy working with them and couldn't do what I do without them.  There are times that I would prefer something bigger with some jobs,  but because of the shortage of space here at the shop at home, I am limited. I rarely need to make anything big so it does work out well for me and if I do, I just run over to the manufacturing plant.

There is a lot that you can do with them and I'm always playing around making simple things like custom tools that I need for the shop as well as my tune parts. I'm not a real "pro" at it but given enough time I can usually accomplish what I set out to do. The big secret is to never hurry. Calculate or measure three times, double check the setup and proceed. With milling and cutting, believe me, haste makes waste. I do have a larger chucks as well as a four jaw chuck and a ton of different accessories and cutting tools for it and the mill. They are great tools and can be a lot of fun.

So....what say you..
Bob  aka:  CharlieDaTuna
Co-founder of the GTA


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Offline daved

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RE: I wuz wonderin'...
« Reply #1 on: January 12, 2007, 07:46:07 AM »
Still trying to figure out how to convince the wife that a woodworker really NEEDS a metal lathe!  So far, no luck, but I'll keep trying.  I've got the itch bad, and have some projects in mind that I just can't do with my wood tools.  I frequently work to 64ths, but that's still a ways form a couple of thousandths.  Oh well, maybe I can scare up a couple of side jobs this spring and buy some tools.  In the meantime, anyone got any old equipment they want to sell :-)?  Later.

Dave

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RE: I wuz wonderin'...
« Reply #2 on: January 12, 2007, 12:50:27 PM »
I have an Emco 8.6 lathe (8" x 24"), and an Emco FB2 mill. Fantastic combo - finest quality Austrian made precision machines. I use them for making parts for everything from farm tractors to air guns. Made some of my own accessories for the mill and lathe as well - tool holders, dividing attachment, boring head, etc.  Also make up special purpose tools as the need arises.

"measure twice, cut once"

Offline ribbonstone

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RE: I wuz wonderin'...
« Reply #3 on: January 12, 2007, 01:04:07 PM »
Mostly I tend to make replacement parts for firearms and air-arms. Have made some custom parts, but most of my work is making new parts for missing ones or broken ones (seem to be attracted to busted guns).  Pins, scews, sight bases, dovetail slots, brakes, sight ranps,...are lots os jobs where the small lathe is actually easier to use than a big one.
Robert

Offline jct842

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RE: I wuz wonderin'...
« Reply #4 on: January 12, 2007, 03:23:20 PM »
I have a cummins 7X12  3 jaw + 4 jaw, and a harbor f micro mill.  Just got boring bars and made holders for them for the lathe.  Have maybe 50 end mills, I bought 2 5-mill sets and a friend supplied me with the rest. also have milling atachment for the cummins.  have a ballturning atachment I built that needs a bit more work but does work.  What I really need the worst is to learn how to best use all the tools I have now with out buying any more.  making tools is probably the best way for me to learn to use my equipment.   John

Offline ribbonstone

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RE: I wuz wonderin'...
« Reply #5 on: January 13, 2007, 12:45:24 AM »
Need to find a cheap place to pick up scrap metal in sizes/thicknesses useful for practice.  Are books...but when it dest down to it, hands-on prctice is best.

We all tend to have a "scrap box" someplace in the shop, where we keep things like that....are all scavengers by nature, coming home with old painted brass hinges (for the flat stock and the round hinge pin),  lengths of AL. and steel bar sticking out of someon'e's trash pile, and the dissassembled remains of all things mechanical.  A construction salvage yard (where the bits and piecs of houses and office buildings get slavaged...and some offered for resale as components rather than scrap weight) can be a gold mine.
Robert