Member postings for John Reese

When quenching in oil keep the part moving to expose the surface to fresh oil. It improves the heat transfer.,

Is there a possibility the gauge plate was mis-labeled? Low carbon plate could explain the problems you are experiencing.

Yes! It also prevents the tool backing up during a heavy cut.

Hold it in soft jaws in a vise with only enough projecting to file the point. Hold it in a pin vise or small chuck when reaming,

Rednecks do it in cars.

A major problem with small and thin-walled castings is chill. There isn't enough mass of metal to slow the cooling rate. The result is an extremely hard casting. A similar problem exists with larger castings that are dumped from the mold to early. The result there is an extrermely hard skin.

I have worked in shops that ran a lot of cast iron parts. No special precautions were taken with the machinery. It is messy and because of that I don't like to machine it but I don't worry about damage to my machines.

I doubt it is a metallurgical bond. I believe the rusted swaf forms a mechanical bond to the substrate. Steel swarf from grinders will do the same.

You need a hole and a pin in the mandrel to use as a bending form. Wind the spring in the normal manner until the wire is tangent to the side of the hole. Maintain tension on the wire. Use vise grips to clamp the last fer turns of wire from expanding when you release tension on the wire. Insert the pin in the hole and bend the wire around the pin to form a tail.

Disclaimer: I have never done it but this is how I would try.

Something that disturbs me is the idea that inverting the tool and running the lathe backwards prevents CI swarf from flying everywhere. That lifts the cross slide and top slide creating openings for swarf to enter.

I have the Rage saw. It is fine for cutting tubing and small angles. The miter stops are inaccurate so don't trust them. I also have the wood cutting blade for it. It has coarse teeth and leaves a rough finish.

If you are fabricating with rectangular tubing or 80/20 framing it is a decent machine.

I haven't found a safe way of clamping rounds so they don't spin.

Some lathes used bastard pitches and pressure angles. My old Pratt & Whitney 14 x 30 was one of those.

My benches tend to get filled up with partially finished projects. With bench space at a premium I suggest a floor mount drill.

That is exactly what I do on my lathes.

A taper length drill in that drill driver is intended to have the same overall length as a taper shank drill.

It is possible to single point a 3/4-4 thread. I used either a 5/8" or 1/2" boring bar with a very short tool bit. There was not sufficient clearance to withdraw the tool from the hole. I had to back off the cross slide a few thou and wind the tool out of work. I did it on a 13" lathe and it took many, many spring passes to finish the thread. I am not sure how well a smaller, less rigid lathe would handle the job.

I agree with Mark. There is no need to pilot drill doe a 10.5mm drill unless your equipment is too light.

Think about what the upward force on the tool does to the cross slide and compound. It lifts those components creating clearance between the flat surface of the slide and the saddle. Similarly there will be clearance under the compound. Fine CI dust enters that clearance and acts as an abrasive when later you are turning with the tool facing up. Why cause premature wear on your machine just to escape a spray of swarf. Slamp a piece of sheet metal onto the tool to act as a chip deflector.

When I had a 1" lathe I parted as deep as I could then finished with a Sawzall. Now I have a 16" lathe and I am curious how deep I can part without sawing. I plan to use a lantern toolpost so I can keep cutting forces over the center of the cross slide. Previously I used an Aloris style parting tool and I didn't like the way the tool tilted left under load.