Member postings for Tim Brison

Blimey !

Wasn't expecting so much help so quickly - thanks all for the tips and information.

So far I have audited almost all the tools, jigs etc for both the lathe and the mill - but no milling vice anywhere to be seen. There are (a lot) of small toolmakers clamps of varying size so I assume he clamped these to the table?

I have not yet been able to identlfy the Southbend lathe, as most of the markings are so faint I can't read them....I have ascertained by it's looks alone, that it must be somewhere just before or just after the WW2 period.

I've always wanted a metal lathe but this is massive overkill for my needs - with only one exception: I have woodworking requirements to be able to work on the end of thick steel stock - round bar - and this machine accepts something aproaching an inch or more through the headstock.

I have noticed that smaller modern machines don't have such large holes through the headstock drive shaft (?)

Anyway, many thanks again for all the info - I've got a lot of reading to do now, so I'm off to put my feet up with a scotch and read some more!

Many thanks all, for the getting started information - I downloaded the publications and can see I have a lot of reading to do!

Nothing unexpected there then

However, before I can even start, there is one sticking point I'm having a lot of trouble with: how do you use a milling machine without a milling vice, especially on small parts?

The history of this question is that I have inherited huge amounts of tooling from my father in law - a model engineer who made real steam engines.

Most of the parts he made on the mill were really very small - from what I can tell by looking at his work.

I'm probably being a bit dumb, but every time I investigate milling, the very first 'lesson' is often how to tram the head and the milling vice.

The mystery is, my father in law didn't seam to own a milling vice - I can't find one anywhere. So how did he clamp the stock to the table? Did he have to machine the parts using much bigger stock and then cut it down? Did he have to use a dial guage everytime he unclamped the stock, because there is no reference face without a vice?

It's a complete mystery to me!

Hi All,

Completely new to 'engineering' and metal work in general, I have inherited a lathe and milling machine that I now wish to start using - so thought the best option would be to talk to people who really know what they are doing!

Hence joining this forum.

I have been reading through the posts, but unfortunately, my questions appear to be so basic, that few answers have been found.

The lathe is a post war imperial Southbend monster with 3 and 4 jaw chucks and the milling machine is a belt driven Warco Minor Mill.

I'm really hoping to get some basic practical advice - mainly on simple setups - because I intend to find some courses on machining for the future.

My profession is IT Technical Support - so if anyone wants some computer help, just let me know. I'm also a keen cabinet maker and woodworker - probably little use to anyone here - but will help anyone if I can.

Cheers,

Tim.