Convex buffer face

I hand tool mine using a file ground smooth on the end and sharpened like a wide parting tool, the tool rest being a round rod held in the tool post. Check the profile by eye and feel polish with emery to finish. This method is quick simple and easy. Just be carful.

Paul

Pointy radius rod and the DAG Brown approach produce identical items so there is no guess work to make them look OK.

Edited By Ron Laden on 21/09/2018 15:26:45

Edited By Ron Laden on 21/09/2018 15:28:14

Edited By Ron Laden on 21/09/2018 15:53:52

Sorry, dont know why my above reply is in miniature, cant seem to change it..?

Ron

.

Ron,

It's because you started typing in Mick's edited text ... The formatting was carried over from that.

MichaelG.

Thanks Michael, I didnt realise that.

Ron

Sorry for the not too good a picture of a test piece and the guide rod using the method that Mick put forward, it is really easy to do and works a treat...thanks Mick. Good thing is of course, you get repeatable results when producing more than one item. I just have to get some better material before I machine the buffer set, the stuff I have been given is awful, dont know what it is but terrible to machine.

Well, I managed to produce the first of the 4 buffers (non sprung) using the guide rod method, I think it turned out ok. The buffer is tapped M6 for mounting to the chassis plate, just need to go over it with some wet or dry to remove some scratches from the base.

It took me over two and a half hours to produce from a 35mm dia blank, slow I know, but I guess a lot of that is down to inexperience plus I still dont tend to push the mini-lathe. I know its alu but I didnt take any cut deeper than 10 thou, the balance of 3 should be quicker though but I,m not in any hurry.

Ron

Edited By Ron Laden on 27/09/2018 08:39:43

the point where the rod touches the cross slide doesn't need to be on the front face. A suitable piece of angle or something extending to the tailstock side at a convenient position would serve just as well.

regards Martin

Thanks for that tip Martin, I never thought of that but I can see how it would work.

Ron

Your buffer looks great Ron, nice job!

Nice job Ron.

The maximum 10-thou cut in the manual is a bad joke. Don't be afraid of 1mm in steel or 2mm in aluminium alloy as long as the rpm isn't too low.

Let's face it, when parting you are going to be taking cuts typically between 1.5 and 3mm without overloading the machine.

Neil

Thanks Jeff

Thanks Neil, point taken, when I make the other three I will get a bit braver with the cuts. The buffer ram is 14mm dia and the ram body 19mm from a 35mm dia blank so you can see why it took me so long.

I did have one scary moment though, whilst I was turning the front face radius the cross slide suddenly kicked forward about 4mm, fortunately no damage was done. When I checked, the cross slide had gone from its normal 0.1-0.2mm backlash to 4mm. The two cap heads that hold the leadscrew nut had worked loose without me realising. I set it up again using the method you describe in your mini-lathe book and all is now well.

Ron

Who really cares if it took that long? Better to make slow progress rather than c*ck it up. You are not trying to make a living at this! Experience and confidence will follow. The final outcome looks very good - and that is what matters.

You will soon find that ‘roughing out’ material with a lesser surface finish takes a lot less time than doing it like finishing cuts all the way through.

I love this forum for tips! Found this under a search. I have to do the same on my Juliet, albeit that it doesn't quote a radius. Looking forward to having a go though now

Thanks ME