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Ahoy there from Sault Ste Marie Ontario.

Best advice I can provide is:

1. Avoid most of those fancy bundled sets of tools. They are usually junk.
2. Buy stuff as you need it instead of going on a buying spree. Otherwise you will never use half what you buy.
3. I live in the boonies too. I love and frequently buy from places that offer free shipping and free returns.
 
doogymon said:
Howdy Folks.....Back to you.......Thanks Larry....Picked up and put together the SB 9B Lathe and Mill-Drill (RongFu KnockOff) in my basement for hobbyist light duty fun.
The machines are roughed in so now i want to level off and secure them proper. Got the motors running. Table built for the Mill. Also have lubricated as best as i can with way oil and spindle
oil but have to learn the other oils asap. No tooling so i am pursuing just the basics. KBC, Busy Bee and Amazon (Which do you prefer?) and of course EBay and Kijiji.
I need a good book on the South Bend 9B. So much info plastered on the Internet that its overwhelming. I need a Drill Chuck (MT2) for the lathe. I need cutting tools.
Have the holder. I have a dead centre..do i need a live centre? For the Round Column Mill I need a bit more: Drill Chuck (MT3) (Arbor with JT#33?), a vise, a draw bar, clamps for the table,
and maybe a E32 Kit with the Chuck and Shank for End Mills. Will look for end mills and drill bits and maybe a carbide end mill. Just looking for basic, simple and starter quality but also best bang for buck is good. Buying new with free shipping maybe the way to go when you live in the boonies. Next msg will be in one of the sections of this great forum. Cheers and Thanks.

Doog
Click to expand...
It can be read on line or purchased readily enough, but it is hard to beat South Bend's "how to run a lathe" as a baseline starting point.
It sounds like you and I have some machines more or less in common. As a starting point a drill chuck with mt2 taper and a mt2-mt3 adapter will get you drilling in both machines. An mt3 er32 or er40 collet chuck for the mill can also be used in the headstock of the lathe for work holding on short parts etc. Eventually I made an er 40 chuck that threads onto the spindle of the lathe so I can hold longer stock, but still share the collets.
High speed steel (hss) is a great starting point and learning to grind the bits is well worth the effort. Having said that, carbide has its appeal due to the simplicity in getting started.
A live center while not a MUST, it is kind of a must, and I wouldn't want to be without one for long.
I, and I think most here have put our lantern style toolposts into the revered drawer of "sometimes you can't live without it", but mostly would rather if it just stayed there, in favour of one of the many quick change offerings..... Mine is a piston type AXA, I purchased a couple extra holders shortly after, but now I make them. Something therapeutic about making tools for your tools......
Oh, don't forget the pictures of what you are up to, threads with lots of pictures tend to get more attention, us old guys don't read so good... Lol
Lots of places online to spend your money, mostly I have only used Accusize, who have pretty good reviews from almost everybody that actually shops there. The goods are still of Asian Origin, but they are in Canada........
 
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Round Column Mill...& SB 9B
 

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140mower said:
Lots of places online to spend your money, mostly I have only used Accusize,
Click to expand...

@Doggggboy - I too buy a lot of my stuff from Accusize. But I get it via amazon for the free shipping and no hassle free returns. Usually I will call accusize before returning though as they will ALWAYS make it good.

A word of advice - get that dog key off of the ways on your lathe. Treat those ways like gold. Never put anything on them and keep them oiled and clean. Even a key can mark them in a moment of haste.

Reading @140mower's advice above, I realize my original post was inadequate. Most lathes come with a fair amount of starter tooling. Yours does not. I mostly agree with his advice. But I would get a wedge style tool post instead of a piston. It is only a few dollars more at accusize and worth the extra money. My lathe came with a piston tool post and I just upgraded to the wedge style recently. After using it just a few times, I realize that I should have done that 10 years ago.

My dead centers sit in a drawer unused. Yes, you need a live center - preferably a good one. They come with different noses. I like the slender stepped tip variety which gives better access to the end of a part.

You will also need a good Caliper - get a brand name 6" mitutoyo digimatic and watch out for fakes. A 1" micrometer is also a good idea but the Caliper will be sufficient for most of your work.

You also need a good dial test indicator (prolly 0.0005 to start with). You can find them used on Kijiji. And a holder for it. The noga double adjusting holder is worth the price tag. You prolly need to get this from KBC.

Your very first project that uses the lathe and the mill should be a lathe height standard. Lots of great examples on this forum and on the web. This is a tool for your tools that will find a favoured premium spot right next to your lathe forever.

I don't think way oil has been mentioned. This should also be a priority. Also cutting oil. You will have to get advice from someone else (maybe @140mower) on the right gear oils you need for your lathe and mill.

Again, sorry for my first post which assumed way too much. I'm sure we have forgotten a few things we take for granted, but others will have important suggestions too.
 
Appreciating the guidance...selective purchases are the plan....is Harbor Freight ok for state stuff like HSS bits? Have one close across the border. I should know what a height standard is...? Way oil is in the routine. HSS tool grinding I remember and will be doing...later carbide bits and a wedge style tool post. Dog Key old pic from PO ...; )
 
@doogymon To get started HF HSS will be fine. You will have to sharpen them more often than Cobalt HSS, but the practice doesn't hurt.

Tom Lipton from the youtube channel "oxools" has a great explanation on lathe height standards. No althe should be without one (IMHO) Here's the link to the video:

 
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Hey Doog, if you are planning on an ER type collet holder, you don't need a proper draw bar. That machine never had one to my knowledge? A piece of all thread rod and a good heavy washer, preferrably made on your lathe with a shoulder to locate it in the top of the spindle bore will work fine. Once you have the ER holder in the machine if you buy tools so they all fit into a collett you will never need to take it out. A proper draw bar is fairly involved to make and the morse taper is close to useless for milling? I would even cosider locktiting the ER holder into the spindle (along with the threaded rod of course) once you have fit everything up and are happy with it, one less spot for vibration.
I agree with Dabbler, high speed tooling, including end mills, are much cheaper an way more forgiving than carbide. You will be shocked at how easily carbide can be ruined! My original plan for that machine was to take the spindle out and change the taper to take R8, but decided to get the bigger machine.
 
You can check out Doubleboosts channel he is doing a series of beginner lathe videos
and he usually does interesting things too.
 
You guys are the baumb.......I remember in Grade 11 Machine Shop going nose to grindstone ..I mean HSS tool to the grinding wheel...sometimes I got lucky and the bit turned real good on the lathe. Will do with the poor man's draw bar. There is a ER32 Collet system on Amazon. Reviews says the Big nut needs finessing (clean up on the lathe) but Ok after.MT3 Shank +11PC ER32 Collet Set + Chuck & Spanner $85.89 Cnd.
 
doogymon said:
There is a ER32 Collet system on Amazon. Reviews says the Big nut needs finessing (clean up on the lathe) but Ok after.
Click to expand...

Be careful on that one. Most of the negative reviews I have seen on the ER collet system are written by users who don't seem to understand that they are deliberately machined with an off center retaining ring to make it easy to install and remove collets and yet still retain them in use and during the taper withdrawal process.

I know of more than one user who tried fixing the nut. I confess I studied that problem for hours before looking into it. So I got lucky and never buggered mine up.

Anyways, be careful what you read about ER collets in reviews. The only real problems I have seen with ER collets is excessive burrs which is an easy problem to fix. I have never seen a bad nut.
 
Dabbler said:
@doogymon buy new, even if you have to go for a cheap one. How you don't screw it up is to snap the collet into the nut before screwing the nut onto the holder.

Many guys just don't know, and bugger it up. Never buy a used ER system. Once screwed up, you have to rebuy it.
Click to expand...
I think that the proper term might be most people? I managed machine shops with certified mnachinists for half a century, and even after being warned of the proper assembly, they seemed to get dammaged some how. Of course it was always the same two that did it, Not Me and Ida Know? There are even tutorials on youtube that show how to machine the "faulty" ones so they will go together "properly"?????
 
@doogymon - another ER tip for you. Some ER collets have a mark on them to indicate where the cam-ring offset is. Some don't. I have ER11, ER20, and ER32 collet sets. None of the collet nuts had the index mark on them. They are all inexpensive sets. So I used a small engraving bit in an engraver tool to make my own mark - just an asterisk. As a result it is always easy for me to pop the collets in and out cuz I know exactly where the cam ring offset is.
 
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