before the chips fly

[curmudgeon]

I plan on setting up my Grizzly G0602 10x22 benchtop lathe this weekend in a temporary (hopefully less than a year) location. It's been a very long time since high-school shop classes and my most recent experience with a metal lathe.

Canada Post is bring me copies of:
Lathework: A Complete Course by Harold Hall; ISBN: 9781854862303, and
Basic Lathework for Home Machinists by Stan Bray; ISBN: ‎ 9781565236967

I already have a copy of the Machinery's Handbook, 16'th edition thanks to a generous friend and am trying to become familiar with FSWizard.

Are there recommended YouTube publishers that would be appropriate for my skill level? There is so much out there, and when a newbie like me doesn't know any better, it's easy to pickup bad habits by watching careless and uninformed YouTube publishers.

Anything else I should read/watch/do in preparation for pushing the green button and twisting the spindle direction switch to FWD?

Thanks,
-Steve

 

[Xyphota]

Blondihacks is praised on this forum and she has a Lathe tutorial playlist, so that might be a good place to start depending on how rusty you are feeling. Otherwise I'd do a refresher of big no-no's for safety such as not wearing rings, loose-fitting clothing, leaving the chuck key in the chuck, etc.

 

[DavidR8]

+1 for Blondihacks

 

[DPittman]

Worthwhile Youtubers in my opinion:
Tubalcain/Mr Pete
Blondihacks
This Old Tony
Turn Wright/Keith Fenner
Abom
Joe Pie
Stefan Gotteswinter
Winky's Workshop
Keith Rucker
And many many more actually.

And of course "our very own"
Everetts Workshop

And the only one I would recommend against is
AvE

 

[phaxtris]

+3 for Blondie

@DPittman has a good list, the only one I dislike is Joe pie.... experienced yes, but arrogant to the max

 

[DPittman]

+3 for Blondie

@DPittman has a good list, the only one I dislike is Joe pie.... experienced yes, but arrogant to the max

Ya thats Joe Pie for sure

 

[Canadium]

My favorite entry level Youtubers;

Mr. Pete222 aka tubalcain

https://www.youtube.com/c/mrpete222

Blondihacks;

https://www.youtube.com/c/Blondihacks

in between some entry level some more advanced;

https://www.youtube.com/c/KeithRuckerVintageMachineryorg

 

[phaxtris]

Ya thats Joe Pie for sure

Im glad to hear I'm not the only one who thought that

 

[Xyphota]

I really like Joe pie's videos as he frequently shows weird and interesting work-holding or measuring setups, but his video titles are god awful, uninformative and click-baity.

 

[YotaBota]

1 . If you're not sure about anything hit the pause/patience button and ask.
2. If you're not sure about anything hit the pause/patience button and ask.
That goes for the use of tools as well as machines.
There is a tremendous amount of knowledge and skill on this site so don't be afraid to ask. If you're asking a question there will be others asking themselves the same question.
I've gotten into the habit of spinning the chuck by hand BEFORE hitting the go button, it's saved me a couple times from the chuck banging on something (compound).

 

[Susquatch]

I plan on setting up my Grizzly G0602 10x22 benchtop lathe this weekend in a temporary (hopefully less than a year) location. It's been a very long time since high-school shop classes and my most recent experience with a metal lathe.

Canada Post is bring me copies of:
Lathework: A Complete Course by Harold Hall; ISBN: 9781854862303, and
Basic Lathework for Home Machinists by Stan Bray; ISBN: ‎ 9781565236967

I already have a copy of the Machinery's Handbook, 16'th edition thanks to a generous friend and am trying to become familiar with FSWizard.

Are there recommended YouTube publishers that would be appropriate for my skill level? There is so much out there, and when a newbie like me doesn't know any better, it's easy to pickup bad habits by watching careless and uninformed YouTube publishers.

Anything else I should read/watch/do in preparation for pushing the green button and twisting the spindle direction switch to FWD?

Thanks,
-Steve

I agree with YotaBota.

To be honest, I hate youtube. But it has its place.

I can't over emphasize what @YotaBota said. Just ask us. A million questions is better than none.

Sometimes it helps to have someone to call. PM me if you need help and I'll give you my cell number.

Put this firmly into your thinking. We all like helping..... Just ask!

 

[cjmac]

I plan on setting up my Grizzly G0602 10x22 benchtop lathe this weekend in a temporary (hopefully less than a year) location. It's been a very long time since high-school shop classes and my most recent experience with a metal lathe.

Canada Post is bring me copies of:
Lathework: A Complete Course by Harold Hall; ISBN: 9781854862303, and
Basic Lathework for Home Machinists by Stan Bray; ISBN: ‎ 9781565236967

I already have a copy of the Machinery's Handbook, 16'th edition thanks to a generous friend and am trying to become familiar with FSWizard.

Are there recommended YouTube publishers that would be appropriate for my skill level? There is so much out there, and when a newbie like me doesn't know any better, it's easy to pickup bad habits by watching careless and uninformed YouTube publishers.

Anything else I should read/watch/do in preparation for pushing the green button and twisting the spindle direction switch to FWD?

Thanks,
-Steve

Hi Steve,

Don't forget there are several guys close to you as well. You have my phone number.

Chris

 

[curmudgeon]

Many thanks to everyone for their suggestions and offers to help. Much appreciated.
-Steve

Blondihacks is praised on this forum and she has a Lathe tutorial playlist, so that might be a good place to start depending on how rusty you are feeling. Otherwise I'd do a refresher of big no-no's for safety such as not wearing rings, loose-fitting clothing, leaving the chuck key in the chuck, etc.

Blondihacks was one of the first hits on my Google search, but to be truthful I was put off by the name - thanks for straightening me out. Many of the safety practices cross over from my wood turning experience. I'm super attentive to the risks of chuck keys and other tools used on spinning machinery.

I've gotten into the habit of spinning the chuck by hand BEFORE hitting the go button, it's saved me a couple times from the chuck banging on something (compound).

That is also one of my my habits from wood turning to ensure clearance from the tool rest.

To be honest, I hate youtube. But it has its place.

Put this firmly into your thinking. We all like helping..... Just ask!

I learn well from books/manuals but a good video is awesome for demonstrating specific techniques. I'm sure I will give many members ample opportunity to help - thanks so much!

Don't forget there are several guys close to you as well. You have my phone number.

Thanks Chris - look forward to seeing more of you and meeting the others.

 

[Former Member]

Three suggestions, since you are learning.

Quick change tool post.

Carbide insert tooling, saves learning sharpening HS tooling (though you should learn it at some point).

Finally, first piece you are going to make is a height gauge specifically for your lathe to set your tooling, make life easy. Sigh... a Joe Pie trick his video does explains it well.

Beyond that start cutting different materials as carbide inserts have changed to speeds and feeds you have been taught years ago (though they are a still a good starting point).

AvE really early stuff was informative, strange but good, it progress into strange weird and useless.

As @Susquatch said we all pretty much are here to share what we know and all have some knowledge that the rest don't from the least experienced to the most experienced. Have a problem post it get answers, have a solution post it and share.

I'm going add Youtube is the hands on peak into that final piece of information not mentioned in books for an actual application. Onsite hands on without being onsite hands on.

 

[Dabbler]

@curmudgeon Sorry for being late to the party... +`1 on blondihacks, but I find 'thatlazymachinist' to be a bit better for beginners. (both is ideal) I didn't see 'mrpete222' in the above list. He has a 'paid for' lathe course that is very worth the price (around 80$ IIRC)

Both mrpete222 and thatlazymachinist were both shop teachers, so they seem to be better of explaining every single step (which can make the videos very slow) but I think that is the better approach for someone starting out (again).

 

[Tom O]

Doubleboost has recently made a series of lathe tutorials on his channel for beginners.

 

[DPittman]

Doubleboost has recently made a series of lathe tutorials on his channel for beginners.

He might be good I don't know for sure, cuz I can hardly understand a word he says!

 

[curmudgeon]

"level your lathe", they said. "How hard could it be?", I thought.

Well, "it's never easy"...

After borrowing the tunnel boring machine from Vancouver's Sky Train extension project, I was able to make a hole to the rear of the garage just large enough to navigate the engine hoist through.

I placed the Grizzly G0602 10x22 lathe on the Craftex CX700ST stand with the chip tray sandwiched between and it wobbles like a Weeble; no point moving on to levelling until it has a stable base. So, what would be best in this situation? I'm very reluctant to drill into the concrete (thin slab placed over plywood subfloor above the top level of our wood-framed home), and I don't plan on keeping the lathe here long term. There are only 2 mounting holes in the lathe base; one at each end. They line up with holes in the top of the cabinets, and there are factory welded nuts inside the cabinets, so there's only 2 bolts holding the lathe to the stand. The stand is fairly stable right-to-left, but awful front-to-back.

So, some thoughts:

Plan A is leveling bolts over hockey pucks in the bottom 4 corners of each cabinet. My concerns are 1) the cabinet steel is thin and even if I get the mounting holes very close to the corners there will be warpage and I'll be chasing "flat" for a while, and 2) the cabinets are not very deep and without bolting them down there'll still be some instability front-to-back.

Plan B is to attach angle iron, or square tube outriggers to the bottom sides of the cabinets to reduce the front-to-back wobble, and then add the hockey puck levelers under the outriggers. My concern is how often will I stub my toes on the outriggers. I don't think I'll mind any extra height.

Plan C is to weld up a 4 legged stand with more stable geometry and integrated levelling bases, and just place the cabinets underneath. I'm not a very skilled welder (yes, this would be good practice for me), I don't yet have a scrap pile of "free" material, and I'd rather spend the time learning to make chips...

So, what do you reccommend?

For reference, here's a pic of the lathe and stand at it's old home; it seemed stable there:

 

[Dabbler]

@curmudgeon I have a few thoughts on the stand

It is not wide enough to support the tail of your late (that can be overcome)
It looks like flimsy sheet metal, so you will be chasing lathe twist in such a small lathe: it would drive me nuts.
Big cabinet doors don't afford much usable storage space

One cheapo remedy is to laminate 2 3/4" plywood slabs and make a base that encompasses the entire footprint of the lathe, especially if you are good with the storage as-is.

Another is to widen the spacer between the cabinets to better support the footprint.

In any case the headstock-to-concrete stiffness is important in getting the most out of the machine.

Obviously I'm leaning toward a redesign solution, but that's not for everybody, and requires welder and other metalworking equipment.

 

[Susquatch]

@curmudgeon

I put a laughing icon on your post because it really was funny!

I do agree with @Dabbler s advice. I'm really posting only in case you want to give it a try as-is and get to making chips.

I find it odd that there are only two bolts holding the lathe to the stands and nothing holding the cabinet to the floor, but it is what it is.

There are some cool levelling kits available today. Have a look at the ones below. You would need two sets - one set of four for each cabinet. I would use small bolts instead of the screws that come with the kits. Just bolt them onto the outside of your cabinets and level away. There are lots of colour, size, and price options available. These are just the first ones I saw that I liked enough to buy for myself if I were in your shoes.

4 Pack Heavy Duty Leveling Feet, Black Tahikem Adjustable Load Levelers for Workbench Cabinet Pool Table Bench Machine Cabinet Feet (4000 Lb Capacity) https://a.co/d/5j8Aj9I

You say you don't mind some extra height. Why not make a levelling Cradle for each cabinet with levelling screws or even levelling vibration pads at each corner? Some pads even incorporate rollers. These cradles can be simple angle iron front to back under each of the 4 cabinet sides or they can be welded boxes. You can attach them to the lathe cabinets or not. The beauty of using angle iron is that they can be attached to the cabinets from the side with no worries about aligning holes. You can get or make angle with a 90 inside or use washers to accommodate an inside radius. Use them with regular machine levellors or something like these:

VEVOR Leveling Casters Set of 4, 2" - Self Leveling Casters Heavy Duty, 1650 Lbs Per Set - Machine Casters Plate, 360 Degree Swivel - for Industry Equipment, Workbench, Shelves https://a.co/d/fRRXUjr

Limited-time deal: VEVOR Heavy Duty Leveling Caster Set, 4 – Pack 2.5'' Self Leveling Casters, 4400LBS Max Loading Capacity, 1.2'' x 1.38'' Machine Casters Stem, for Moving Industry Equipment, Workbench, Shelves, White https://a.co/d/7hTDfkA