Chuck Backplate - Montreal area

[James Thornton]

Hi, I have an old Harrison lathe mill combination which has a 1" X 12tpi unf spindle nose. No screw cutting capability and I need a couple of chuck backplates machined to suit. I can't find any to buy anywhere. Anyone in the area who could make these up for me? Fair price paid of course!

 

[Janger]

Post more info James. Dimensions, bolt patterns, material, etc.? Two? Most members are out West BTW.

 

[James Thornton]

Hi John,
Thanks for the reply. I realise most people seem to be from over that way, but have seen a few posts from this side, and there appears to be nothing equivalent to your forum catering to the Montreal community.

OD 4 inch Mild Steel or SG cast iron; I'm thinking just some sawn-off bar would be fine. If I can find someone local to do the threading then I have a good relationship with a local steel stockholder who would supply the raw material cut to length.

internal thread 1 inch x 12tpi UNF thread form with a 1-inch diameter close tolerance register x 0.2 inch long for the spindle register diameter
Thickness 1 inch - I can do all the subsequent machining for chuck register, countersinks and holes for mounting bolts etc. All I need is the internal thread and spindle register.

 

[RobinHood]

Try to contact Pierre Beaudry from “Pierre’s Garage” on YouTube or Phil from “Phils Projects” (also on YouTube). Both are in the Montreal area. The contact details are on their respective channels. Hopefully they can help you out locally.

 

[Janger]

We would be happy to have more members from Montreal! We can setup a sub forum too if there is demand and interest like the other local forums on the home page.

 

[James Thornton]

Yes John, I'm sure there must be plenty of like minded folk around so I was surprised not to find anything online.
Thanks to RobinHood. I'll have a look for those guys

 

[Tom Kitta]

So all you need is a round piece with a hole in it that is threaded to 1"-12 NF? Why don't you just get the round piece of stock, drill it 59/64 and tap it 1-12 NF on say drill press as a guide (so its even) or even your lathe as a guide? Then you could machine the register on the lathe itself - unless I am imagining it incorrectly - I mean even if you cannot put it on spindle yet you could maybe put it in the chuck or between centers.

 

[James T]

Hi Tom, I just registered hence the name changed. I thought about that, but there's no way I'd try to hand tap a 1" thread in steel, I'd need arms like Arnie! Plus it would be very difficult to find the same centre on a lathe setup to do the register. I'm kicking myself for selling my lovely myford when I moved here!

 

[Tom Kitta]

Its 1-12 NF - in mild steel - its not that bad - you just need leverage of a very large tap wrench. Or if you feel very weak you can drill a bit larger say not 59/64 for 75% thread engagement but 15/16 for 50% thread engagement. Now it would not be that bad.

Not exactly sure of your current setup so I don't know about finding the centre again. If you have a 4 jaw chuck in which you can hold it then you can dail it in to within +-0.001 without much of an issue. Then you can drill it out with drill in the tailstock. Then you can thread it with tailstock acting as a rest for the tap. All easily within +-0.001. Then if you need to do some processing on the other side or something you can filp the backplate and again dail it in to within +-0.001. There may be some inaccuracies somewhere but its worth a try.

A month ago+ I did two backplates for my lathe - both D1-6. The came out +-0.006 and +-0.001.

 

[gsg9.ca]

Hi James,

https://espacefabrique.org/

We've got a full sized lathe and mill you can work with. Otherwise we have a couple of machinists who take on projects when they have time. Not sure about UNF but we should be able to figure something out.

You could also try Seguin Machinery. They've got old parts galore, mostly for heavy iron but never hurts to ask.

 

[James T]

That's the way I'll probably go Tom if I have no joy finding someone local to do the machining for me.
I've no 4-jaw, that's what one of the backing plates will be for! I have a faceplate which would serve with some clever adjustable clamps I guess.

 

[James T]

espace-fabrique looks interesting! If you've got a king lathe as per your pictures then it'll be capable of turning inch threads - Maybe you don't call them UNF over here?

I got in touch with Pierre Baudry of Pierre's Garage - he's offered to help out, so I'll work with him on this one

Thanks to everyone for the helpful suggestions! Great to know there's a community out there, even if we're a bit spread out.

 

[Johnwa]

A month ago+ I did two backplates for my lathe - both D1-6. The came out +-0.006 and +-0.001.

Tom
Any tricks or advice on cutting the taper socket? I’ve got a D1-4 on the to do list.

Thanks
John

 

[Tom Kitta]

Well, I have D1-4 dog driver for sale for $40.

If you want to make your own you need to mount another plate in the chuck and with indicator set your angle exactly as per indicator.

Once you have the angle set you are almost there. Now you need to cut the hole in approximately to size - try to use bore gauges to get close.

Final step is best done if you have two lathes - you take your slightly too big part and go measure it on the target D1-4 lathe against its nose - you can feel how it fits. Then if lots need to be removed, you can cut, but frequently you are close enough for sand paper. After about 10 times with sand paper you have accuracy of around 0.001 or so or maybe better.

Without sand paper part and just trying to use bore gauges etc. & without trying it on you probably will be 0.005 the first time around The problem is you cannot measure easily without special tool & bore gauges are not meant for taper.

I also made two back plates for my D1-3.

This is a long and slow process - but you can get it quite accurate with above method.

 

[Billy]

Hi, I have an old Harrison lathe mill combination which has a 1" X 12tpi unf spindle nose. No screw cutting capability and I need a couple of chuck backplates machined to suit. I can't find any to buy anywhere. Anyone in the area who could make these up for me? Fair price paid of course!

ya I'll do it. you cover shipping from Saskatoon. just pm me