DavidR8's shop shenanigans

[DavidR8]

I took some time over lunch to go over the 4-jaw. There was maybe .0015 difference in pinion height between a free running jaw and a binding jaw. Is that enough to cause binding? Maybe.
I stoned the inside the grooves in the sides of the jaws. I could tell there were high spots.
But there was a tiny ridge in the groove where the jaws ride in the chuck. Because the chuck isn’t hardened I used a file to remove the ridge and that made a tremendous difference.

So onward I go. Glad to see my speed at dialing in a 4-jaw hasn’t been lost. About a minute to get under half thou concentricity.

I was going to do this on the faceplate as @YotaBota did but when I tried to face the faceplate my HSS bit was instantly destroyed. Not sure what why as it seems the faceplate would be cast iron.

 

[YotaBota]

Does the backplate file okay? Speed to high?

IIRC I parted the excess off the one I had.

 

[DavidR8]

Does the backplate file okay? Speed to high?

IIRC I parted the excess off the one I had.

Speed might have been too high at 334 rpm.
I'll try it again in back gear (58, 95, 145)

 

[Susquatch]

I was going to do this on the faceplate as @YotaBota did but when I tried to face the faceplate my HSS bit was instantly destroyed. Not sure what why as it seems the faceplate would be cast iron.

Did you really mean hss, or was the tool carbide? The photo has a lot of interrupted cuts.

If you really meant hss, try a much courser (beefier) grind. I have a few 5/8 bar tools that you could never destroy without taking the whole lathe out too.

 

[DavidR8]

Did you really mean hss, or was the tool carbide? The photo has a lot of interrupted cuts.

If you really meant hss, try a much courser (beefier) grind. I have a few 5/8 bar tools that you could never destroy without taking the whole lathe out too.

Yes I really meant HSS.
I don’t have any carbide tooling but I wouldn’t use carbide in an interrupted cut situation.

 

[YotaBota]

@Susquatch - I believe @David_R8 is shortening the nose not facing.

 

[Dabbler]

but when I tried to face the faceplate my HSS bit was instantly destroyed.

I don’t have any carbide tooling but I wouldn’t use carbide in an interrupted cut. situation

Stuff to unpack:

Cast iron can be glass hard. It depends on impurities, how much slag didn't get filterd out during the pour, the cooling time.... and a LOT more.
Carbide *can* be used for interrupted cuts... with care...
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Here's what I'd do in your shoes as you have described it:

I'm assuming you want to shorten the nose .100, for instance:

Mark out .080 on the nose in your lathe using sharpie, dykem, scriber - choose your poison. Take it outside and use an angle grinder to take off the .080 AND lightly chamfer it (yes by hand)

THEN chuck it up and make your accuracy cuts. Take whatever hit on your HSS you get, and keep sharpening it. (good practice?) Some jobs are tedious like that.

FWIW

 

[DavidR8]

I was going to follow @YotaBota path and mount the backplate to my face plate. But when I tried to true up the faceplate my HSS tool was destroyed. Surface speed was probably too high so that’s on me. It would be an interrupted cut with four 1/2” slots in the faceplate.

My next plan was to dial it in the 4-jaw and part off the extra spigot length.
@Dabbler suggestion of lopping off the extra length with an angle grinder is a good one as it serves two purposes:
1) gets under the glass hard outer layer
2) minimizes the amount of cast iron that has to be removed on the lathe.

Thanks @Dabbler, @YotaBota, @Susquatch for checking in!

 

[DavidR8]

Machined the backplate this afternoon.
Parted it off


Faced it and chamfered the inside and outside edges.
Fits like a glove.

 

[DavidR8]

Just an observation: parting on the Clausing is not as nerve wracking as it was on the South Bend. Either it’s more rigid or my technique is better.
Or both I suppose.

 

[Susquatch]

Just an observation: parting on the Clausing is not as nerve wracking as it was on the South Bend. Either it’s more rigid or my technique is better.
Or both I suppose.

Could be either one. For some reason, cast iron always seemed to part better for me than most steels or stainless. Could be that too.

 

[DavidR8]

Could be either one. For some reason, cast iron always seemed to part better for me than most steels or stainless. Could be that too.

The fact that it’s like butter probably is to my benefit.

 

[YotaBota]

Gotta luv success! We need a "hands clapping" imoge.

Have you had a chance to check the runout?

Just for future reference, what was the parting rpm and what is the diameter of the nose?

 

[DavidR8]

Gotta luv success! We need a "hands clapping" imoge.

Have you had a chance to check the runout?

Just for future reference, what was the parting rpm and what is the diameter of the nose?

I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.
I parted off at low speed, 95 rpm.

Runout of the backplate is under half thou. Runout measured off the shaft of a new chucking reamer is .003”
Diameter of the nose is 2.36”

 

[DavidR8]

I got my Bucket Head vacuum on Friday. Snapped it onto a spare 5 gallon bucket and fired it up.
Works fantastic, cleaned up all the swarf from making the change gear bushing and then the cast iron mess from machining the backplate.
Very pleased with the purchase.

 

[jcdammeyer]

I got my Bucket Head vacuum on Friday. Snapped it onto a spare 5 gallon bucket and fired it up.
Works fantastic, cleaned up all the swarf from making the change gear bushing and then the cast iron mess from machining the backplate.
Very pleased with the purchase.

Going to have to get a live demo of that.

 

[Susquatch]

I got my Bucket Head vacuum on Friday. Snapped it onto a spare 5 gallon bucket and fired it up.

I like my rigid vacuum for swarf but it does have one drawback. It isn't easy to dump the odd shaped container and I only have one bottom for it. A 5 gallon pail would be much easier to use. In fact, a guy could just have a dozen pails for different materials - eg aluminium, brass, steel, stainless, etc. And two or three pails each for aluminum and steel. I can't really do that with the rigid without contaminating the swarf and destroying it's recyclability. In general, I only use the vacuum after cleaning the majority up manually.

So where do I get one of these 5 gallon pail vacuums?

 

[6.5 Fan]

So where do I get one of these 5 gallon pail vacuums?

Yes @David_R8, do tell us the particulars.

 

[DavidR8]

I bought it online from Home Depot, model number BH01000.

Bucket Head Wet/Dry Shop Vacuum Powerhead Lid for Home Depot 19L (5 Gal.) Multi-Use Bucket... | The Home Depot Canada

The Bucket Head Wet Dry Vacuum power head turns The Home Depot multi-use 19 litre (5 gallon) bucket into a wet dry vacuum (BUCKET SOLD SEPARATELY, see Home Depot Canada SKU# 1000143871). Bucket Head features a 1.75 peak horsepower motor for powerful suction as well as a blower port for added...

www.homedepot.ca

 

[Susquatch]

I bought it online from Home Depot, model number BH01000.

Ordered it with an extra set of filter bags.

I have some pails, but I'll pickup a few extra used ones next time I'm at the farm supply store.

Then I'll clean up the rigid and dedicate it to other jobs. Maybe even bring it to the house and leave it in the garage.

Thanks @David_R8 !