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Working on my South Bend 9C

Yeah I know folks running flood coolant systems use some iterations of that, but I haven't come across it in use on non-flood set ups. I happened to order some new to me tapping fluid to try so we'll see that next week
 
BaronJ said:
I vaguely remember someone telling me that a weak water based coolant was good for plastic but not nylon.
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Its probably coming from the hygroscopic properties of nylon over other 'plastics'. Whether you would see that effect in a relatively short duration machining window, especially considering the coolant is largely absorbed by the swarf, I cant say. I suspect its a time factor. If you soak nylon in water, it will change dimensions so can be problematic in that regard.

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Getting some good results here. Hopefully I can do the outside work today which will be informative.

@DavidR8 and I were discussing hooking up a cordless drill to the compound slide for my tapers too. I've also since come across a handful of folks just slapping on a small DC motor...
 

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Pretty happy with this finish off the SB. Obviously the taper has some marks because of hand cranking, and it would be nice to clean that up.

But since I still want to make final tweaks and will be sanding on the wood lathe anyway it's okay for now.

This is very very good progress overall.
 

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Golem Pens said:
Hooray!

And look at it zoom: https://photos.app.goo.gl/3JfRwr5ANtZxjJrf7

I also think I see why my reamer isn't coming out as clean as I want (this was the same with the other tailstock).
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I do believe that the odds of repeatability have moved in your favor....... 😀

I knew there were diamonds inside those two lumps of coal I dropped off. Well done. 😉
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I took a vice handle and modified it to fit the milling attachment, next I need to prep the bed to replace my badly worn one. It's too bad one lathe had to die, but it saved the lives of two others.
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This is as it was as I first saw it.
R.I.P. 1939-2025. 🙄😛
 
@Golem Pens, Is the ream mounted in a chuck? If so, try turning it and see if have the same result. This could also apply to the chuck. This could be checked by mounting the ream between centers if there is a center hole in the other end, and turning it, looking for wobble. If an older chuck or even new there could be some misalignment there also.
If the ream is quite long it maybe flexing downwards because of weight and gravity. Take a look at the “Bed twist” posts on the forum. Almost enough to make you give up, LOL. and just want to live with it.
 
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I guess a medal should be awarded in memory of that lathe.
When are you going to forge a knife out of the hanging power saw chains @140mower?
Oh sorry, that picture likely at previous owner’s place. But hey, I saved saw chains for some time and worn bars too, cause I was going to.
 
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Bandit said:
I guess a medal should be awarded in memory of that lathe.
When are you going to forge a knife out of the hanging power saw chains @140mower?
Oh sorry, that picture likely at previous owner’s place. But hey, I saved saw chains for some time and worn bars too, cause I was going to.
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It's unfortunate that it didn't come with a set of legs, I could have made a memorial bench out of it. 🙄
 
Bandit said:
@Golem Pens, Is the ream mounted in a chuck? If so, try turning it and see if have the same result. This could also apply to the chuck. This could be checked by mounting the ream between centers if there is a center hole in the other end, and turning it, looking for wobble. If an older chuck or even new there could be some misalignment there also.
If the ream is quite long it maybe flexing downwards because of weight and gravity. Take a look at the “Bed twist” posts on the forum. Almost enough to make you give up, LOL. and just want to live with it.
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It's had the same "droop" with two different chucks and two different tailstocks. But it IS usually mounted in the same orientation so I can see the depth marks I've made on it - I'll see if it's got internal curve later today.

I SUSPECT it's more likely bed wear or bed twist.

In either case, I kind of want to cut it down because it's comically long, and reducing that excess length would probably mitigate the deviation to a degree.
 

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Golem Pens said:
It's had the same "droop" with two different chucks and two different tailstocks. But it IS usually mounted in the same orientation so I can see the depth marks I've made on it - I'll see if it's got internal curve later today.

I SUSPECT it's more likely bed wear or bed twist.

In either case, I kind of want to cut it down because it's comically long, and reducing that excess length would probably mitigate the deviation to a degree.
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You mustn't forget to factor in bed wear here. Notice a closeup of the tailstock ways shows a teensy bit of wear in a place where the tailstock has sat or been moved around many times. It's less at the left side of this closeup. Over the length of the reamer that may well be enough to cause the drop.

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jcdammeyer said:
You mustn't forget to factor in bed wear here. Notice a closeup of the tailstock ways shows a teensy bit of wear in a place where the tailstock has sat or been moved around many times. It's less at the left side of this closeup. Over the length of the reamer that may well be enough to cause the drop.

View attachment 80986
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Great minds, bed wear was my best guess after it was consistent across different parts. Now how bad is it gonna be to hacksaw through this thing haha
 
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