WTB / MT1 tools,chuck and slide compound

I have 9' craftsman wood lathe, I do not have a lead screw but your like a compound that I can rig up to my bed, I'm also looking for a MT1 1/2 drill chuck and a MT1 live center.

I would also like a self centering jaw chuck for lathe with a mounting plate for 3/4x16 TPI.
How does someone add a lead screw?



Below is a pic of the machine I've given new life to after some TLC... I believe it's 1940's era..
She was caked with years of grunge&muck so I hit it some degreaser... Took it apart and lubed where needed, tightened&align, and a new belt she was ready for many more years of service.

The lathe will be used for personal pool cue maintenance,as a hobby and to teach the next generation how to use machines to be creative with thier ideas and make new things.






Thanks for any help answering my questions or providing further info.


Rob.M

I predict this is going to end poorly. You can't really turn a wood lathe into a metal lathe. Once upon a time Delta sold a cross-slide you could add to your wood lathe in theory to cut metal but I suspect it was mostly used to do slightly more precise wood turning. You can't add a lead screw. You have no way to drive it and carriage to attach it to.

I know what you are saying....
I believe I can use a cross slide with alittle work.. A atlas cross slide would be perfect for me even if I don't have a carriage to travel length...I think I might use a combound slide for a mill/drill table that way I'll have some travel..
It's not going to be a high precision machine.
Any and all advise is appreciated.





Rob.M

Wrong forum

Years ago went I got into machining, I was thinking along those lines and an old machinist set me straight : scrap some metal, cut some grass, and buy a beat up, real metal lathe and you will thank me later.

Thanks for the advice, I hope to find a meal lathe in the future'
You guys would fall off your rocker if you seen the rigged up equipment ppl Re using for cue repairs..
It's scary! The set up I'll be using if much better than several I've seen'



Thanks again.

Rob.M

I have some 1 MT tooling that I no longer use. I also have two slide rests designed for use on wood lathes. One is a Delta and the other has no name. You can send me a private message if you want details and prices.

It is forbidden to mention Brand C on this forum, so I expect the thread to get locked.

It is quite possible to cut screw threads on a lathe that has no carriage. A gear on the left end of the spindle drives more gears and a shaft that connects to the longitudinal feed screw on the slide rest. The picture shows a Hardinge 59 lathe with the screw cutting attachment ready to use.

Larry

I thank the mods for letting this stay open, I choose to use this forum because it's the best. I will not go elsewhere unless I'm kicked for being off topic of commercial use equipment...

Again, I'm in need a professionals opinion " besides junk it" I'm looking to buy tooling for my lathe.



Rob.M

It is amazingly simple.

Metal is many times tougher to cut than wood.

A lathe designed for cutting metal will need to be many times more stiff and rigid than a wood lathe.

This invariably requires more weight in the right places.

Your wood cutting lathe is a light, not stiff "machine" built to be barely adequate to serve that purpose.

Cutting wood on this 6000 lb lathe is no problem, but it does not require much sense to see that the reverse is not true.

Posts 9 and 10 raise points that I will try to answer.

Billiard cues are mostly wood, so OP may have little use for a metal lathe. But cues are possibly easier to make with some mechanical aid to guide the cutting tool, hence the desire for a slide rest.

I think modern cues tend to be made in sections so they can be carried easily. I suppose the sections are threaded. Threads in the wood or threaded metal fittings, probably both have been tried. I don't know how it is customarily done, but I can think of ways to do it.

My second machine tool was a wood lathe when I was 13 years old. I quickly found that I could put a brass rod in a drill chuck in the headstock and turn little cannon barrels. High spindle speed and carbon steel tools worked fine and brass was just as easy to turn as wood. I have over 60 years experience hand turning metal with wood lathe chisels. it worked then and it still works. Only difference is that now I use my antique Hardinge 59 and my Levin D and have proper collets and jaw chucks to hold the work and modern wood lathe chisels are HS or carbide, so turning steel is easy.

From 1935 to around 1955, Hardinge lathes mostly had 1 MT tailstocks. That is why I have a selection of 1 MT tooling. I have fitted both of my 59 lathes with newer tailstocks with 2 MT rams. That is why I have some centers and drill chucks I no longer use.

In addition to a T-rest, those Hardinge lathes also use separate slide rests that clamp to the bed. I always look for slide rests that I can use on a Hardinge and have accumulated two of the slide rests that were made for wood lathes. Such items were made to fill a need, like pattern making, more than turning metal. The need was small, so the slide rests are rare. I have never found a use for the two I have, so they are for sale.

And that is how Practical Machinist can help with a wood lathe.

Larry

The operations will be light duty, the machine will be used for simple maintenance on pool cues and small wood projects.
If you guys seen the repair cue lathes you'd understand, big money metal lathes are used to build the cues but less expensive lathes are used for maintenance&repairs.

Be thankful I did not bring this machine here for tooling help'
It's simple but works... But not what I'm after..




Thanks all,


Rob.M

Tool post

Can anyone tell me the proper size tool post I'll need to fit this slide I just picked up..?

I prefer a lantern style but I'm open to all options.



Thanks guys.






Rob.M

better billiards said:

Can anyone tell me the proper size tool post I'll need to fit this slide I just picked up..?

I prefer a lantern style but I'm open to all options.

Click to expand...

Not until you mount it on the lathe, and give us a distance from that toolholder surface up to the
centerline of the lathe spindle.

digger doug said:

Not until you mount it on the lathe, and give us a distance from that toolholder surface up to the
centerline of the lathe spindle.

Click to expand...

And some information about the dimensions of the tee slot.

Look at pictures, you can make one on pretty basic tooling (drill press, files) or assemble a pile of small sections of steel with a home grade welding machine, and end up with a useful tool.

If you go around the web looking at the various quick change tool systems, they invariably show the dimensions that are needed to select the size you need. Same ones needed here.

Cheers
Trev

Lathe

I've found the same machine on eBay and grabbed the photo.
Photo below is what I'm needing, I sent message to seller but they could not help me much besides to snap the photo...
Here is a link the the lathe on eBay, the machine is a touch different than mine but the slide is the same.
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=251737557825


That's the one I'm needing.....

Thanks again'

Rob.M

Post

digger doug said:

Not until you mount it on the lathe, and give us a distance from that toolholder surface up to the
centerline of the lathe spindle.

Click to expand...

-
This is what I came up with.
I can get the dead center out and measure up to the point if more precise measurement is needed... Sorry I should of did it to begin with but I had this piece of 1/4-20 all thread between centers so I used it to measure approximate rise and the gaps.
I forgot to measure for depth...








Thanks again.


Rob.M