help the rookie with a lathe fundamental question

[rscott9399]

Actually no , I got a few decent answers and got ridiculed by others. Ever hear of internet bullying? Yea it’s 2022 and as dumb as that is, it’s a thing. You know that people are liable for that right?

You keyboard tuff guys treat people like dog shit while some people actually had an interest in talking about actual machine work and helping to share the details of a wonderful trade skill. I didn’t say anything for the first 10 smart ass answers and let it go. But a person has a limit. And if that is how the forum is run, I don’t want any part of it. So you all can have a pissing contest with yourself. God forbid someone ask a question on an Internet forum designed to ASK QUESTIONS!!

 

[BoxcarPete]

This is such a typical Internet forum haha I ask a seemingly simple question and get flamed

Here is the part you guys all missed I have not asking the simple question like you think I am asking more detailed question because I am chasing tenths of taper and how you center your work on a machine that doesn’t have a large enough spindled bore matters and using stock that is not round

This is not a simple matter of using dividers and just an FYI I have a PhD and engineering and have been running the machine shop for over a year and have made many projects.

My question is centered around extreme precision not how to use the lathe without killing yourself I’m not a moron and I don’t appreciate the condescending crap that you guys are throwing out there

I’ll tell you what really will make this website fail, treating all of your new members like garbage and making them never want to post a question again which will then yield them then getting hurt because they won’t have good information.

If the answer really is Turning between centers
Then that is some thing I would take into consideration and have not done before and would simply seek out somebody that could teach me the methodology so I don’t end up dead

However I have no doubt you all will tell me how I’m stupid and should stick to playing video games and never step foot in the machine shop again because that’s how things are around here apparently

And by the way there’s nothing wrong with watching YouTube videos I would argue for my learning perspective it is far more beneficial than reading a book from 1940

Have no fear I won’t post another question here so you guys can go flame somebody else

So, are you a rookie with a question about fundamentals or not? Thread title says...

Also, you said you are having a problem with finding center and taper. Never specified that you're chasing tenths so most people thought you had something significant due to bed twist and/or tailstock misalignment. Both of which happen to be lathe fundamentals which need to be taught to a rookie, per the thread title.

 

[rscott9399]

I never said I was a mechanical engineer, I said I have a PhD in engineering. Physics and electrical Dont make assumptions

 

[rscott9399]

Actually my very first post eludes to the fact I am trying to master extreme precision.

 

[memphisjed]

In physics you had to take a few math classes that focus on fundamentals of geometry. The taper is basic conics and as nothing to do with finding center- at least pretty obvious to me being a non-machinist, college dropout ironworker.

The math on center finders working so well, even in non uniform material, is pretty nifty.

Ps. Even I have read the southbend book on how to run a lathe.

 

[Yan Wo]

Wow! This thread is getting interestinger and interestinger. Let me get some popcorn.

 

[dalmatiangirl61]

OP, how often does getting butt hurt benefit you?

I have a collection of books with some as old as 1900, they are a wealth of information I cannot find anywhere else, and you sure won't find it on youtube. Did you get your PhD by watching videos? Or by studying books?

 

[michiganbuck]

Here is the deal about How to Run a Lathe.
The book is about apprentice-level and all need to know very good information.
Skilled guys including myself suggested you might read the book.
Most lathe hands could add a few more pages of information to every subject in that book.
I'm a grinder hand and I could add a page or a few to everything in that book.

There is so much to know about between centers a whole chapter might cover that.

Your first post is apprentice-level so the guys responded to that and gave you some pretty good answers.

One thing good to do with PM is to look at the likes, the likes are the posts that more PM guys agree with.
More likes = more important.

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

People used to ask me “ What do you look for in prospective apprentices/trainees ? “

My answer was always this - “ Have they got the right attitude ? If their attitude is right I can teach them all they’ll ever need to know. If their attitude is wrong I don’t care how smart they are, we’re wasting each others time “.

Regards Tyrone.

 

[michiganbuck]

But in Alaska and an 18" long part .0002 off it may be the sunshine coming through the east window, and a fat old brown bear leaning on the back wall.

 

[fciron]

If you want to get a piece of rusty, wonky steel cleaned up and ready to do precision work, a book from 1940 is just what you need. That’s the kind of stuff people did when metal was more expensive and less available. Those skills are less valuable now that you can just buy any size chunk of steel you need on the internet.

Books from 75 years ago are where you will learn how to find center within a few thou using dividers and how to center drill on the lathe without putting the material through the headstock.

Once you get the stock cleaned up you can read the sections on leveling your lathe and adjusting the tail stock to remove taper. Because putting the center drill off-center doesn’t cause taper. It just wastes material.

 

[EmanuelGoldstein]

Actually my very first post eludes to the fact I am trying to master extreme precision.

Then you should be grinding it, dumbo.

Pretty funny how this thread politely handed this guy a dozen real-world solutions to his questions, but he had to go off all butt-hurt. Is this how most people are these days ? Wondering about his age.

 

[michiganbuck]

Actually my very first post eludes to the fact I am trying to master extreme precision.

Eludes = avoid compliance with or subjection to (a law, demand, or penalty).

Wee shoulleda knowed thar wert sompting rong rite tar.

RE: alludes (third person present)
suggest or call attention to indirectly; hint at.

Perhaps the thread was a spoof: a trick played on someone as a joke.

PHD: pretty hardnose dude.

*rscott9399 don't get your dander up, it is all in good fun.
I/We hope you don't get mad at me/us.
Buck

 

[PDW]

Actually my very first post eludes to the fact I am trying to master extreme precision.

Actually, it doesn't. Except maybe in your own mind.

If you want better answers, you have to give better information.

You failed at that basic first step.

Stay or go, that's on you. But I assure you that you'll learn a lot less elsewhere.

And drop the attitude, many people here have higher degrees, some have a number of them. It cuts no ice when your posts clearly show that you're ignorant in the area you're seeking knowledge.

Whatever.

PDW

 

[adh2000]

There is a Dutch member on PM, peterve, I was at his place once and he had a couple machines for doing exactly what you want to do. I didn’t pay much attention to them but they were sort of a drill press with a grinding head or something. He said they were for putting a center hole precisely at the center of a cylinder so that it could be mounted between centers on a lathe. It could do large diameter long cylinders, much larger than would fit through the headstock. I had never seen a machine like that before. Maybe he will chime in here and explain


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[EmanuelGoldstein]

There is a Dutch member on PM, peterve, I was at his place once and he had a couple machines for doing exactly what you want to do. I didn’t pay much attention to them but they were sort of a drill press with a grinding head or something.

Jones & Shipman and Cen-T-Lap made center grinders but they didn't do it from raw, they were intended to grind accurate centers after heat treat, before finish grind. A couple of places made facing and centering machines for use on soft bars, both single end and double end - G&L, Seneca Falls, Hey, maybe another one or two - but not really suitable for a small or home shop.

 

[jim rozen]

Here is the deal about How to Run a Lathe.
....

The other deal is, they show how, when turning between centers, one does NOT hold the left end of the stock in a chuck - 2, 3, 4, or 6 jaw. No. Chuck.

The center is done at each end of the stock. More or less in the center of the bar, does not need to be that precise. Dog goes on one end, driven by a dog driver plate or faceplate with a lug on it. Other end goes in the TS center. The only real adjustable parameter is the TS set-over. Taper cut? Touch that set-over up.

There's a reason all the old-time photos where they're doing something that requires real precision, like press fitting railcar axles onto wheels, they're turning that shit between centers. Get that book, read it. It's all in there.

 

[52 Ford]

This is such a typical Internet forum haha I ask a seemingly simple question and get flamed

Here is the part you guys all missed I have not asking the simple question like you think I am asking more detailed question because I am chasing tenths of taper and how you center your work on a machine that doesn’t have a large enough spindled bore matters and using stock that is not round

This is not a simple matter of using dividers and just an FYI I have a PhD and engineering and have been running the machine shop for over a year and have made many projects.

My question is centered around extreme precision not how to use the lathe without killing yourself I’m not a moron and I don’t appreciate the condescending crap that you guys are throwing out there

I’ll tell you what really will make this website fail, treating all of your new members like garbage and making them never want to post a question again which will then yield them then getting hurt because they won’t have good information.

If the answer really is Turning between centers
Then that is some thing I would take into consideration and have not done before and would simply seek out somebody that could teach me the methodology so I don’t end up dead

However I have no doubt you all will tell me how I’m stupid and should stick to playing video games and never step foot in the machine shop again because that’s how things are around here apparently

And by the way there’s nothing wrong with watching YouTube videos I would argue for my learning perspective it is far more beneficial than reading a book from 1940

Have no fear I won’t post another question here so you guys can go flame somebody else

Who called you stupid? I certainly didn't, nor did I imply it.

Keep in mind, the title if this thread is "help the rookie". Thus, it's assumed that you're a new guy.

It IS an internet forum, so you have to expect at least SOME negative feedback.

It looks like you did get at least some information that's helpful.

Frankly, I'm somewhat offended that you're (apparently) mad at the forum members who tried to HELP YOU.

I suggest starting a new thread, revise the title (drop the "rookie" part), and make it clear that you aren't a hobbyist and that you're running a machine shop and trying to hold tenths-of-a-thousands tolerances. The more information you give regarding your question, the better the answers you'll get. Or, at least the advice will be more specifically suited to your situation.

 

[michiganbuck]

At one shop we had a tall drill press, we could scribe a center to .oo5 with looking through a loop and with Chicagoing our punch this way or that, and drill press center drill one end and then the other.

At the grinding shop, we had an ExCellO center point grinder that we could move a center often back to one-tenth or so.
Grinding a part with zero stock you had to be right on when you first sparked.

Just with bench centers, or a long lathe, one can chuck a Norton 60* center lap and with pushing down on the high side you can move a center by tenths.

 

[52 Ford]

At one shop we had a tall drill press, we could scribe a center to .oo5 with looking through a loop and with Chicaging our punch this way or that, and drill press one end and then the other.

At the grinding shop, we had a center point grinder that we could move a center often back to one-tenth or so.
Grinding a part with zero stock you had to be right on when you first sparked.
Just with bench centers, or a long lathe, one can chuck a Norton 60* center lap and with pushing down on the high side you can move a center by tehths.

"Chicaging". Me's thinkin' you either made that word up or it's a typo. In either case, it's sort of a fun sounding word. "Chicagery".