The Home Machinist!

Thanks. Right now I've taken the cross slide and compound off the lathe--worn cross screw. Looks like it will be a while before I can get back to machining.

Hmmm, I just picked up 3 Armstrong straight holders for 5/16" bits. They sure are rigid. Why are they "out of date"?

??? When facing (facing off-?) the end of a short solid round in the chuck, you'd use a right hand facing tool, correct? It will cut on its left side or the left side of its nose. Check the reference--they state that a RH facing tool "isn't suitable" for outside--in facing. There are quite...

Now that I can actually recognize a right hand facing lathe bit, every on-line reference I've found so far says you're supposed to start facing at the center of rotation, and back out to the OD.

Why should the feed direction make a difference?

Because the adapter is only .87" long, I'm thinking I should start with a piece ~1.5" and turn the .864" dia. first. Then drill/bore the .623" thru hole, bore the .664" end, then turn it around and machine the rest of it. Without seeing a sketch of the adapter, I'm not sure...

Thanks, Harold. My thought was to make only the inner adapter/flange, which will carry and locate the wheel both radially and axially. The original HF stamped outer flanges are 2" dia, so there won't be any bending moments on the wheels. The motor takes its time coming up to speed, so I don't s...

Realizing I needed to buy some 7" grinding wheels ala Harold (38A, soft, 1.25" center hole), I found some on eBone. Got 2 ea. 46 grit, but 1/4" wide instead of 1/2", H bond strength. Also got 2 80 grit wheels in 1/2" wide, softer G bond. Then I bought an 8" HF grinder, ...

I only checked the 38A wheels, and every one which was softer than J was rated 3105, while all the harder wheels were 3600. It makes sense that the softer bond isn't as strong. A 7" wheel is small enough that the H and I bond strength are OK. My point was that I couldn't find an 8" 38A sof...

The flanges will be my first lathe project--I'll make one for each wheel. Learned another little gem today. I put a few weak-bonded Norton 7" wheels on my watch list, then ran a search for some 8" wheels. Found a few, but then I noticed the show-stopper. Seems the weaker-bonded 8" whe...

I think I should buy the 8" HF bench grinder and make adapters to fit the 1.25" center holes of 7" surface grinder wheels. The adapter will be far better than the junk stamped inner flange that comes with the grinder.

OK, I'll forget about cup wheel grinders. I had thought the concave surface was a detriment, not an asset. Even at 70 years old, my hand/eye coord. is still real good.

Must get some keystock and start practicing.

Thanks for all the great info. I think I'll try sticking with HSS for now. What do you think of the $175 Harbor Freight Baldor-clone Tool Grinder? It uses 6" cup wheels. I seriously doubt that I'll be able to grind freehand, and the adjustable platforms appear to be far better than the cheap st...