Making craftsman lathe parts
Posted: Thu May 10, 2018 9:58 am
I bought a little 6" Craftsman lathe for parts. The headstock was repurposed, so all that was left is the bed, TS, carriage and a couple other odds and ends. I'm parting it out, but figured it would be kind of fun to clean up and fix some of the stuff that was bad. The crank on the cross-slide is broken, for example, so I will probably make a new one just for fun. I don't know if it really adds to the value of it when listed on ebay.
Anyway, the TS quill lock was missing and the bushing where the feedscrew goes through was buggered. When I tried to take it out, I figured out why it was buggered. It was in there tight, so I ended up milling flats on it to put a real wrench on it. Got it out and modeled, then put the radius turning tool to work. Started by turning the threaded end and boring it out, then turned a female thread in some scrap to hold the part, flipped the part and turned the radius.
The quill lock handle was harder because as you machine away material for the balls, there is little to hold onto. Blued them up and a slight polish with steel wool. Kind of fun.
Also machined a split cotter for the quill lock. All that was left was a slug of aluminum in the bore. I don't think it's original, but I went ahead and used aluminum again as I know it won't scar the quill. Does anybody know for sure what the original part was made of? The top part is what I found in the TS. The bottom is half of what I made. (The other half looks almost identical, of course.)
Like the ball crank, I don't know if it adds enough value to the part to make it worthwhile on something being sold like this, but I enjoyed the process.
Anyway, the TS quill lock was missing and the bushing where the feedscrew goes through was buggered. When I tried to take it out, I figured out why it was buggered. It was in there tight, so I ended up milling flats on it to put a real wrench on it. Got it out and modeled, then put the radius turning tool to work. Started by turning the threaded end and boring it out, then turned a female thread in some scrap to hold the part, flipped the part and turned the radius.
The quill lock handle was harder because as you machine away material for the balls, there is little to hold onto. Blued them up and a slight polish with steel wool. Kind of fun.
Also machined a split cotter for the quill lock. All that was left was a slug of aluminum in the bore. I don't think it's original, but I went ahead and used aluminum again as I know it won't scar the quill. Does anybody know for sure what the original part was made of? The top part is what I found in the TS. The bottom is half of what I made. (The other half looks almost identical, of course.)
Like the ball crank, I don't know if it adds enough value to the part to make it worthwhile on something being sold like this, but I enjoyed the process.