Got the machine home. Rented a pickup from uHaul, and used an engine hoist for offloading. Next trick is going to be getting it back on the stand, and placed in its nook in the garage. The stand is heavy gauge sheet metal. It holds the lathe well enough, but it's not built for shimmying.
Do any of you guys use leveling casters with wheels under your machines? This machine isn't super heavy, so wondering if they could be fit to the stand for easy moving?
Newbie getting in over my head?
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Bill Shields
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Re: Newbie getting in over my head?
Never run the machine with wheels under it bearing weight.
Many of us have wheels under our machines, but all machinery needs to be solid when operating.
With a lathe -> squared up is important (no twist in the bed) if you want to make truly cylindrical parts more than 1" long.
In many cases this is attainable by using jack up feet in the corners of the frame on which it is mounted and / or shimming the bed in the bench.
Many of us have wheels under our machines, but all machinery needs to be solid when operating.
With a lathe -> squared up is important (no twist in the bed) if you want to make truly cylindrical parts more than 1" long.
In many cases this is attainable by using jack up feet in the corners of the frame on which it is mounted and / or shimming the bed in the bench.
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
Re: Newbie getting in over my head?
Everything in my shop is on casters. Everything.
For my current needs the accuracy is sufficient. So far I have not needed to turn long cylinders, and ~.001" is good enough.
This is only an issue on a lathe IMO.
What I did is build a simple cradle to support the stand, with big HD casters at each end.
It is made of two longitudinal rails of 2.5" square tube at front and back edge of the cabinet. These extend 2.5" beyond each end with a crossbar connecting them in the Y-axis. At the ends of these are casters. Unfortunately I have no photos of it.
The original cabinet and the cradle both have provision for leveling screws, but so far I have not needed them.
For my current needs the accuracy is sufficient. So far I have not needed to turn long cylinders, and ~.001" is good enough.
This is only an issue on a lathe IMO.
What I did is build a simple cradle to support the stand, with big HD casters at each end.
It is made of two longitudinal rails of 2.5" square tube at front and back edge of the cabinet. These extend 2.5" beyond each end with a crossbar connecting them in the Y-axis. At the ends of these are casters. Unfortunately I have no photos of it.
The original cabinet and the cradle both have provision for leveling screws, but so far I have not needed them.
Re: Newbie getting in over my head?
I bought some of these leveling casters. It will allow moving the machine, and leveling when the machine is in its home. I'm going to use 4 casters, one on each outside corner of the stands, for moving, and I'll also add some adjustable bolt/feet, on the inside edge of each stand, for stability once in place.
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Bill Shields
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Re: Newbie getting in over my head?
They are very neat!
Almost afraid to ask where they are made.
Just a FYI
More than a few of us older/taller folk have found that a lathe 6" higher than the "standard" really helps.
I cannot lift my 16" south bend, but my smaller lathes are all higher than the conventional spindle height (that must have been determined when the average machinist was 5' tall.)
Almost afraid to ask where they are made.
Just a FYI
More than a few of us older/taller folk have found that a lathe 6" higher than the "standard" really helps.
I cannot lift my 16" south bend, but my smaller lathes are all higher than the conventional spindle height (that must have been determined when the average machinist was 5' tall.)
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
Re: Newbie getting in over my head?
I like the idea of extending the supports beyond the normal base. That may have to be phase 2 though, because I've already fabbed up supports on the stand for the leveling casters set to arrive today.Rex wrote: ↑Tue Dec 20, 2022 9:30 pm Everything in my shop is on casters. Everything.
For my current needs the accuracy is sufficient. So far I have not needed to turn long cylinders, and ~.001" is good enough.
This is only an issue on a lathe IMO.
What I did is build a simple cradle to support the stand, with big HD casters at each end.
It is made of two longitudinal rails of 2.5" square tube at front and back edge of the cabinet. These extend 2.5" beyond each end with a crossbar connecting them in the Y-axis. At the ends of these are casters. Unfortunately I have no photos of it.
The original cabinet and the cradle both have provision for leveling screws, but so far I have not needed them.
Regarding the "insert name of cheap asian country parts here" leveling casters that Bill references, there is a dizzying array of different options, at wildly varying prices. After making myself half batty looking at specs on Amazon and similar, I pulled the trigger on some of the cheaper variants. They have "CE" cast into them, so I figure they are either complete frauds, or they should be as good as any others. I also bought some nice, but used, Takingen leveling feet, in a massive 20mm diameter thread. If the machine doesn't feel stable enough with the leveling casters, I'll make an extended base as you suggest here, Rex, and slam in the Takingen feet...along with some hockey pucks for vibration control.
Re: Newbie getting in over my head?
I changed direction yet again, this time regarding supports for placing the lathe. I've got four leveling casters, on the inboard corners of the two stands, for reasonable moving of the machine, along with 20mm Takingen leveling feet on the outboard corners, for solid anchoring. The stands are pretty narrow, thus my decision to move some of the mounts outboard.
Now, I want a mill! Found this, and want it. It's a Taiwan unit, not crazy heavy like a Bridgeport, which is good for someone like me. Problem is same as before: moving it. I'd have to rent a truck and trailer. Not cheap. Gotta explore actual cost...
Now, I want a mill! Found this, and want it. It's a Taiwan unit, not crazy heavy like a Bridgeport, which is good for someone like me. Problem is same as before: moving it. I'd have to rent a truck and trailer. Not cheap. Gotta explore actual cost...
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Bill Shields
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- Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2007 4:57 am
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Re: Newbie getting in over my head?
I have had something similar for 45+ years. Built quite a few small locos on it.
Sometimes the $ price of the machine is a minor part of having it available to use.
Firmly anchoring it to a pair of 6x6 beams can help alleviate the top heavy attitude.
If you can bet a trick with a lift tailgate and a pallet truck...
Sometimes the $ price of the machine is a minor part of having it available to use.
Firmly anchoring it to a pair of 6x6 beams can help alleviate the top heavy attitude.
If you can bet a trick with a lift tailgate and a pallet truck...
Last edited by Bill Shields on Wed Dec 28, 2022 5:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
Re: Newbie getting in over my head?
Oh, and I bought a set of Eccentric Engineering Diamond toolholders. For a novice like me, they seem like a no-brainer.
Re: Newbie getting in over my head?
Got the Diamond Toolholders in record time. From Australia to the USA in three days. Can't beat that!
One interesting tidbit about the toolholder relates to the shape of the cutter; it's not square, it's rhombus shaped. I think that's its salient property. It can both turn and face without changing setup. Can't wait to play with it.
I've got the machine mounted on 4 leveling casters, so it can be moved around easily (for now,) and I also put a piece of 1/4" thick channel, which extends beyond the bases, and mounted the four large Takingen leveling feet on the outside corners. When I get the machine in its final resting place, I may remove the casters, because they lift the machine to a very high height. We'll see on that.
This project has motivated me to finally get a proper electrical power run out to my garage. The old electrical run is very old and in poor shape, so I trenched out for new underground wiring. That was fun...NOT! Anyway, the trench is done. Just gotta get to the hardware store for supplies and get the conduit installed. I already have the expensive part, the wire.
Planning a DRO install. Sent an inquiry to Electronica Mechanica for a kit. Decided to explore this path because there isn't a whole lot of room on the cross-slide for a conventional scale, and Electronica sells "Magna slim" scales, which are much smaller than most others.
Lastly, I changed the oil in the beast. The previous owner used hydraulic fluid instead of lubricating oil. I fixed that, but holy crap, what a messy job. There is literally no way to get a pan under some of the drain holes, so the oil pours out onto the catch tray where it needs to be sopped up and dumped. NOT FUN! Oh, and now the machine is leaking from several locations. Most important, the threading gearbox. I may have to remove it to figure out where the leak is. Not looking forward to that. So goes ownership of a piece of machinery built in 1994, I suppose.
One interesting tidbit about the toolholder relates to the shape of the cutter; it's not square, it's rhombus shaped. I think that's its salient property. It can both turn and face without changing setup. Can't wait to play with it.
I've got the machine mounted on 4 leveling casters, so it can be moved around easily (for now,) and I also put a piece of 1/4" thick channel, which extends beyond the bases, and mounted the four large Takingen leveling feet on the outside corners. When I get the machine in its final resting place, I may remove the casters, because they lift the machine to a very high height. We'll see on that.
This project has motivated me to finally get a proper electrical power run out to my garage. The old electrical run is very old and in poor shape, so I trenched out for new underground wiring. That was fun...NOT! Anyway, the trench is done. Just gotta get to the hardware store for supplies and get the conduit installed. I already have the expensive part, the wire.
Planning a DRO install. Sent an inquiry to Electronica Mechanica for a kit. Decided to explore this path because there isn't a whole lot of room on the cross-slide for a conventional scale, and Electronica sells "Magna slim" scales, which are much smaller than most others.
Lastly, I changed the oil in the beast. The previous owner used hydraulic fluid instead of lubricating oil. I fixed that, but holy crap, what a messy job. There is literally no way to get a pan under some of the drain holes, so the oil pours out onto the catch tray where it needs to be sopped up and dumped. NOT FUN! Oh, and now the machine is leaking from several locations. Most important, the threading gearbox. I may have to remove it to figure out where the leak is. Not looking forward to that. So goes ownership of a piece of machinery built in 1994, I suppose.
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Bill Shields
- Posts: 10529
- Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2007 4:57 am
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Re: Newbie getting in over my head?
That is newer than any of the lathes I own. 
As for the apron leak...think twice before disassembling to find a leak.
You may just have too much oil in it.
I would just let it leak until it stops leaking and see how much lube remains..
As for the apron leak...think twice before disassembling to find a leak.
You may just have too much oil in it.
I would just let it leak until it stops leaking and see how much lube remains..
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
Re: Newbie getting in over my head?
It's not the apron that's leaking, well actually, that drips, but just a smig, it's the threading gearbox that's leaving an oil slick on the floor. I filled the sight glass to the full mark, and it's down too low after about three days. Not a good run. I'm praying it's going to stop, though.