Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Lou Somers Power Feed Update
Lou Somers sent in some pictures of his updated shop made Taig lathe power feed. 
"I rejiggered everything for portability. when I get tired of standing I set it on a drywall bucket and sit down. Drive cable for leadscrew is stuck on a screw to keep it out of the way when not in use."
"Moved gearmotor topside. At left lower corner is a temporary drive link for my attempt at Keith Brooke's thread cutting rig. I used 3/8 x 24 tap as a leader. Didn't want to spend too much time on it till I was sure it would work. Will rework as time permits."
"After a couple of passes with the thread tool. Chuck is a 3" from Little Machine Shop. I have a 4" from LMS on my Atlas 618. Both are money well spent"
"Blurry action shot"
"Don't know how I missed my mark as much as I did. Rather than make another drive rod plate I drilled and tapped the drive rod for a 10 x 24 screw"
"Drilled a generously oversize hole in the drive rod plate for the screw to pass through. Tightened it til there was just the slightest play to allow rod to move latterally due to misalignment. Seems to work just fine."
"The chuck arbor is on a piece of 10x24 all thread."
"Made a taper to keep everything centered in the spindle nose. Although this set up looks like Beethoven's last movement and Keith would probably throttle me for the way I've chopped up his idea, it works perfectly."
"I rejiggered everything for portability. when I get tired of standing I set it on a drywall bucket and sit down. Drive cable for leadscrew is stuck on a screw to keep it out of the way when not in use."
"Moved gearmotor topside. At left lower corner is a temporary drive link for my attempt at Keith Brooke's thread cutting rig. I used 3/8 x 24 tap as a leader. Didn't want to spend too much time on it till I was sure it would work. Will rework as time permits."
"After a couple of passes with the thread tool. Chuck is a 3" from Little Machine Shop. I have a 4" from LMS on my Atlas 618. Both are money well spent"
"Blurry action shot"
"Don't know how I missed my mark as much as I did. Rather than make another drive rod plate I drilled and tapped the drive rod for a 10 x 24 screw"
"Drilled a generously oversize hole in the drive rod plate for the screw to pass through. Tightened it til there was just the slightest play to allow rod to move latterally due to misalignment. Seems to work just fine."
"The chuck arbor is on a piece of 10x24 all thread."
"Made a taper to keep everything centered in the spindle nose. Although this set up looks like Beethoven's last movement and Keith would probably throttle me for the way I've chopped up his idea, it works perfectly."
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Back to Work, New Pics, Article, etc.
Back to work!
Rick Kernell sent in these pictures of his graduated Taig lathe handwheel.
"The power feed is working really well. This idea has been rattling in my head for a while. Maybe some one else may find this a help.
The new carriage feed moves at 1.800 inch per revolution. I marked off the wheel so that each 0.100 inch and 0.300 inch (black lines) has graduations. They are not knock-dead accurate due to the lead screw/gear play, but they are surprisingly reproducible."
Note that this is the new power feed version of the lathe. Rick was one of the first people to make the conversion.
Keith Brooke sent in a short PDF article on his method of Free-Hand Turning on the Taig Lathe.
Jacobs closed its last US plant so there are some deals out there. One that caught my eye: Jacobs 6208 1B Medium DutyChuck 6.5 mm 3/8-Inch 24tpi
, There are some other good deals if you search for Jacobs on Amazon, especially if you need large 30 to 50 taper end mill holders.
[EDIT, it appears the deal on the chuck is gone and it's back to the regular price]
Finally, for those of you who probe in Mach3, there's a great probing routine here that promises to greatly reduce time. I haven't tried it yet but the thread on the Mach forum is encouraging.
Rick Kernell sent in these pictures of his graduated Taig lathe handwheel.
"The power feed is working really well. This idea has been rattling in my head for a while. Maybe some one else may find this a help.
The new carriage feed moves at 1.800 inch per revolution. I marked off the wheel so that each 0.100 inch and 0.300 inch (black lines) has graduations. They are not knock-dead accurate due to the lead screw/gear play, but they are surprisingly reproducible."
Note that this is the new power feed version of the lathe. Rick was one of the first people to make the conversion.
Keith Brooke sent in a short PDF article on his method of Free-Hand Turning on the Taig Lathe.
Jacobs closed its last US plant so there are some deals out there. One that caught my eye: Jacobs 6208 1B Medium DutyChuck 6.5 mm 3/8-Inch 24tpi
, There are some other good deals if you search for Jacobs on Amazon, especially if you need large 30 to 50 taper end mill holders.[EDIT, it appears the deal on the chuck is gone and it's back to the regular price]
Finally, for those of you who probe in Mach3, there's a great probing routine here that promises to greatly reduce time. I haven't tried it yet but the thread on the Mach forum is encouraging.
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