Technical Logan lathes? School me - 1st metal lathe

Even though I have a milling machine and lathe I am far from a machinist, I joke about using a yard stick for calipers most of the time and that's not far from the truth...........................

 

Hey, Dean, yeah I walked in , not knowing much, but found a profession I loved. I learned a lot in a short time. Loved the job, but it was too far from home.... moved on to another profession. But in my home shop, now,I’ve got my machines to play with.

Bones

 

Buying a lathe is the first step down the rabbit hole. Soon you will realize that you don't know how you ever lived without one. Next a buddies friend has a old Bridgeport that just needs a new leadscrew and the things you could do with that are limitless. The next thing you know you will be over at the Garage Journal trying to decide what brand of epoxy to paint your garage floor with. The best thing I did to my Southbend was to get a Aloris quick change tool post, cost 1/2 what I paid for the lathe but makes using it much more pleasurable.

 

I'll second that! That should be the very first upgrade you do. Not cheap, but for the 'hobbyist' the cheaper Aloris copies will work fine. Next up should be a set of bits with replaceable inserts.

 

That's a great idea, I never thought of that. I am a self taught hobbiest, so I missed the opportunity to learn all the inside tricks regarding the operation of lathes and milling machines.
It does bring up the point that there are many excellent publications on the market with tricks and tips for the hobbiest and home machinist. One example of these, is called the Machinist's Bedside Reader, by Guy Lautard. It is a collection of tips and tricks, and discusses everything from setups, how to pick the right metal for a job, how to make an adapter to cut tapers, and so much more. There are others, but I just happen to have all three volumes, and have found that the articles are interesting and useful.
Lathes and milling machines are wonderful tools. No matter what the brand or the size, with a little attention to getting the machine in proper order, they can turn out work that is highly satisfying.
The only one thing I would add as a word of caution, is wear safety glasses, and no loose clothing, any time you work on the lathe, and take light cuts. I would rather take a little longer to turn a piece, than to risk breaking something.
Bob

 

When Grumman had a big layoff in 1984, all those "great" machinists were out on the street. I had a few come in to where I was working. Grumman would hand out job titles like penny candy and some guys worked on a drill press for 30 years. I had one guy doing a job, he finished the lathe part and asked who to give it to for the milling. I told him that HE would be doing the milling. He turned white. Most of them didn't make the 90 day probation.

 

The three phase issue is not that difficult to solve. If you already have the machine, you have a several choices. First, if the lathe only requires a 1 HP motor, you can adapt a single phase motor to do the job. If it is a larger unit, you can make or purchase a single phase to 3 phase static or rotary phase converter, I have made both types, and it is just a matter of a plan, of which there are some on the internet, and a little patience finding some high quality capacitors. For a conversion to a rotary converter, all you are doing is adding a 3 phase idler motor of the equivalent size to the piece of equipment you are operating. What adding the idler does is properly separate the phase legs, and even out the voltages on each leg. With the static converter, there can be quite a large variation in the voltages on each of the three legs, which can make starting a motor under load a problem.
You can often find 2 and 5 hp motors at very reasonable prices.
I am using a converter for my Miller Dimension 400 3 phase welder, and I also have one for my hoist. I am in the process of building the garage, so my hoist was disassembled to pour the new floor, but the 5 hp phase converter works perfectly with the welder, and the total cost was $100 for the 3 phase 5 hp idler motor. The phase converters can also be used for multiple machines, but the amount of total power used at one time cannot exceed the rating of the converter or the size of the idler.
I hope this is not too much information, but I have encountered a lot of guys that have passed up on a machine because of the three phase issue. Even my old plasma cutter is three phase. I bought it for peanuts, and it will cut 1 inch with a 100% duty cycle.
Bob

 

By the way, ENCO used to be the go-to supplier for inexpensive machine tool accessories and supplies. Even their cheap stuff was pretty good (at least it worked for me... LOL). They have been bought out by MSC and prices went up, but are probably still the lowest-cost supplier for decent quality bits.

 

You are correct on making a rotary converter, using just wire and old 3phase motors and switches. Easy and cheap. If you have multiple machines ,as I do, I ran a separate 3 phase line for them. You can run all the machines at one time if only using one machine and the others running free help smooth out the phases to almost real 3 phase. Just my experiences.

Bones

 

I've experienced the guys who called themselves machinists because they worked in a factory that machined sleeves and they put parts into and pressed a button so the machine performed the operation. One guy wanted to change the drill bit in our large drill press and didn't know how to remove a Morse taper drill bit.

 

Difficult to tell from the pictures but that motor doesn't look very large so it would probably be easier and cheaper to replace the motor with a single phase if you don't have 3 phase available. Harbor Freight has a 3 horsepower compressor duty electric motor for $170. The lathe might only have a 1 horsepower or less and you can get by with smaller motors by running an low speeds.

 

A Logan is a far better lathe than a Craftsman. Craftsman lathes were made by Atlas who sold the same lathe under their own name. Biggest downside to them is flat ways while the Logan and South Bend lathes both have V ways.

That said, the Logan needs a close look to make sure it hasn't been stored outside as it definitely looks kinda rough.

Asuming the condition is okay, a variable frequency drive (VFD) is the best way to get true 3 phase from single phase without a bunch of fiddling around. The VFD also gives you variable speed capability which is nice to have on a lathe. On a lathe that size, cost would be in the range of $175.

Shars Tool sells some surprisingly good quality imported tooling. The imported copies of Aloris toolposts available from multiple sources will work fine on this type of lathe. Current prices on the genuine Aloris will be as much as you paid for the lathe. I've used the import copies for 25 years on a Logan, a Harrison, and a couple Monarchs, and while I've scrapped more than a few parts, none of them could be blamed on the import toolposts.

This guy http://latheinserts.com is an independent dealer who has some nice insert type toolholders for small lathes at good prices. He's a former Kennametal applications engineer who's very knowledgable. Commercial shops are his primary business so he doesn't sell any of the super cheap junk inserts that seem cheap at first but are useless after 5 minutes of cutting. His stuff is a good balance of price and performance.

 

Yeah, I only built the system for myself, and the information I got on how to build and use a rotary converter, is that the equipment being operated simultaneously, should never exceed the rating of the static converter or the 3 phase idler.
I am never using more than one of the items at a time, and so this has never been a problem for me.
Bob

 

My first lathe back in 1970, was a Craftsman (Atlas) lathe, and it did the job well, it had the manual gear set and the flat ways which became a PITA after a short time. Then I bought a Myford, but I got a contract that required a larger larger lathe. That was why I bought the 12 inch, and it was a match made in heaven.
I have not regretted making the new acquisition for one day. That day was April 6 1999.
There is a really good forum on the internet, called Practical Machinist. There is a wealth of information on lathes and techniques available on the site.
Bob

 

If I only had one chuck, I would want it to be a 4 jaw. It's hard to bore holes in a square piece with a 3 jaw chuck.
I never take my 4 jaws out of my lathes, you can learn to quickly center a round part in a 4 jaw with a dial indicator, quicker than you could change chucks. And unless you have 3 phase power, that 3 phase motor is worthless.

 

thanks for the gr8 info - the logan came out of a school and the guy told me it was very well maintained and that i wouldnt have a problem, he said i could just get a motor to convert it to single phase, dfa or something - good to know i can add tooling later and as i learn -

 

Cool lathe
I have an old atlas lathe I use, I love it.
You would be surprised at how much you use the lathe for just about anything.

Would really like a mill,but I’m running out of room!

 

I bought a Teco Varible Frequency Drive converter (7300EV(En) V06) for my mill several years ago. It will allow you to convert your 3 phase machine to run on standard household 220 single phase. The instructions were good and it only took a day to install and it was up and running.
Also there are several machinist forums you can join to get more help and guidance just like the H.A.M.B.
I gave $650 several years ago for a 1943 Sheldon quick change 11" x 56" bed and a bunch of tooling but it is never enough tooling =]
Machining is fascinating and I wish I had taken it in school.

 

My Craftsman was the same as Atlas. Had it for 20 years, was very handy. Had much more in tooling than
the lathe.

 

I still get an Enco catalog in the mail a few times a year. Their stuff is not bad. Another place for lathe accessories is eBay, used and new.

 

Unfortunately many shops call button-pushers machinists as a hook to get jobs filled. Me, I did the apprentice thing for 4 years, classroom training, the whole deal. I worked in some tough shops too, if you were too slow or effed up a lot of stuff... out the door you'd go.

 

Google "How To Run A Lathe" and buy the booklet put out by South Bend. It covers a lot of basic information on using any lathe, not just the South Bend.

I bought a 1947 model S.B 13" x 60" lathe 20-years ago and use at least once or twice a week. Don't know how I ever got along without it.

 

I'd like to have a shop with room for a lathe.

 

+1 Nicest addition I have made to my 13X60 S. Bend

 

I still have a South Bend lathe booklet that was the textbook for a high school machine shop class in 1969. The first project was to make a set of punches using the taper attachment. Then a hammer with a threaded handle.

 

South Bend Lathes......The small block Chevy of machines...Mine still wears a brass tag stating it was property of The State Of Michigan Dept. Of Corrections...I named it " Hard Time"

 

Also - i read there were 2 version of logans made, one made a huge noise while the other was much quieter...

So looking at SB and hardinge lathes - whats a second operation lathe?

 

Generally a second operation is a turret lathe w/out a lead screw....used for repetitive operations like boring/chamfering etc.

 

Easier to find the info you need online now.
The only reason I have a used one, is because it was dirt cheap.

 

"So looking at SB and hardinge lathes -"
The Hardinge HLV tool room lathes are things of beauty. If you can afford one, get it.

While carbide tool bits are in many ways better, I still would recommend HSS, and learning how to sharpen them. You can often pick up HSS tool bits cheap to free, and can always grind a tool to suit the job you are doing.

If you do use carbide tools, you will need to get the proper grinding wheel to sharpen them.