Metal Lathe

thegrappler · Aug 13, 2010

Give me some reasons to buy a Metal Lathe I want one but have to justify buying it. It has to pay for its self, so what Iv'e come up with so far is, I can make: Pucks to jig and narrow a 9 inch rear end.
threaded rod bungs for the hairpins and radius rods
Bat wing bracket Tapered bosses
I need more Ideas, a lot of this stuff can be made without a lathe so was looking for help with Ideas, thanx
Duane

chaddilac · Aug 13, 2010

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=501408

PoserMN · Aug 13, 2010

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; ch****t=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Do***ent"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDO***E%7E1%5CSteve%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CDO***E%7E1%5CSteve%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CDO***E%7E1%5CSteve%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><style>  </style> They are an indispensible tool. I have owned my mid-50’s era South Bend 14.5” for over ten years and use it daily.

'54Caddy · Aug 13, 2010

Once you have one you'll wonder how you worked without one before. Really is a great tool and you'll find yourself using it all the time. An old timer used to always tell me the lathe is the only tool that could build itself.

Johnny Gee · Aug 13, 2010

Pay for itself hell. Just being able to chuck it up and have the chips fly at will is all worth it.

51 Hemi J · Aug 13, 2010

thegrappler said: ↑

Give me some reasons to buy a Metal Lathe I want one but have to justify buying it. It has to pay for its self, so what Iv'e come up with so far is, I can make: Pucks to jig and narrow a 9 inch rear end.
threaded rod bungs for the hairpins and radius rods
Bat wing bracket Tapered bosses
I need more Ideas, a lot of this stuff can be made without a lathe so was looking for help with Ideas, thanx
Duane
Click to expand...

Make 2 sets of pucks so I can buy one from ya!

chopsaw209 · Aug 13, 2010

Johnny Gee said: ↑

Pay for itself hell. Just being able to chuck it up and have the chips fly at will is all worth it.
Click to expand...

Hell YES! Paid my rent right out of college that way!

Mac the Yankee · Aug 13, 2010

You know all those things that you spend all that money on, just to sit there and think, "Geez, I could make that..."

That's why.

Slag Kustom · Aug 13, 2010

i cant live with out my ****py lathe

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=442351&showall=1
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=417394&showall=1
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=376291
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=84846

Deadbird · Aug 13, 2010

Because it will be the coolest tool in your garage, at least until the Bridgeport arrives.

AllSteel36 · Aug 13, 2010

I have two lathes and a mill. honesty I don't know if they've "paid themselves off" yet, but I an tell you that when it's a Sunday afternoon, or Tuesday at 8PM and I need something done, I can do it and not wait till the next day to go to a machineshop, then return a day or two later to pick up the part.

For me it's really a necessary convience.

canman · Aug 13, 2010

The three most necessary hot rod/race car shop tools beside a welder are a lathe,a mill, and a band saw. With those tools you can make almost anything.

burl · Aug 13, 2010

Actually used my mill as a lathe a few times on smaller parts,just chuck a tool in the vice and chuck the part in the spindle.Have a rotary table as well so i could get by with out a lathe.Have a lathe but dont really use it that much.

31Atudor · Aug 13, 2010

Because you can't turn good parts on the drill press. I tried until I got my lathe. It gets used more than the drill press. And you should be looking for a mill while your out there because milling on the drill press or the lathe just isn't going to work out either.

brucer · Aug 13, 2010

you could make fixtures to turn rotors. turn your own rotors for brake jobs.

pdq67 · Aug 13, 2010

Might pick up a poly S/F bushings kit and copy them in aluminum and sell them to guys that can use them for a bit cheaper than cat. sales prices.

Just a suggestion.

pdq67

Dolmetsch · Aug 13, 2010

If you need an excuse you dont want one bad enuf.
Don

47chevycoupe · Aug 13, 2010

I just bought a Sears/Atlas 12X36 lathe. Have no need for it yet.............Still reading on how to use it

Now thinking about a Mill............................

onlychevrolets · Aug 13, 2010

you can build me a set of skinny wide fives for the front of my A Model

thecarfarmer · Aug 13, 2010

thegrappler said: ↑

Give me some reasons to buy a Metal Lathe I want one but have to justify buying it. It has to pay for its self, so what Iv'e come up with so far is, I can make: Pucks to jig and narrow a 9 inch rear end.
threaded rod bungs for the hairpins and radius rods
Bat wing bracket Tapered bosses
I need more Ideas, a lot of this stuff can be made without a lathe so was looking for help with Ideas, thanx
Duane
Click to expand...

Duane, I can't speak for you, or anyone else, but there's only ONE reason I'd buy a lathe...

if I was able to.

The list of stuff you can do is endless. You'll spend $$$ on tooling; you may want to look for someone selling a good, used lathe with tooling.

You'll want 3 and 4 jaw chucks, preferably a geared head, and the more speeds the bigger. There is no such thing as a lathe too big; just a shop too small. The bigger the lathe, the less it'll heat, etc. when you run it, and deflect less during a cut (not an issue for the levels of accuracy I've worked in, but...). You'll also want a faceplate thing (forget what they're called) that you can clamp the workpiece to.

With a good lathe, you can make and modify so much stuff. Rifle-drill bolts for your race car/bike, whip up exactly the right size/thickness spacers, thread stuff (metric, SAE, whatever), polish and knurl round stuff, cut the tops down on pistons (seen it done), shorten wristpins, bolts, spacers, valve guides, etc. You can offset the tailstock to cut a tapered part.

If it's round, it can be made with a lathe... if you have the right tooling, and know how to use it.

The three most necessary hot rod/race car shop tools beside a welder are a lathe,a mill, and a band saw. With those tools you can make almost anything.
Click to expand...

QFT!

Oh, and here's some stuff to read...

http://www.frets.com/HomeShopTech/ShopTips/tiplist.html

-Bill

CoolHand · Aug 13, 2010

It's already been said, but you really can build just about anything with a lathe, a vertical mill, a band saw, and a welder.

Mine has facilitated the production of a great many things in the few years I've owned it.

I've:

Made Spindle Snouts from scratch.
Made anvil and master wheels for the english wheel I'm building.
Notched all manner of round and square tubing.
Modified and made new replacement firearm parts (many that can't be bought anymore, for any price).
Built every whoodad and gehaw my Dad has ever requested for his 5th wheel camper.
Made that one funny headed bolt that I really needed right now, but can't ever seem to find locally.
Widened Wheels
Narrowed Wheels
Made all manner and type of shims and bushings (instead of stacking washers and hoping for the best).
Fixed broke down tractors and farm implements without driving 50 miles to the dealer for parts.
Made round wheel spacers from rectangular bar stock.
Made pulleys from scratch.
And on and on and on.

Basically, the longer you own one, the more stuff you find it useful for.

Just be careful.

A big lathe will kill you faster than any other tool in the shop, if you don't pay enough attention.

Ain't no sense in being afraid of them, but also ain't no sense in not realizing that it'll tear your arm off in a heartbeat, if you give it the chance.

36-3window · Aug 13, 2010

i've had my lathe for over 20 years and use it all the time , it is the best money i have ever spent. as for it paying for itself i really didn't keep track of. all i know is i would be lost without it

HemiRambler · Aug 13, 2010

If I had to justify every tool pay for itself - my garage would have a fraction of what it has now. I could really care less if they pay for themselves - the shear ability to make things exactly how I want them is reason enough for me.

I use the **** out of mine!! My buddy used to laugh at me for the stuff I made - (he thought alot of it was silly - modifying bolts for instance) Now that he actually has one - the shoe is on the other foot - he's doing exactly the same stuff he used to laugh at me for doing. Things change when you view the world in different shoes.

If you're in a position to get a lathe - mill or anything else - GRAB IT QUICK!!!! You'll not regret it IMHO.

Scarebird · Aug 13, 2010

Agree with all the above except one thing: a 12-48 is about most lathe anybody needs unless on a farm or truck shop. Anything significantly bigger usually requires 3 phase power.

Even though 95% of the stuff I build is machined outside by CNC, I use my lathe almost daily.

CoolHand · Aug 13, 2010

Scarebird said: ↑

Agree with all the above except one thing: a 12-48 is about most lathe anybody needs unless on a farm or truck shop. Anything significantly bigger usually requires 3 phase power.

Even though 95% of the stuff I build is machined outside by CNC, I use my lathe almost daily.

Click to expand...

Depends on what you want to be able to do.

Mine is a 16"x60", but it will swing up to 20" if I take out the gap.

When I made the upper wheel for my EWheel, it was 8.5" in OD, and that was all the 12" chuck on my machine wanted, and I only had about 1/8" clearance between the stock and the cross slide.

I'd have never been able to swing that on a smaller machine.

Another thing to think about is that the smaller the headstock gets, the smaller the thru hole in the spindle gets.

Few months ago I did a set of 3/4 ton Wide 5 spindle pins for some spindles I was building. They were 2.125" OD on the big end. My machine has a 2.25" thru hole. One step down in head stock size, and I'd have had to done that part of the project a lot differently.

My advice is to get the biggest machine you can afford and fit in your shop.

You can do tiny work on a big machine, but you cannot do big work on a tiny one.

Also, don't be afraid of three phase machines. They cut smoother (no 60 hz vibration in the gear train), and building a phase converter is not that big of a deal.

You can go totally DIY, or you can buy just the panel and source your own idler motor, or you can buy one turn-key. They're real easy to deal with though.

All my machines are three phase, and I don't have anything in my shop but single phase power.

The CNC and the vertical mills run off one 15 hp rotary phase converter (with big balancing capacitors to keep the CNC control happy), and the lathe runs off another gigantic 30 hp rotary.

They take up space, but the power factor is about the same as single phase (pure three phase would have a better power factor, but you lose that with the conversion because the idler motor consumes some power), and the cost isn't a lot. I've got less than $3,000 in the whole setup, wiring and breakers, disconnects, etc included.

EDIT:

I'd kill and help hide the body to have a nice late model slant bed CNC lathe.

I don't know what I'd do with exactly, but I'm sure if it was here I'd figure something out.

Scarebird · Aug 13, 2010

I still debate that - a guy who is not sure if he needs a lathe certainly won't use a 4 ton turret lathe more than a small fraction of it's potential. It would be like deciding you need a pickup for household jobs - and buying a halftrack...

Your point is valid on the spindle bore size - my 12-40 has a 1-3/4" bore; not bad for a small lathe.

thegrappler · Aug 14, 2010

Hey all thanx for all the replies, I went and checked out an old atlas, made in the 30s. price was right but it was a little sloppy in the head, made a lot of noise and the guy didnt seem to want to chuck up a piece of steel, so I p***ed, Im not lookin for the biggest, dont have the room nor can I afford It.

DocsMachine · Aug 14, 2010

CoolHand said: ↑

I'd kill and help hide the body to have a nice late model slant bed CNC lathe.
Click to expand...

Doc.

thecarfarmer · Aug 14, 2010

CoolHand said: ↑

(snip)

Basically, the longer you own one, the more stuff you find it useful for.

Just be careful.

A big lathe will kill you faster than any other tool in the shop, if you don't pay enough attention.

Ain't no sense in being afraid of them, but also ain't no sense in not realizing that it'll tear your arm off in a heartbeat, if you give it the chance.
Click to expand...

At thirteen, I learned why not to wear long-sleeve flannel shirts with the cuffs flapping loose while operating a little lathe. If it hadn't been a small lathe with a little 110V motor, or had it even been set on a slow speed, I'd have been some degree of seriously injured.

Scared the hell out of me; remember that lesson thirty years later.

I've been smacked, burned, cut, shocked, etc, over the years, but machines with a couple horsepower, moving parts, and a lot of gear reduction (conveyors, lathes, mixers, augers, and the like) are what really make me feel... respectful. They will not necessarily stop just because your tender flesh gets caught up in 'em. They'll just keep turning and pull the finger, hand, or arm off. Or worse yet, pull your whole body in.

@ Scarebird: but having a halftrack is so friggin' cool! BTW, I finally got those discs put on the front of the '54 Dodge truck a couple weeks back. Will have to send email to ya'.

I still stand by my original statement, however that (within reason) better to err on having extra capacity. Of course, there comes a point where you have to just decide "enough".

-Bill

Scarebird · Aug 14, 2010

thecarfarmer said: ↑

...@ Scarebird: but having a halftrack is so friggin' cool! BTW, I finally got those discs put on the front of the '54 Dodge truck a couple weeks back. Will have to send email to ya'.

I still stand by my original statement, however that (within reason) better to err on having extra capacity. Of course, there comes a point where you have to just decide "enough".

-Bill
Click to expand...

"enough" has been reached - I would settle for a Kettenrad.

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Metal Lathe

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