lathe?
- Thread starter Frankr
- Start date
JohnMill
Gold $$ Contributor
What is light enough? My wife and I moved an 800 lber down the stairs and turned a corner,across the laundry room, turned another corner. That was after we horsed it across the yard using 2" pipe and2 sheets of 5/8 plywood. You can do anything that you are determined to do. You an also up the finished weight by taking it apart. Apron (carriage) off. Tailstock off. seperate top from bottom. Remember to take lots of good quality pictures and use numbered tags on wiring and take good notes.
Where are you?
Where are you?
Larryh128
Silver $$ Contributor
There are a lot of small units that will work for barrel work. About any 9 x 20 will work as long as it goes slow enough to thread. Most will need a sider on the back side. The old South Bends were used for decades & they weren't very large units. They aren't the ulitimate but they will do a lot of work if you are just in the learning stage.
JohnMill
Gold $$ Contributor
My opinion only; Get as much lathe as your wallet/circumstances allow (with the following cautions).
You want the on/off forward/reverse handle on the carriage and so always in front of you. Not a push button that is just out of reach. They should never have made those and prolly don't anymore. They are a potential danger. Wish I could get rid of mine.
You want all of the speed and direction switches on the front of the console. No changing belts/pins/switches under the cover.
I do know several mastercrafters that do the most incredible work on small lathes. Flat belt. Change gear. All that. Near immortals. But that ain't me and I suspect it ain't you either so.............
John
You want the on/off forward/reverse handle on the carriage and so always in front of you. Not a push button that is just out of reach. They should never have made those and prolly don't anymore. They are a potential danger. Wish I could get rid of mine.
You want all of the speed and direction switches on the front of the console. No changing belts/pins/switches under the cover.
I do know several mastercrafters that do the most incredible work on small lathes. Flat belt. Change gear. All that. Near immortals. But that ain't me and I suspect it ain't you either so.............
John
Thanks for the info, food for thought..
let me ask this: what is the bare minimiun lathe that would work to do accurate barrel work?
Understand that it would be for myself(only) and might only chamber one or two barrels a year.
First i would have to learn how..Im very mechanical and have run alot of lathe's,mills,cnc mills,punch presses,roll forms ect. at one job i had some years back, I was a second shift plant manager, i was set up and tought HOT or late running jobs and then i tought the jobs to my crew and we busted them out.so we never worked on them long enough to get alot of knowalage in one area.we kind of just knew enough to run the job at hand and that was it. cutback's and that shift was shut down..so im back to turning a wrench for a living, im a master automotive mechanic..that has been my trade most of my life.
let me ask this: what is the bare minimiun lathe that would work to do accurate barrel work?
Understand that it would be for myself(only) and might only chamber one or two barrels a year.
First i would have to learn how..Im very mechanical and have run alot of lathe's,mills,cnc mills,punch presses,roll forms ect. at one job i had some years back, I was a second shift plant manager, i was set up and tought HOT or late running jobs and then i tought the jobs to my crew and we busted them out.so we never worked on them long enough to get alot of knowalage in one area.we kind of just knew enough to run the job at hand and that was it. cutback's and that shift was shut down..so im back to turning a wrench for a living, im a master automotive mechanic..that has been my trade most of my life.
JohnMill
Gold $$ Contributor
One of my friends does all kinds of barrel work on a (as I recall) Southbend ,something like 8" swing. Bed is like 30' long Dont know what between centersI believe he chambers between centers as it a nothing hole through the headstock. That is the problem with small lathes. It's a change gear but he doesn't do much with that. He is very good at tool grinding (geometry). I'm not and so use AR Warner tooling or a Diamond tool holder (tangential bit)
If you go slow and plot your moves,rehearse them even, then you can prolly do what you want a small old southbend or Logan. I'm sure there are others. If ou have a used tool place around you go there and look around . They like developing new customers We got Lost Creek Machine and Tool. Look them over on the web to get some ideas. Take your time and spend your money wisely. You're not going to be the youngest to ever do this so there ain't no hurry.
John
If you go slow and plot your moves,rehearse them even, then you can prolly do what you want a small old southbend or Logan. I'm sure there are others. If ou have a used tool place around you go there and look around . They like developing new customers We got Lost Creek Machine and Tool. Look them over on the web to get some ideas. Take your time and spend your money wisely. You're not going to be the youngest to ever do this so there ain't no hurry.
John
You should check out Grizzly www.grizzly.com.
The catalogue is on line. Foe years i used a craftsman 10 inch
It's really an Atlas. It had a 36 inch bed Belt driven .
The only hold back was a small spindel hole.
I did my barrel work on centers. It worked pretty well as long as i didn't Try to chamber extra long barrels. I could handle up to a 26 inch bbl with little problem.
The catalogue is on line. Foe years i used a craftsman 10 inch
It's really an Atlas. It had a 36 inch bed Belt driven .
The only hold back was a small spindel hole.
I did my barrel work on centers. It worked pretty well as long as i didn't Try to chamber extra long barrels. I could handle up to a 26 inch bbl with little problem.
butchlambert
Site $$ Sponsor
Look for a 11" Rockwell. Will take about a 1.5" barrel through the headstock. Headstock is short and they are a top notch lathe for gunwork.
Butch
Butch
JohnMill
Gold $$ Contributor
There ya go. Most of the bigger barrels I've looked at were 1.350" and 1.450" so that would work perfectly. Might be a bruiser going down the stairs. They will all break down into pieces though.
We are just about commited to the middle Grizzly Gunsmith lathe. We have a mock up (just a rigid box outline) to see how it'll handle the pitch and the turn at the bottom of the stair
We are just about commited to the middle Grizzly Gunsmith lathe. We have a mock up (just a rigid box outline) to see how it'll handle the pitch and the turn at the bottom of the stair
MOTORSPORTS55
Silver $$ Contributor
BUTCH
DO YOU NO THE MODEL NUMBER ON THE ROCKWELL WITH THAT BIG OF A THREW HOLE ?
DO YOU NO THE MODEL NUMBER ON THE ROCKWELL WITH THAT BIG OF A THREW HOLE ?
butchlambert
Site $$ Sponsor
I'll try to contact Jay Lynn Gore and Wm Snyder and have them check theirs.
Butch
Butch
BuffaloBill
Silver $$ Contributor
Not that I'm in the market for a lathe, but this thread piqued my interest and I found this scan of the Rockwell/Delta catalog/brochure for the lathe mentioned:
http://www.hammerscale.com/Documents/Lathe/1956-30-37.pdf
As a cynical Gen-X'er, I find the copy charmingly earnest.
http://www.hammerscale.com/Documents/Lathe/1956-30-37.pdf
As a cynical Gen-X'er, I find the copy charmingly earnest.
BuffaloBill
Silver $$ Contributor
gszeto99 said:
It's 16 1/2" from the spider I made for the far end of the headstock to the front surface of the chuck I made for the spindle, so the shortest I could handle would be a little under 18".
Upgrades & Donations
This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.