Turning Necks On My 13” Turnmaster Lathe

[jackieschmidt]

Most know that I do all of my neck turning on a lathe. For years, I used out Monarch EE at my shop. Since I now do my work in my shop at my house, I decided to use my little 13” Turnmaster.

It works just fine. I set up last night and turned 90 30BR cases that I had previously blown out in a fireform Barrel.

As you can see, I have a mist cooler to keep the mandrel cool and to lubricate the tool.

Here is a video And the finished cases. Takes a little over an hour To do all 90.

 

[lightman]

Thats pretty slick!

 

[PatMiles]

Turning necks on a lathe is so damned easy it becomes enjoyable.

 

[Forum Boss]

The 21st Century Power Neck-turning lathe is way smaller, but delivers similar speed and great results -- And less potential danger.

Jackie is obviously a very skilled machinist -- a total pro.

But I have to share this as a warning for guys getting started. My uncle (unwisely) wore a long-sleeve shirt while running his lathe. Age 86, he was quite deaf. He did not hear his lathe was running. Moving around the machine, his shirt fabric caught in the lathe, drawing his arm in, ripping the flesh and bones of his forearm to shreds. At the hospital, his arm was then amputated at the elbow.

He lived to be 100 years old, but lived the last 14 years of his life with only half of his left arm.

 

[ebb]

No i don't think you can do that, without showing the pictures of the way you used to turn then on the bigger lathe. What was that monster 32inches by a 14 foot long bed?

 

[Jareds]

I do something like that with my cheap Chinese mini lathe. My way is a little more crude than yours but it works.

 

[jackieschmidt]

No i don't think you can do that, without showing the pictures of the way you used to turn then on the bigger lathe. What was that monster 32inches by a 14 foot long bed?

I have showed some pictures of our various Lathes, the largest being a 40 inch swing with a 38 foot long bed.

But I did the vast majority of neck tuning on our little Monarch EE.

Here’s our big American.

 

[BuffaloBill]

Looks good Jackie! I was doing that just yesterday. By cooling the mandrel you’re preventing some thermal expansion I take it?

I’m using a 14” lathe where I installed the DRO scale on the right side of the carriage. I probably covered up the factory lock set screw for “X” travel in doing so. This is the second time (in about three yrs) where I wish the lock screw was accessible. So I devised the aluminum pieces below the 9/16 wrench in the pic, in an attempt to lock X travel. It seemed to do the job OK.

I measured neck thickness with a ball mic on every neck as I did them, and found they all ran within about a tenth from a nominal setting of 0.0140”. This was just me interpolating between whole thousandths, as my mic has no vernier. Should I be happy with that result? I see some dedicated neck turners like K&M, advertise tenths resolution. But I can’t imagine a case spinning on its mandrel to produce consistency better than a lathe(?). I have not used one however so could be wrong about that. I used a HSS insert by the way. The Lapua 6Creed necks fully cleaned up at just over 0.014 over one box of 101pcs.

 

[59FLH]

I have showed some pictures of our various Lathes, the largest being a 40 inch swing with a 38 foot long bed.

But I did the vast majority of neck tuning on our little Monarch EE.

Here’s our big American. View attachment 1335320

Pacemaker?

I used to run American Pacemakers in my apprentice days, big enough to have to stand on an apple crate, but not big enough to ride.

 

[jackieschmidt]

Pacemaker?

I used to run American Pacemakers in my apprentice days, big enough to have to stand on an apple crate, but not big enough to ride.

Yep, American Pacemaker.

 

[jackieschmidt]

Looks good Jackie! I was doing that just yesterday. By cooling the mandrel you’re preventing some thermal expansion I take it?

I’m using a 14” lathe where I installed the DRO scale on the right side of the carriage. I probably covered up the factory lock set screw for “X” travel in doing so. This is the second time (in about three yrs) where I wish the lock screw was accessible. So I devised the aluminum pieces below the 9/16 wrench in the pic, in an attempt to lock X travel. It seemed to do the job OK.

I measured neck thickness with a ball mic on every neck as I did them, and found they all ran within about a tenth from a nominal setting of 0.0140”. This was just me interpolating between whole thousandths, as my mic has no vernier. Should I be happy with that result? I see some dedicated neck turners like K&M, advertise tenths resolution. But I can’t imagine a case spinning on its mandrel to produce consistency better than a lathe(?). I have not used one however so could be wrong about that. View attachment 1335333View attachment 1335334I used a HSS insert by the way. The Lapua 6Creed necks fully cleaned up at just over 0.014 over one box of 101pcs.

Yes, it is imperative that you keep the mandrel at a constant temperature. A mist cooler does a great job.

As to the accuracy of various neck turning procedures, I have checked a lot of necks done with various procedures, and more than a few do not meet that magic “.0001” standard In wall thickness concentricity.

there are others that are impeccable. That leads me to believe that when turning necks where there is human involvement, a lot depends on the skill of the human.

 

[group therapy]

that's CHEATING!!!! VERY COOL though!!!

 

[boltfluter]

I do mine the same way. Makes it a fun job now! Beats the heck out of doing it by hand. And no long sleeves. Pulled a buddy out of a lathe a few years back when his coverall sleeve got caught in the lead screw. Pulled his sleeve completely off, but he was unharmed. Scared the crap out of both of us. That's enough of that!!

Paul

 

[ebb]

I have a 14-40 millport that looks identical to the lathe you have a home, but without the turret. My friend lets me use his 14 inch Monarch but i really like his Summit. The Summit is big enough we split my tractor wheels in it.

 

[DocCarbon]

My Sherline lathe is what I use for making or correcting small precision parts .

 

[JimSC]

But I have to share this as a warning for guys getting started. My uncle (unwisely) wore a long-sleeve shirt while running his lathe. Age 86, he was quite deaf. He did not hear his lathe was running. Moving around the machine, his shirt fabric caught in the lathe, drawing his arm in, ripping the flesh and bones of his forearm to shreds. At the hospital, his arm was then amputated at the elbow.

He lived to be 100 years old, but lived the last 14 years of his life with only half of his left arm.

When I was 16 working part time In my Uncle's shop one of workers had the habit of resting the palm of his hand on the chuck when it was spinning. His wedding ring caught one morning and he had to wear his wedding ring on his right hand afterwards but only when he was not on the job.

When I married I always wore my wedding ring on a chain around my neck, a short chain that could break easily becasue that is can be just as big of a hazard

 

[jackieschmidt]

One of the first things I learned as a very young man leaning the Machinist Trade was anything that will cut metal will not even slowdown for meat and bones.

My hands and fingers are the evidence that I had on occasion forgot that basic principle.

In a Shop like ours, it is not just the every day dangers that can exist around the large machines, ,it is also the fact that we routinly move around large and heavy pieces of material, moving from machine to machine for the various operations toward the finished product.

It is easy to get complaisant. That leads to carelessness, That leads to injury.

I suppose I should have taken my wedding band off when I shot he video for appearances and to set an example. But that band has been on my finger for almost 51 years. Old habits die hard.

 

[RickKr]

Most know that I do all of my neck turning on a lathe. For years, I used out Monarch EE at my shop. Since I now do my work in my shop at my house, I decided to use my little 13” Turnmaster.

It works just fine. I set up last night and turned 90 30BR cases that I had previously blown out in a fireform Barrel.

As you can see, I have a mist cooler to keep the mandrel cool and to lubricate the tool.

Here is a video And the finished cases. Takes a little over an hour To do all 90.

Very cool. I have yet to do any neck turning, but as a home shop machinist, I've been contemplating doing it on my Monarch 10EE. Is the setup any different when you used your EE?

I'm curious about the heat issue. What is generating the heat? The cutting process? It appears the case and mandrel rotate as a unit and the only rotational friction is at the head, in the case holder. And it appears the fit between the mandrel and case is what is driving the case, which means that fit must be a bit tight, such that it stretches the case a small amount.

Rick