Did a mod on the lathe recently. Needed to add more light so I could better see what the heck I was doing. Found what looked like the perfect solution, so when it came in I installed it immediately.
Seems to do the job.
So I actually got to make some steel chips with the lathe over the past few days. Used it to make a mod for the milling machine. The handle on the side of the head is a real pain to use when lowering or (especially) raising the head of the machine to the height I need. So I pulled off the funky crank handle, and made a sleeve out of some hexagonal steel stock I have to go over the shaft that would take a 1 inch socket that I could use a battery powered wrench with. I needed the lathe to drill a 17mm hole into that steel sleeve. And then used the mill to drill holes and tap for set screws to hold the sleeve in place.
This makes it a LOT easier. I may think on somehow attaching the battery powered wrench more securely, kind of semi-permanent. Of if I figure out some sort of switchable motor to be mounted right on the head.
I bought some steady rest and follower rest bearing "fingers" for the lathe that were designed to be used on a larger Bridgeport lathe. The measurements were not too far off from what I needed, so I bought them thinking I could use the mill to cut them down to what I needed. The height, thickness, and the width of the slot in the middle of each finger all needed to be machined to the size I needed. And I had to drill a hole in the end of each finger too. Thinking I would need some more precision than that funky mechanical indicator that came on the mill, I installed a DRO (digital read out) on the spindle travel. That actually went a LOT better than I thought it would.
Of course, I had to clean off the mill, as well as clean up the work room to even get to it before I could start anything. And had to oil up all the sliding surfaces too. Then a thought hit me. There is heavy weight oil in the head for the spindle gears, and I got to wondering how OLD that oil was? Well, I got the milling machine in 2001, so yeah, about time to change it out, I figured.
All that just to be able to START working on those steady rest fingers.....
But they fit the slots in the steady rest and follow rest just fine, and seem to line up pretty well. So I guess all the work was worth while. Not much else to do with the COVID stuff around anyway. Maybe I'll even find a reason to USE them one of these days.
I sure do like that DRO on the mill head. Kind of wish now that I had purchased the lathe with the DRO option. I guess I can always install a kit myself. The place I bought the lathe from charges a few hundred bucks to install a kit. Maybe when I have some extra Social Security $$ burning a hole in my pocket. Anyway, perhaps even put DROs on the X and Y planes of the mill too, while I am at it. I don't think I will really need that much precision all that often, but heck, the displays look cool and high techish, so what the heck.
OK, so now I have these hammers, and I am looking around for nails to pound.
Oh yeah, I cleaned off my old radial saw while I was at it. All with Connie's help, of course. Been meaning to cut a board to put in the garage somewhere that I can mount off of these battery chargers I now have for different brands of tools. They are really getting out of hand, now. And I have been putting off for years mounting exhaust fans on the vents of the garage for those hot summer days when it gets over 100 degrees in there.
Maybe I am biting off more than I really want to chew?