Machine & Tooling Upgrades

Scraping in all bearing surfaces on my Wards/Logan 10"
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I've been working on my lathe off and on over the past several weeks or months, but I've been hesitant to start a thread documenting my progress (or lack thereof!) for fear of embarrassing myself. I'm increasingly confident that I'm going to end up with a very precise lathe rather than a very large pile of cast iron dust and tears, so I'm finally willing to share my progress. After creating...
KO-Lee Cutter/Grinder Revamp
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Perhaps you've seen this from other photos... It's a KO-Lee cutter grinder. It's a good platform and the table and all mechanisms are in excellent condition. I don't think this machine was used much in it's lifetime as there are very few signs of wear (hardly any at all really). The motor is the weak link. The bearings are going bad and vibration can be felt in the short shaft. The...
Restoring an old powered hacksaw
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Figured I'd share my restoration project! I've always found these old machines quite cool and when a neighbour offered me a defective one for free, I couldn't say no! :D This is the machine as I got it, it runs but won't lower the sawblade so you have to manually push it against the work piece, which becomes quite the challenge and dangerous as heck when it's moving back and forth. The...
9A project completed
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Some of you guys may remember this little crudball I acquired back in April... I had just completed the last project, the Seneca Falls #30 resto-mod,(project of the month) when this lathe found it's way to me via a friend of a friend. My friend, who is also a tool salesman, showed me a pic of this on his phone, which came from his friend, the seller, who now is a retired tool room...
Clausing 1771 Drill Press Restoration
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I picked up a Clausing variable speed drill press from a Craigslist ad. I offered the guy $200.00 and he accepted. The drill press was in decent overall condition, and had a new motor on it. I disassembled the machine and cleaned up and painted everything. Mechanically, it was in very good condition, and the only real repair work I did was to straighten a few of the handle arms. One...
CNC Lathe Servo Spindle Upgrade
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It's time to upgrade our CNC lathe spindle motor. This has been in the planning stage for the last year or so. When we did the controls retrofit on the machine a couple of years ago we lost what C axis capability we originally had. The lathe has live tooling and can do some light milling. A ''C'' axis is the spindle rotational axis and has the ability to index the spindle accurately, or...
PM30 One-Shot Oiler System
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Hey guys, I recently completed a "one-shot" oiler system install on my PM30 Bench Top Mill. Decided to go with Bijur metering valves, junction blocks, 4mm nylon and brass tubing, and other misc 4mm (5/32") fittings. However, I opted not to purchase the Bijur "one-shot" oiler, instead, I found a "similar" unit on Amazon for a lot less $$$$! :) Here are some pics ... Adding a...
Putting the ELS3 (Electronic Lead Screw ) on a LMS-3536 Lathe
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This project has a number of steps - I'll divide it into sections so you don't get overloaded!! Ever since I had my first machine shop in the 80's (Sheldon 10x36) I've had the bug to build or get an Electronic Lead Screw. Back then the tech was so "low" that I couldn't begin to afford or think of it. In 2012 I became aware of the Arduino and mcu's in general, and began tinkering... and the...
Replacement Compound slide for Atlas 10
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I have started to make a replacement compound slide as my original cast iron one is a repaired one and I do not want to continue to use it. First you start with a block of steel and square it up. Yesterday I milled out the area for the nut for the screw and the majority of the metal where the dovetail will be. I hope to do the dovetail on the weekend and then surface the top down to the right...

Metal Lathe Accessories is Here to Stay!

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Hi Everyone, My name is Jared Pilch (Co-Owner of Metal Lathe Accessories) and I sent out the below mass email to as many of our MLA customers as I could find. However, I am sure that I missed some and that is why I am posting it here as well! My bother Jack and I are thrilled to have joined this community and look forward to learning as much as we can! As some of you are aware, Andy...
Adding Zero-Clearance to cast iron bandsaw table
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Hi all, I think this is my first post here - been lurking around for the last year or so. I have an Enco 360 bandsaw I picked up earlier this year. Two things quickly became evident: - It would benefit from a fence, which was a nice little project to make - The gap in the table for the blade is far too large for detail work or small parts. This saw seems to be designed for grunt work light...
My adventures with my RF-30
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In this thread I will document my adventures in getting this mill from the dealer to up and running in my garage. I have another thread here that documents some of the early research and mills I looked at. I just bought an RF-30 clone. It was originally sold by Rutland Tool, which I remember as a local SoCal company in the 80's. I bought it at a machinery dealer in Pomona, Wheeler Machinery...
Easson 12B DRO lathe install with glass and SRA M-DRO magnetic scales
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Just completed a Easson 12B DRO install on my ERL-1340, I opted for the stock glass scales for the X and Z0 axis for cost reasons, but wanted to use the 3rd input on the Easson 12B DRO head. When I previously looked into the use of magnetic scales a few years ago with the Easson DRO's I was told that they may not be compatible (at least the those from DRO Pros). At the time I went with the...
Headstock Indexer
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I needed a simple way to index my headstock for a chambering fixture I was building. I also wanted it out of the way so I could leave it in place and just use it when I needed it. Chain sprockets provided the answer. They're cheap and nearly any tooth count from 10 to 72 is available. I bought a 72 and a 50. They cover just about anything I would need .
DIY steady rest spider.
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My steady rest spider turned into a bigger project because the roller shafts do not retract to utilize the diameter of the steady rest. I made new shafts from O1 tool steel with bronze tips. The spider is made from a 2.5” diameter scrap of some grade of steel, it machined nicely. I will thread for the 8 spider screws m10x1.5. First time using my rotary table, I supported the work directly...
PM1340 Solid Tool Post for Dorian BXA QC
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After some hours of use on the Best & Jacobs Full Custom Edition PM1340, I decided it was time to improve rigidity of the toolpost by implementing a solid tool mount as a substitution for the compound when I don't need the function of the compound for normal turning activity. In many ways, what I have done is a derivative of what's been done by Jbolt...
VN Finally Got A Slotter Attachment
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Finally picked up a slotter attachment that I have been looking for. Probably paid a bit much, but it's practically new. Stripped it and cleaned out the old gunk. Back together already, quickest rebuild yet. Missing one oil cap and the arbor, but I have a print for the arbor. All I did was clean it. Jason
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