A Vertical Slide For A 9x20 Lathe

Back from holiday for a week before I could scrounge some shed time.
Still it was worth it as I got a fair bit done today.
Finished all the milling and tapping in that damned block. I broke 2 more 4mm taps so I re drilled and tapped them all for 5 mm instead of 4 mm.
The eroder worked overtime and I found that it actually constricted the centre of the coil causing it to slow from friction. I turned down the armature to get more freedom and the speed virtually doubled and the coil didnt get as hot.
A win win situation, just trying to find a bright spot from all the broken taps:laughing:

Here is the finished block bolted to the pivot plate with all those cursed threaded holes.
block.jpg

As I needed a plate for the slide to er slide on I had to cut some 10mm plate down so I faced one edge for a datum line
edging-the-plate.jpg
Then I could cut the excess off with the angle grinder and use this flat edge butted to the chuck to finish the cut side parallel. (which turned out to be the case)
edging-the-plate-2.jpg
Next it was the ends turn, hmm a fair bit of overhang but slow and gently and I ended up with the ends at exact (as best as I could measure) right angles.
edging-the-plate-3.jpg
Then of course it had to be faced off. Simple
edging-the-plate-4.jpg
I used a bolt turned to a point to make registration marks, drilled and bolted one, adjusted and marked and drilled a second diametrically opposite and bolted up before marking all the others.
It worked and they all lined up
test-fit.jpg
Holes drilled and bolted onto the degree wheel and block.
Now I really have to decide upon whether to keep it as a gingery style gib or cut the 60' angles for a dovetail.
Dovetails will require the assistance of a mates mill that in this case I cant avoid as there is insufficient cross slide travel to cut them in my lathe.
It will end up with a fair bit of overhang that I'm hoping can be improved with the use of a machinists jack.
 
Finished drilling and tapping 33 holes in the main plate for a variety of fittings.
The 8mm sets of three holes are for the jaws, the 6mm holes along each edge are for clamps to hold a small engineers vice
threaded-block.jpg
Just for a grin I went back and faced it with a shearing bit. Thats a lot of fine swarf.
shearing-bit.jpg
It left a better finish that I started with but the centre was a bit smeared.
The bottom jaw is drilled and sized, the top jaw for the vice is tomorrows job.
 
Looking good. I've been enjoying reading through your progress and seeing how you overcome what might be considered to be a lack of equipment. Thank you for sharing your journey with us!
 
You have a great can do knack , your work with just a small hobby lathe shows the talent you have as a machinist. Good job
 
Thanks guys, most appreciated.
BUT! I am only an old chef who definitely can not be called a machinist, I would call it "Seat of the pants fabricating"
Not having been shown how to do the right thing I just plough ahead and give it a try, doesnt always work though.
 
Just spent three days adjusting the tail stock to get as perfect as I could straight cut over a 250mm length.
This will be for the lead screw.
I managed to get it down to 0.00017" difference from one end to the other (Translated from my mm micrometer)
I though this was as good as it gets, but, the middle was about 0.0008" fatter.
I did all this between centres turning some 20mm dia unknown steel down to 10mm (it was bright and shiny on the outside)
Turning this unknownium was a real ***** as it kept tearing and producing a very rough surface, worse than hot rolled mild steel, so I experimented with differing grinds, speeds and feeds till I ended up cutting almost at the slowest the lathe would turn and a very very slow feed. This produced an acceptable finish.
In an attempt to remove the fatter central section I tried a travelling steady.
What a pita these are, but it sort of improved it slightly (guess I need a lot more practice here)
Now its cutting nicely I reduced the bar to its final dia of 10mm and proceeded to single point the 1mm thread.
ARGH, I set the gear box to 6 instead of 7, good job it was just the scratch cut, reset to the correct number and started cutting (with the travelling steady set)
I ended up with the most horrendous thread I have ever seen or cut myself.
There were nice sections, fat sections, sections with torn thread crests and every other stuffup you can imagine in that 200mm length of thread.
I'm sure this is the same steel I used for the indexing wheel above and that thread was single point cut and is excellent.
Back to square one on this.
 
It absolutely AMAZES me what you do with an "Asian 9x20, some rusty files and a hammer". I've had my Asian 10 x 20 lathe for about a year now and I think I'm just starting to figure out how much I need to learn. Then I see your posts and I know there is hope. However I never expect to get to your level. You produce some incredible work and I don't see how it would turn out any better using an expensive lathe.

I know what you mean about turning the same piece of steel with different results. Just when you think you have it figured out and your getting a nice finish, something changes and it all goes for a ****. This is the one thing I struggle with the most. It keeps things interesting and frustrating but we will overcome.

EDIT, I just thought of something. If you are cutting threads and using the following steady, could that cause distortion because the steady is riding on the threads and pushing the work piece back and forth (up and down) as it rides on the threads? I guess it depends on the contact surface area. If the contact is pointed then it would follow the threads, if it was over a longer length, it would follow the surface (tops) of the threads.

I'm not experienced so I could be out in left field on this.
 
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If you are cutting threads and using the following steady, could that cause distortion because the steady is riding on the threads and pushing the work piece back and forth (up and down) as it rides on the threads? I guess it depends on the contact surface area. If the contact is pointed then it would follow the threads, if it was over a longer length, it would follow the surface (tops) of the threads.
Yep, I assumed it would ride over the crests and prevent the thread from being pushed away from the bit.
I hated using it as it seems like a bit of a cludge and the fingers definitely wore away a tad.
I used a file to remove any sharp bits that may have been left after every cut in the hope that would have helped.
 
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