Best material for a spider?

diamond

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This is going to be for a PM 1340GT. This is my first lathe and I'm quite the noob here. Sure appreciate this site where folks who are willing to share their knowledge and are patient. :)

Lathe is 2-3 weeks from delivery still but I'm doing lots of research and trying to gather as much info as I can. I'm going to be pretty excited to get going on the thing when it gets here. A first project is going to be a spider.

I have read a number of great threads on here about various folks building spiders. I don't see many talking about using aluminum.

I've got a piece of 2.5" 6061 aluminum round bar. Plan to do a practice build with it. However I am wondering, do you think 6061 is too soft for a spider? Now wondering if it's going to be good enough to use as the permanent part. Note the spider will be primarily used to stabilize/align rifle barrels so work pieces will generally not extend far outside the spider.

Been reading all kinds of articles about thread strength in 6061. Seems like it would be quite sufficient with .5" of tube wall for thread contact. Maybe there are all kinds of other factors I'm not considering. (quite likely in my ignorance)

Given the choice, what would you feel is best to hunt down as a material for this project? (in other words, just track down a round bar drop and bore it out)

To get the right dimensions in tubing (at a sane cost) about all I'm finding is A513 DOM (2.5" OD, 1.5" ID). Thoughts on machining A513?

Learning where/how to source material I'm discovering is yet another part of this journey I've started.

Thanks and apologies in advance for such a noob question!

-dave
 
I would not use aluminum, too soft and also you can get corrosion/oxide formation where it slides onto the spindle and may not be able to get it off. The DOM A513 tubing will certainly work well, only downside is that you typically have to order 12" and cost of shipping if an online vendor. You can also get just about any steel in 2.5" OD and bore it out (which is what I did), but you need a good range of longer drills (MT3) to remove material and then come in with a 3/4" or larger boring bar. I am not a big fan of 1018 from a turning/machining point of view, if you can pick up some 1144, 4130, 4140 or 8620 steel, it all turns nicely. Some other threads with dimensions and information on the 1340GT spider. Make the brass tipped spider bolts yourself, don't waste your time/money trying to buy them. You may need to enlarge the belt cover spider hole, some covers are a little off center when mounted and may have a clearance problem. Make sure the spider bolts are far enough out from the cover so they do not hit the cover/cover retaining bolts.

https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/a-spider-for-the-pm1340gt-lathe.63222/#post-521344
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/spider-for-pm-1340gt.54228/
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/pm1340gt-spider-with-dial-test-indicator.45446/
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/new-pm-1340gt-arrived.61803/#post-509976

Nice lathe, congratulation.
Mark
 
I'm with Mark - don't use aluminum, although I would recommend doing practice turning with aluminum before you tackle the spider to get some time on the machine. Aluminum is too soft for the spider. This might be helpful to you on the steel variants:

https://www.mcmaster.com/#steel-hollow-rods/=1dppx7f < click "About Steel" at the top.

I started with the steel pipe you have probably already found - 2.5" OD, 1.5" ID, from McMaster:

https://www.mcmaster.com/#6920t11/=1dppzdy

This is 4140 (A519), and worked well. I still have the off-cut from my project and willing to sell it - it's 2-7/8" long which is enough to make the spider, if you're interested, PM me. Photo here.

Attached is the drawing for my spider if that helps - verify your machine's dimensions, they may be slightly different.

If you're going to add a tach to your 1340, the spider is an ideal place to include a magnet for a hall effect sensor. Photo here.

Good luck.
 

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Thanks for the tips guys.

I thought about 304 stainless but .5" wall tube in SS is really pricey!

This is 4140 (A519), and worked well. I still have the off-cut from my project and willing to sell it - it's 2-7/8" long which is enough to make the spider, if you're interested, PM me.

PM sent David thank you very much.

And yes, I do plan to put the magnet for the tach sensor in it. To go along with Mark's VFD control board. :)
 
I made my spider out of aluminum, for barrel work. It’s done about 20 barrels now, no problems. I’ll likely replace it with steel in the not too distant future, as I agree that it likely isn’t the best material, but it has worked fine. It also holds the tach magnet. Make your own brass tipped bolts, as already suggested.
 
304 stainless looks nice but may give you trouble due to work hardening. 12L14 is
great because it machines nicely. I also like 1144 for strength and machinability. If you need a small piece you can sometimes find offcuts on ebay at reasonable prices. Depending on the dimensions, it might be better to make it from round bar and just drill and bore it rather than from tube.
 
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Dave,
All Metals, in Oroville is a fabulous source for metal. Check out their “scrap” yard.
Last week I picked up several 7’ plus, pieces of scrap 2x2 square tubing 1/8”.
$28.
Hobby metals, online if no one mentioned it. Heard about them from Mr. Pete.
 
Dave,
All Metals, in Oroville is a fabulous source for metal. Check out their “scrap” yard.
Last week I picked up several 7’ plus, pieces of scrap 2x2 square tubing 1/8”.
$28.
Hobby metals, online if no one mentioned it. Heard about them from Mr. Pete.
Hi Neighbor! :)

I was wondering about good sources of material around the area here in Northern California. I think you just gave me the answer. Free local delivery too. Nice! I will definitely drop in there to check their yard.
 
I used 7075 aluminum for my spider and it works well. 7075 is a very strong and relatively hard aluminum alloy similar to some mild steels. I under bored the spider, heated it and slipped it onto the spindle for a very secure shrink fit.
It helps that I already had the 7075 stock on hand.
 
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