- Joined
- Sep 24, 2012
- Messages
- 484
Way to go Scott! I'm glad you're having good luck with the 8.5x20. The power crossfeed looks good to me, too...
Let us know how you get on with the chuck adapter, would you?
...Doug
-
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Brand-new offering by LMS: an 8.5"x20" bench lathe
- Thread starter cazclocker
- Start date
Way to go Scott! I'm glad you're having good luck with the 8.5x20. The power crossfeed looks good to me, too...
Let us know how you get on with the chuck adapter, would you?
...Doug
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2012
- Messages
- 484
I agree - please POST PICTURES!
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2013
- Messages
- 38
OK, folks, here are some photos. Apologies if the formatting is awkward.
A few initial observations:
Runout: No measurable deviation! I put a piece of drill rod in the chuck, made sure it was centered at the chuck, and measured 5" away from the chuck. Zero! I turned an 8" length of 1" aluminum down to to 0.875", supporting the end with a dead center. Total change in diameter from end to end: 0.0015" Not too bad.
Motor: what a beast! 1.34 hp (according to LMS) with super torque at low speeds. The motor controls are nicely laid out and easy to operate. The electronic speed control runs from 100 - 2000+ rpm. A plastic cover over the chuck is interlocked with the motor in such a way that you can't start the lathe up if the chuck key is still in chuck. The lathe is big enough that the cover does not obstruct the view of the cutting action.
Carriage, Cross Slide, and Compound: heavy (carriage) and smooth. The power feed on both X and Y is a nice feature. Excellent finishes on facing and turning. My only complaint is that the carriage gibs are on the back, which makes them a pain to adjust. I haven't done this yet, because I'll have to turn the lathe around (carefully!) to gain access. It's still less fuss than removing the carriage to adjust the gibs on a mini-lathe. The carriage crank has a scale with 0.002" increments, which will be handy for quick and dirty X-axis measurements while turning. There's an easy adjustment to center the carriage half-nuts on the lead screw -- takes just seconds to do.
The power feed lever has three positions: up for powered cross feed, middle for neutral, down for power carriage feed
The carriage hand crank has a scale (my mini-lathe did not) which I will find handy for rough measurements.
The covered lead screw is a nice idea, but I somehow managed a couple times to get the lead screw wrapped up in big tangles of swarf that fell between the ways. Because the lead screw is covered, I don't notice this until there's a huge blob of swarf spinning around the lead screw. No big deal, I'll just have to periodically clear the swarf away while turning.
Change gears: The lathe ships set to the "fine feed" speed. I swapped the gears to obtain a faster power feed -- the "coarse feed" speed -- which still seems a little slower than the default speed on my mini-lathe. Consequently the finish in turning aluminum has been very good. I probably won't switch back to the fine feed gears. Haven't tried threading yet.
Fit and Finish: Everything looks well made. Very little packing grease, so clean up took just a few minutes. I haven't taken apart the carriage or head stock and hope it will never be necessary.
I am not inclined to stress test the machine. I tried turning 0.015" (0.030" diameter reduction) on aluminum and it was just fine, though the finish was a little rough. A second finishing pass cleaned it up nicely. Parting is a lot easier than on a mini-lathe, though it still took a while to part the 0.875" stock mentioned earlier!
I really liked my old mini-lathe from Big Dog Metal Works and learned a lot working with it over the last four years. It is now in the hands of a very capable new owner. I'm still pretty green in this hobby, but it's likely that this is the last lathe I'll own.
Now, about that mill...
Scott
A few initial observations:
Runout: No measurable deviation! I put a piece of drill rod in the chuck, made sure it was centered at the chuck, and measured 5" away from the chuck. Zero! I turned an 8" length of 1" aluminum down to to 0.875", supporting the end with a dead center. Total change in diameter from end to end: 0.0015" Not too bad.
Motor: what a beast! 1.34 hp (according to LMS) with super torque at low speeds. The motor controls are nicely laid out and easy to operate. The electronic speed control runs from 100 - 2000+ rpm. A plastic cover over the chuck is interlocked with the motor in such a way that you can't start the lathe up if the chuck key is still in chuck. The lathe is big enough that the cover does not obstruct the view of the cutting action.
Carriage, Cross Slide, and Compound: heavy (carriage) and smooth. The power feed on both X and Y is a nice feature. Excellent finishes on facing and turning. My only complaint is that the carriage gibs are on the back, which makes them a pain to adjust. I haven't done this yet, because I'll have to turn the lathe around (carefully!) to gain access. It's still less fuss than removing the carriage to adjust the gibs on a mini-lathe. The carriage crank has a scale with 0.002" increments, which will be handy for quick and dirty X-axis measurements while turning. There's an easy adjustment to center the carriage half-nuts on the lead screw -- takes just seconds to do.
The power feed lever has three positions: up for powered cross feed, middle for neutral, down for power carriage feed
The carriage hand crank has a scale (my mini-lathe did not) which I will find handy for rough measurements.
The covered lead screw is a nice idea, but I somehow managed a couple times to get the lead screw wrapped up in big tangles of swarf that fell between the ways. Because the lead screw is covered, I don't notice this until there's a huge blob of swarf spinning around the lead screw. No big deal, I'll just have to periodically clear the swarf away while turning.
Change gears: The lathe ships set to the "fine feed" speed. I swapped the gears to obtain a faster power feed -- the "coarse feed" speed -- which still seems a little slower than the default speed on my mini-lathe. Consequently the finish in turning aluminum has been very good. I probably won't switch back to the fine feed gears. Haven't tried threading yet.
Fit and Finish: Everything looks well made. Very little packing grease, so clean up took just a few minutes. I haven't taken apart the carriage or head stock and hope it will never be necessary.
I am not inclined to stress test the machine. I tried turning 0.015" (0.030" diameter reduction) on aluminum and it was just fine, though the finish was a little rough. A second finishing pass cleaned it up nicely. Parting is a lot easier than on a mini-lathe, though it still took a while to part the 0.875" stock mentioned earlier!
I really liked my old mini-lathe from Big Dog Metal Works and learned a lot working with it over the last four years. It is now in the hands of a very capable new owner. I'm still pretty green in this hobby, but it's likely that this is the last lathe I'll own.
Now, about that mill...
Scott
Last edited:
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2012
- Messages
- 484
Wow, great pictures and comments! Thanks salindroth. That lathe is a frontrunner for my next purchase.
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- Sep 28, 2013
- Messages
- 4,300
beautiful lathe! It's at or near the top of my wish list if the necessary funds ever come up. It's certainly all the lathe I can imagine needing, has all the bells and whistles, yet can be moved around by a couple of guys without too much effort. Don't forget to post pics of it in action!
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2013
- Messages
- 38
This isn't too exciting, but you can see the LMS 8.5x20 making a 0.005" finishing cut on aluminum.
Nice finish. The difference in diameter over 7 inches is 0.002". The cutting tool is sticking out so far so the compound does not hit the tailstock, which is supporting the workpiece with a dead center.
My son prefers more dramatic lighting.
I still have to drill a hole across the diameter of these parts on the mill.
They will the replace wine bottle corks in a "percussion machine" I'm building. I think it sounds better than it looks, but both sound and looks will improve.
Some will find this strange... :nuts:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4oznoev6b76oc55/percEns8mics3.MP4
All the metal came from a recycling center. There will be live musicians playing as well as a laptop.
Scott
Nice finish. The difference in diameter over 7 inches is 0.002". The cutting tool is sticking out so far so the compound does not hit the tailstock, which is supporting the workpiece with a dead center.
My son prefers more dramatic lighting.
I still have to drill a hole across the diameter of these parts on the mill.
They will the replace wine bottle corks in a "percussion machine" I'm building. I think it sounds better than it looks, but both sound and looks will improve.
Some will find this strange... :nuts:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4oznoev6b76oc55/percEns8mics3.MP4
All the metal came from a recycling center. There will be live musicians playing as well as a laptop.
Scott
Last edited:
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2013
- Messages
- 4,300
that is really cool and great finishes on the pieces too. I should stop reading this thread, it's making me itchy for something I can't afford 
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2013
- Messages
- 38
A brief update: I discovered a couple of burrs around the bolt holes on the spindle plate that holds the chuck. After facing them off, the lathe now performs even more accurately than before. Using a 5" 3-jaw chuck, there's no more than 0.0005" difference (if any at all) from end to end after turning 1" rods extending several inches from the chuck.
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