Buying a new lathe

the KDKs are nice and sleek. don't see them much around.

edit: is that piston or wedge driven?
 
GaryK said:
The only bad thing is that KDK went under during the recession and the owner retiring.
The good thing is the Chinese are making compatible copies so they are still available for about
half the price.


Gary

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I haven't seen that style before, it looks interesting.
Do you have a link as to where the Chinese might be found?


M
 
I've mentioned before that in addition to the lever collet closer I'm going to make a light weight hand wheel type. I was just waiting for a bearing to arrive.

Well, I finished it the other day. Instead of threading it to fit the threads in the end of the spindle I just turned it to fit. I mounted the thrust bearing in it also.

I didn't have a large diameter bar for the wheel so I made it from a piece of flat stock, so there are a total of three pieces. When I get a larger piece of material
I will probably make the wheel over.

It works great!

5C Drawbar 1 (Large).JPG 5C Drawbar 2 (Large).JPG 5C Drawbar 3 (Large).JPG 5C Drawbar 4 (Large).JPG

5C Drawbar 1 (Large).JPG 5C Drawbar 2 (Large).JPG 5C Drawbar 3 (Large).JPG 5C Drawbar 4 (Large).JPG
 
PurpLev said:
the KDKs are nice and sleek. don't see them much around.

edit: is that piston or wedge driven?
Click to expand...

It's not quite a wedge like a Aloris. It's wedge spreads straight out wedging it straight back against the body via the dovetails.
 
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I got my Gator 6-Jaw chuck and it working fantastic so far!

For more details on what I did to set it up go HERE.

I ran it up to 1200 RPM and there was no vibration at all so it's balanced very well.

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IMG_1554.JPG IMG_1555.JPG IMG_1553.JPG
 
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I have been following your other post Gary. Next thing on my list is a better 4 jaw to replace the boat anchor that came with the lathe. I am looking at a Fuerda 4 jaw with integral D1-4 at Toolsforcheap.com. Not so sure I would use the 6 jaw as I can't remember the last time I turned anything thin or fragile.
 
tripletap3 said:
I have been following your other post Gary. Next thing on my list is a better 4 jaw to replace the boat anchor that came with the lathe. I am looking at a Fuerda 4 jaw with integral D1-4 at Toolsforcheap.com. Not so sure I would use the 6 jaw as I can't remember the last time I turned anything thin or fragile.
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I think I'll stick with the 4J chuck that came with the lathe for now. Other than the weight I have no real complaints. I got the 6J from tools4cheap.net. Good deal.

As for the 6J chuck, It's not a matter of working on something thin for me, but basically replacing the 3J chuck that came with the lathe. For $120 more I figured that I would go with a 6J just to cover more bases and give myself more options. Not to mention how pretty it looks! :)

Gary
 
I know, chuck porn. It looks awsome. My 3 jaw is actually pretty decent as it came and it maintains .003 pretty much all the time. The 4 jaw on the other hand isn't so. The jaws are rough adjusting and one jaw doen't like any of the 4 positions at all. I am afraid to run it over 300 rpm as it starts to shake the lathe around like a one bladed ceiling fan. I will mess with it some more later but for now I have too many other money making things that need to get done first. If I spend the time on those then I can just buy a decent chuck with the money I make. All my gunsmithing goes to beer and tools anyway.
 
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