Keith Fenner, cool lathe fixturing setup ...

I watched it last night. Kind of a crude method but it sure works and for a part like that it doesn't really matter.
A setup like that would shake my lathe across the floor.

Joe
 
I watched the video, I think he "blew" a couple of orderings.
a) he should have dialed in the compound before fixturing the connection rod.
b) he should have not taken the welded the connection rod out of the 3-jaw.
But for the precision he was after, it maters little.
 
I am told by an engineer friend that MIG is just as good as 7018, if the weld process is qualified, especially if the stick rod is not handled properly, that is, not baked out and used in a short time thereafter; keeping it in an open container in an old refrigerator does not make it, even in a low humidity enviornment, any moisture in the flux causes hydrogen embrittlement, and subsequent cracking.
 
Welding on a lathe the way Keith does it is not at all harmful. The clamp was on the chuck jaw. That’s a direct path of electricity from the jaw to the part.
If, you clamp to the lathe bed and the electrons are moving through the bearings....okay, THATS BAD FOR THE LATHE.



BUT, the way Keith attached his ground clamp is in no way harmful. Like everything else in this life....there’s a right way and a wrong way. Keith Fenner does it the right way. He’s a pretty smart guy and so far, I’ve never questioned any of his videos.
And, he turned the power off at the breaker. Now granted, there’s still a ground path and if the clamp fell off while welding, yes you’d have a back feed through the bearings. I know this because about a month ago....I was using my arch welder. And I inadvertently went to move the rod out of the way. It touched my milling machine table and sparked. So yeah, there’s that ground path of your ground wire of your electrical wiring and I doubt a breaker off would have changed that ground path because the ground is always there. I guess if you’re real anal, you can unplug your lathe. But with a big lathe, even that’s usually a no-go because they are hard wired.

But let’s face it, with the ground clamp on the chuck jaw....the path is pretty direct. I can’t see any way in the world you’re going to do damage to spindle bearings. I just don’t see it. Not going to argue with anyone but it my opinion it’s just a non issue. But, like anything else....if you personally don’t want to risk damage to your lathe, then don’t do it. I look at this the same way I look at grinding on a lathe. I don’t look forward to grinding on my lathes.... but I do it. I just take care to go through the process of wiping oil off....covering with rags....and then wiping and vacuuming everything after. Yes, I know some grit is still there. But hell, my lathes were made in 1947 and 1972. I mean come on guys.

FWIW. I think this video is absolutely brilliant. I would have never in a million years have thought about doing it this way. I will absolutely remember this. Just incredibly brilliant. I loved it.

Thanks For Posting. !!!
 
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There may be more paths for electrical flow that could possibly happen; why take (a possibly) expensive path that may lead to expensive repairs, this for very limited rewards? That part could have been welded off machine and 4 jaw chucked to a higher degree of accuracy than was achieved as shown in the video. Just for ducks, price out a set of spindle bearings for your lathes -----
 
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