My first lathe arrived today

[emtor]

That's good.
You want a solid foundation.
I don't know how much my old 13" South Bend weighs but it is a beast. The Bridgeport is no slouch either.
I can't imagine moving one of those big old Cincinnati or Tucker & Kearney (SP)? machines.
Enjoy that lathe.

I'm enjoying this lathe. I had to shim the cutting tool using pieces of hacksaw blades and strips from a coke can.
No button in the center of the round stock and a piece of hacksaw blade stays vertical when pressing it between the workpiece and the cutting tool.
I got some chatter which went away by taking shallower facing cuts.
I also tried turning down the diameter of the round stock with the lead screw engaged. No chatter but the finish was not too good.
Speed was 1000 rpm (carbide insert). Calculating the speed for 30 mm. diameter round stock and HSS tools gave me 300 rpm but the recommended speed for carbide is supposed to be 2 to 3 times that. I'll experiment with different speeds though.
This is my very first attempt at using a lathe and the tool didn't crash into the chuck jaws, nor did the carbide insert shatter.
BTW those chips are hot and judging from the color they were at around 200 to 250 deg. C.

 

[BaronJ]

Hi Emtor,

You need to spend some time going around the lathe checking that the gibs are properly set.

 

[emtor]

Hi Emtor,

You need to spend some time going around the lathe checking that the gibs are properly set.

I'll do that. The gibs feel tight when trying to rock things with my hands, but when turning there's forces involved much greater than applied by my hands.
I don't know what kind of finish to expect but I can imagine that it won't take much chatter to produce a less than good finish.
The finish is such that it's visible, but when I drag a fingernail across the surface I can barely feel it. However it's not a mirror finish by a long strech.
I'll spend the weekend on those gibs.

 

[BaronJ]

Hi Emtor,

The way that I set the gibs is by feel. I start with the saddle and tighten each adjuster in turn until I start to feel it tightening, then back off a fraction, then go on to the next one and so on. Do the cross slide next and then the top slide. From this point on, you will start to learn when you need to tighten or loosen things.

 

[emtor]

Hi Emtor,

The way that I set the gibs is by feel. I start with the saddle and tighten each adjuster in turn until I start to feel it tightening, then back off a fraction, then go on to the next one and so on. Do the cross slide next and then the top slide. From this point on, you will start to learn when you need to tighten or loosen things.

Will do,-thanks for the tip.

 

[NortonDommi]

Hello emtor,
When you have your lathe set up you may want to consider making a lift plate. Easy to make and easy to lift with. My lathe weighs
650 kg dry and I have no problem lifting wet with a full tank of coolant. Apron wound to tailstock means a little winding gives perfect balance. It is haw most factories move lathes around.

 

[emtor]

The lifting plate is a good idea,-I'll make one. I'm buying a small chain hoist tomorrow too since the lathe will need to be moved when I'll move to Sweden.
I probably need to adjust the gibs. Had a look at the compound rest and it took almost no adjustment at all to make the compound rest bind.
At least the compound rest seems to be plenty tight.
I was wrong about the spindle speed when I tried some chipmaking last night.
Turns out it was running at 600 rpm. Today I tried 1000 rpm and this is the finish it produced:

 

[BaronJ]

Hi Emtor,

That finish is not too bad. I can see the fine marks caused by the power feed on the saddle !
Check that the saddle moves smoothly and that the leadscrew is clean. Its surprising how a photograph shows up things that you would normally find hard to see.

Check that the gears are not too tight they need to have a fraction of free play between the teeth. A trick here is to trap a thin piece of paper between the gears then tighten the banjo. You are only looking at 2 or 3 thou.
Another dodge for generating a little play is a 1 thou soft brass shim about 6 -7 mm wide formed into the shape of the teeth and slipped between the gears.

 

[emtor]

Hi Emtor,

That finish is not too bad. I can see the fine marks caused by the power feed on the saddle !
Check that the saddle moves smoothly and that the leadscrew is clean. Its surprising how a photograph shows up things that you would normally find hard to see.

Check that the gears are not too tight they need to have a fraction of free play between the teeth. A trick here is to trap a thin piece of paper between the gears then tighten the banjo. You are only looking at 2 or 3 thou.
Another dodge for generating a little play is a 1 thou soft brass shim about 6 -7 mm wide formed into the shape of the teeth and slipped between the gears.

I'll do the gears when I've thrown out some stuff from the room. Right now there's no space to do anything around the lathe.
I just tried to present the insert at a slight angle to the workpiece. It improved the finish quite a bit. The lines are no longer at an angle and much less visible. I haven't adjusted the gibs yet but there's no tendency to slop no matter how much I try to move things.
I've got chatter as well when turning along the axis of the workpiece. Facing is no problem, no chatter.
I've read that simply using carbide on small lathes can introduce chatter. So I've ordered some HSS tools.
Perhaps I should try one of those before blaming everything else. Still I'll adjust the gibs. It's not a bad thing to get to know the lathe.
See the pic below. Left section is with the insert presented perpendicular to the workpiece. Right section is with the toolpost angled slightly towards the chuck.

 

[BaronJ]

Hi Emtor,

Yes that is more like it ! I use very few carbide tools, preferring HSS. But that finish is very good.