New MX-210V 8x16 lathe - a beginner's first lathe experience

[Tomzo]

I have been making some chips - I actually turned my first part on Friday. I have an RV that uses steel clips on the weight distribution hitch that are super stiff and hard to remove. I turned down some aluminum to get a clean surface, drilled a hole to give a nice fit on the clip, and then tapered the end to fit where it needed to go. Worked out well!

I do need to mill some slots in the tailstock retainer - it runs smoothly when the shaft is extended but binds up when it gets drawn back to pop out the chuck. I am waiting on a new vise to arrive for the new (to me) mill that I got off Craigslist on Friday (separate thread on that one). I also want to mill down the bottom of the tailstock to get rid of the crazy rasp like surface.

As with most of these class of lathes the compound is nearly unusable without really cranking on the gibs. I think I will be pulling it back apart to see if I can improve some of those surfaces. I will not be tapering a lot so I might just mill down a chunk of steel and take that out of the equation for most purposes.

 

[Tomzo]

Never mind... I see that you are busy working with the mill you just got.

New (to me anyway) HF 33686 - my first mill

So the seller from whom I bought the machine from indicated in the ad that he had a "spare" drawbar included as part of the deal. It seemed to be kind of an odd thing to have as a spare but when he dropped it off he handed me the spare - which was in reality a piece of all thread...

www.hobby-machinist.com

Yeah - too much at once, but when fate delivers the mill you don't get to choose the timing.

 

[Janderso]

Tomzo,
You did a beautiful job of inspecting and documenting the issues and what to inspect with these lathes.
Wow, they can be rough.
Compared to the old iron I own or have worked on, it's interesting seeing the contrasts.
Now, with that said, there are plenty of Youtubers and hobbiests that have done some very impressive work on these machines.
Have fun.

 

[Aaron_W]

I will not be tapering a lot so I might just mill down a chunk of steel and take that out of the equation for most purposes.

This is a fairly common modification even on some larger lathes. The compound is a weak point so for small rigidity challenged machines removing it and replacing it with a solid chunk of metal can be a big improvement. You can always reinstall the compound when you need it for a project.

 

[Tomzo]

Been busy for the last week or so and have not had time to work on the lathe much. The arrival of the new to me mill was a good portion of the delay but also general work/family/life stuff. Anyway, with the new mill here I want to take on the tailstock both in terms of the retainer being out of alignment at the back end and the very rough surface on the bottom. This has led to a number of questions when I take these improvements on.

The first question is how to determine the correct alignment of the axis of the MT2 taper on the tailstock. I would think this is pretty important to get right as otherwise drills and centers will be offset. I know that the tailstock itself has a certain about of adjustment, but they are pretty minimal for this cheap tailstock.

When I adjust the retainer on the end I will be moving the axis from where it is now. This is not to say it is properly aligned now - I am confident it isn't, but I don't want to make things worse. I was thinking that I should align it to the tailstock casting so that it moves smoothly along the full length without binding as it does now. I would correct any misalignment with other methods later.

I also plan to mill off the rasp like surfaces on the bottom of the tailstock, but I want that surface to be as parallel as I can to the axis of the tailstock. I don't own any MT2 collets and am wondering whether I could just put some drill rod in a jacobs chuck to set the axis. My thinking was that I would lightly clamp the tailstock upside down in the vise on the mill and use an indicator along that drill stock in the mill until it was parallel to the x axis movement. From there I could tighten up the vise and then mill a few thousandths off the bottom of the tailstock. I clearly won't get a nice ground surface, but at least it would not be as rough as it is now.

I also presume that if the material I take off makes the tailstock too low I could shim between the upper and lower parts of the tailstock to get it to where it needs to be.

That is my plan right now but I am confident my inexperience here leaves this approach with something to be desired. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance

Tom

 

[Sparkynutz]

Any updates? Link to the exact one you ordered?
Thinking of picking up a similar machine

 

[Tomzo]

Ah - I need to do an update. I will get some video of it and post that. I came across a mill not long after I got the lathe and have been doing some work on that too. Long story short, the TIR on the spindle is good but the compound is pretty bad in terms of rigidity. I machined up a block of aluminum and have the compound off. I plan on doing some work on it to see if it can function better as I have a project in mind that will need it.
The cross slide is not super great and needs to have the gibs really cranked down to increase rigidity. I plan to add more gib screws and do some work on the gibs and other surfaces to make things operate smoother. I also got some needle thrust bearings to try to see if I can improve functionality. I added the Clough42 ELS which is great for turning as I can really get nice slow, even feed rates. The tailstock is kind of a mess but I made some initial adjustments, but still want to mill down the rasp like surface on the bottom. That is coming up next on the list.

After installing the ELS there was a huge disparity between the RPM on the built in display and what the ELS was reading. I got a tachometer off Amazon and it agreed exactly with the Omron encoder that is part of the ELS, which would be expected. I pulled the RPM display off the front panel, tucked it inside, and mounted the ELS control box in its place. Much nicer.

Would I buy it again? Yes, I think so. The extra power as compared to similar models is nice, but it is a bit of a hodge podge of parts and pieces from what I can tell. Working in aluminum is fine - steel is tougher - especially boring. There is just not much rigidity there. Parting off is also a challenge, but I own a bandsaw so I can just pop the stock out, cut it down and face the cut end. I am learning a lot about lathes and little tricks to get done what I need done. I am sure I will upgrade at some point but for now my skill is the limiting factor, not the lathe.