Radius Turning Tool...

We use lubricating oil to help keep metals from galling when rotating while forced together. We use cutting oil to facilitate removing metal from metal parts when rubbing while forced together. Yes, it all feels like oil when you rub it between thumb and index finger, but it is most certainly not interchangeable.
 
But I'm such a newbie, I opened it up-side down, spilling it all out the first time. :p
:excitement::excitement::excitement:

If there's a NAPA, or Fastenal or even home Depot near you, then I would suggest you get a small bottle of cutting oil mainly because you are cutting steel and not Aluminum.
WD-40 ,,Kerosene, would be alright with Aluminum but with steel we need all the help we can get,right?
And, also in the pic is my 100mm ER collect chuck... But I'll be putting my 3-jaw on for a while first. Partly because the collet didn't come with mounting bolts I need to buy still. Grrrr.
I use the mounting bolts from my 3 jaw chuck,all they are ,is just 1.1/8" M10 or M12 threaded rods with nuts, by the way, your HF shopping cart looks decent, I like the ER chuck the best.:)
 
I must be getting old, I never paid attention to NAPA or Fastenal and never knew they existed, probably because my father never went there that i remember growing up. But checking out, yes we have them here locally.

NAPA sells cutting oil for much less than Home Depot, that is for sure. Definitely should avoid Home Depot at all costs. LOL

I will try to pick up a 500ml bottle from Napa today and see how it goes. If it doesn't last long, I'll grab the 4L pack from Princess Auto in the future.

I'll probably stick to just using the method of using a paint-brush to apply, though it seems some people prefer the spray-bottle on their lathe? Seems to me that would result in spraying oil droplets all over the place where it is not always intended.

In the meantime, two days ago I took apart my steady-rest and greased it up, as it was hard to move the elements to adjust. Working on my mandrel will be the first time I'm using one of these, hope it TURNS out well (no pun intended).
 
Ok now! What a day... Went today to pick up some cutting oil. And man, did it cause a lot of smoke. (At least I assume it's the oil and not the metal that caused it). Made me think about the days of black gunpowder and being in the middle of a division of musket line-infantry right after a full round of volley-fire. LOL

I started turning the hot-rolled steel today. It was actually a SUCCESS! Kind of got my self confidence up a bit with this thing... also did some new things, working with a steady-rest, etc. At the end of the day I tried to do a bit of polishing of the metal, tried using sandpaper of different grits but...it seemed to help somewhat but still not really quite where I wanted. No big deal, it's just a mandrel I'm building here, nothing fancy. I still am curious how to get a good polish though on steel (assuming it is even possible). I will do some research on it, as I think Mothers is only for Aluminum :)

Ohh, and now I need to drill some holes into the bar, which is going to be hard. Especially with no drill press or mill. Well, I have some ideas for getting a hole into the side of round-bar...

Maybe I can lay the bar into a vice or centering jig, and manually start with a very fine drillbit first after using a center punch... or...

I can try to mount the bar into a jig onto a faceplate on the lathe, and then use the tailstock.... possibly to drill. I don't know... will have to experiment some more..

All in all, today was a good learning experience.

IMG_7612.JPG
IMG_7618.JPG
 
Even though I got my center-punches, haven't touched the mandrel in days. Instead I tried another random experiment. Playing with some aluminum pipe and trying to make it look like a million bucks. Ahah!

First time I got to use my jaws to clamp on an item from the inside. Unfortunately I can not get a good grip for getting things on center. Now I know why they have those large pipe-type centers to go into the tailstock. I will probably look soon to pick one up for my mini.

I thought I could use my radius tool to round the end of pipe like this (for a rounded bevel)... found out that it is IMPOSSIBLE, just a limitation due to how the tool is made, you can't get in with it, without redesigning the tool. Oh well, I was able to cut a groove into the side of the pipe, but that's all you can do with the radius tool on a piece like this.

Ended up just using carbide to cut a chamfer on the edges of the pipe. But even that is wobbly, because I need to find a way to get pipe perfectly on center. I'm not too worried about it, just another project I'll work on tweaking... and more tools to buy!

pipe.jpg
 
Today we are back on track with the radius tool again. I did some further testing... and cringed while getting ready to cut into 304 stainless steel. I wasn't too sure the tool would be up to the task, but I am happy with the results.

What I was not happy with is there seemed to be quite some play between the handle and the cutting tool. After I took this picture, I took the radius tool apart, and found out the problem was between the hinge-bolt connected to the handle, and the inner yoke. There was a tiny set screw down there I re-tightened, and also cleaned out a bunch of shavings inside between the set-screw and a drilled hole for it to catch into. It feels much more rigid now so I will do some further tests tonight and see if the improvements help.

Some things I don't like is how the inner and outer yoke are kind of rough cut with odd etch lines. I'm not sure how they originally cut this, but it does make things rub and jam quite a bit when I tighten the rest of the frame. Added some chain-lube but I think down the road I will see if I can grind part of the frame somehow and make it more smooth and less catchy.

In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out solutions to get a mirror polish on this 304... I will have to find a good way to smooth out those mini cut-lines first somehow... I'm sure scotchbrite isn't going to be the same solution it was with aluminum.
ss.jpg
 
When I work with it I lift the handle up before the start of the radius and keep holding it that way until I get to the end ,I'm thinking it gives a more consistent cut .
 
Back
Top