Reamed my tailstock and turned a BP

[TheMasterApprentice]

Finally had the spare funds and time, i pulled the trigger on a 8" backplate for my 4 jaw chuck and made some chips for the first time at home. Machining cast iron is a true joy and the finish my old lathy made was great in my humble opinion. Rounout is ~.0025" on chuck OD which isnt super but hopefully sufficient, chuck is a close fit on registration.

Now that i had a 4 jaw that was "small" enough i could actually install the darned thing, i indicated in a MT3 taper reamer and converted my old hendey's MT2.5 into a MT3, for a first time the finish could be better but my tapers now fit AND eject properly and i still have a sharp reamer so ill take that as a win!

Id say my lathe is actually functional again atleast to a level that will work for my next few projects, im ecstatic to finally have machining capabilities at home and hope to end up the fine machinist that some of you have shown is possible.

 

[ddickey]

Did you ream your TS by holding the reamer in the 4jaw?

 

[Ulma Doctor]

very nice!
a wiped out taper makes it extremely difficult to hold tools

 

[TheMasterApprentice]

Did you ream your TS by holding the reamer in the 4jaw?

First i tried machining a center and using that to hold the reamer, after struggling to get good cutting pressure i chucked the reamer and indicated it with in .001 front to back and ran with it at lowest RPM and tons of lube.

 

[TheMasterApprentice]

very nice!
a wiped out taper makes it extremely difficult to hold tools

Certainly lol, any mt2 was sloppy and any mt3 just wouldnt fully seat or eject, didnt know it had a special taper till after purchase, but in hindsight while its not the fastest way to start machining im certainly learning a bit about machine alignnment and repair and am ok with the current state of affairs.

Once my 16N jacobs arrives i hope to start making chips