Removing old cosmoline from a lathe

mikey said:
Came out nice. I was just curious - did your lathe come with a set of change gears?
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Ok im confused so I have another Rookie question (yeah I know, AGAIN!) Aren't change gears something you need for a lathe Without a qcgb? Doesn't the lathe in the picture have a quick change gearbox on it?
 
The previous owner made the stand 10" taller than a stock stand. I did some turning on it today and I think it is a little taller than I'd like (i am 6ft tall). I could take the wheels off and that would drop it 4 or 5". I'll keep an eye for the stock stand to go on sale and maybe ditch this one.



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Well done on the your new lathe!

I dispose of any solvent rags by cutting a hole in the top of a windshield washer fluid jug and filling it with water and some dish detergent.
Drop the rags in and I never worry about them spontaneously combusting.


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xnaron said:
The previous owner made the stand 10" taller than a stock stand. I did some turning on it today and I think it is a little taller than I'd like (i am 6ft tall). I could take the wheels off and that would drop it 4 or 5". I'll keep an eye for the stock stand to go on sale and maybe ditch this one.



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Just take the wheels off and ad a set of leveling feet and you should be good to go. Worse case if its still not short enough then I would either cut the extra length off or add an inch or 2 of some fatigue rubber mats in front on the lathe to stand on. I would use the money you would spend on the stock bench for some other useful toy I don't have but would like to!
 
I would ditch the wheels. Anyway, doing so will bring the height to where it should be. You might want to also ditch the rubber mounting pads. Once you do all this, move the lathe to its permanent place and level it to specs.
 
Latinrascalrg1 said:
Ok im confused so I have another Rookie question (yeah I know, AGAIN!) Aren't change gears something you need for a lathe Without a qcgb? Doesn't the lathe in the picture have a quick change gearbox on it?
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No QCGB can cut all the Imperial and Metric thread pitches we need. To really be a complete lathe you need to have the set of change gears to cut those threads the stock gearing in the QCGB cannot cut. It is incredibly frustrating to be stopped dead in your tracks during a project because you lack this capability. Trust me; this is true. There will come a day when you have to make a part to fit something that you did not make, and in all likelihood it will be metric. Most American lathes, especially the "old iron" ones, cannot do it because they lack the gearing and change gears are not available. So, you're down until you can make the gear AND find/make the 127 tooth transposing gear you need to make it work. OR you just cannot do it, and that sucks.

You will find that most modern Asian lathes will come with change gear sets because their usable range inside the gearbox is lacking. If it is available, buy the gear set. Most old American lathes cut only common Imperial pitches but no metric ones. If this is you, you might want to start searching for a change gear set and a 127 tooth gear.

Many guys look down on change gear lathes, like the PM 1127, but they are actually more capable for thread cutting than most other lathes out there. Its a bit of a hassle to have to change gears but not a lot, and that lathe is going to be long done with the job while the SB13 owner is still searching for the right gears. For myself, the lack of a change gear set is a deal breaker; I won't buy a lathe for which such a set is not available.
 
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Do you change the gears in the qcgb or some in the headstock? Thanks for the reply.
 
You change the gears on the end of the headstock. Pretty easy to do.

Which lathe do you have?
 
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