- Joined
- Feb 13, 2017
- Messages
- 2,138
It seems that I am sort of “out of place” here since this is a metal working site. But metal work is what I am having to do to make this into a viable machine. In explanation, my wife likes to make pens. A fairly well followed hobby these days. And her lathe is functional, although a bit large. She has a ShopSmith (Mk 5, hers), with an older Craftsman(~1939, mine) as a fall-back machine. I have made several adapters for the ShopSmith, for the 5/8” nub on the spindle.
I stumbled across this small “antique” machine one day while prowling around on eBay. It was sorta costly for what I got, but as the only person interested, not that bad. I have no idea if it is of any value, beyond being a useful size for pens. What caught my eye was the small size. Quite usable for her pen-making. If any of her tooling could be made to fit. And there-in lies the root of the project.
The spindle is a length of 1/2” steel, likely drill rod. With a spur tip and drive dogs on the business end. And a pulley on the other. Most of her tooling has Morse Taper #1 or 3/4-16 threads. No way to cut down the drive dog collar to fit 3/4-16 thread. It's only 1/2” inch thick. And the big end for MT-1 is so close to 1/2” that it would never hold up to any use. The steel spindle runs in cast iron, no other bearings. It is this that led to my use of the word “antique” above. I have read of such ideas in old books. Pre-1940's books. Apparently it was fairly common way back then for “slow speed” shafting, under 2000RPM.
So my first attempt is to replace the spindle with an extension with a larger hub for mounting a chuck and having a MT-1 recess. There is a “Plan B” if that doesn't work out. But a bit more complicated as it involves re-boring the head-stock casting and reaming to 5/8” or so and making a bronze bushing. I have included a sketch of “Plan A”, as it stands. Subject to modification as I think about it. And sleep on it......
Comments aren't that important, constructive criticism is. Any useful ideas will be appreciated.
I stumbled across this small “antique” machine one day while prowling around on eBay. It was sorta costly for what I got, but as the only person interested, not that bad. I have no idea if it is of any value, beyond being a useful size for pens. What caught my eye was the small size. Quite usable for her pen-making. If any of her tooling could be made to fit. And there-in lies the root of the project.
The spindle is a length of 1/2” steel, likely drill rod. With a spur tip and drive dogs on the business end. And a pulley on the other. Most of her tooling has Morse Taper #1 or 3/4-16 threads. No way to cut down the drive dog collar to fit 3/4-16 thread. It's only 1/2” inch thick. And the big end for MT-1 is so close to 1/2” that it would never hold up to any use. The steel spindle runs in cast iron, no other bearings. It is this that led to my use of the word “antique” above. I have read of such ideas in old books. Pre-1940's books. Apparently it was fairly common way back then for “slow speed” shafting, under 2000RPM.
So my first attempt is to replace the spindle with an extension with a larger hub for mounting a chuck and having a MT-1 recess. There is a “Plan B” if that doesn't work out. But a bit more complicated as it involves re-boring the head-stock casting and reaming to 5/8” or so and making a bronze bushing. I have included a sketch of “Plan A”, as it stands. Subject to modification as I think about it. And sleep on it......
Comments aren't that important, constructive criticism is. Any useful ideas will be appreciated.