What to practice on lathe

The dial indicator is with a magnetic base. It is being used to help align the tailstock to see my movement Two set screws will lock the tailstock and on most lathes two will move it. .001" will result to .002 on the measurement roughly. Not a bad idea just to get used to the knobs and get a good grasp on backlash. A Screw won t lie and can be accurate.
 
A good thing to practice is taking finishing cuts while you are roughing especially if it’s a mystery or unknown material. Say you have a 1” diameter part that you need to turn down to .75”. I will first begin by taking a finishing pass and playing with the speeds and feeds. As the diameter decreases from roughing passes I will again take a finishing pass at say .8”. Take notice to How light of a cut you can take and still get a good finish with your particular insert or tool. As you’re roughing you can also try different tools and also try a finishing pass to see if you can get a better finish. If you have both high-speed steel and carbide Tooling try them both. Also take note to how much material came off in relation to what the dial says should be coming off the part. Take measurements frequently and compare. Doing all this will help you when it gets down to the final diameter. As you become more familiar with your machine and what it’s capable of you will become more efficient and it will show in the finished product .
 
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Hi Guys,

Some really good suggestions here !
However, I would say learn how to properly grind HSS lathe tools. Without properly ground, sharp lathe tools you won't get anywhere fast.

Now I know that some of you will say, why bother when the manufacturer of carbide tool bits has done it for you...
I agree that carbide is getting better and the need for more powerful machines is becoming less, but if you want good finishes with precision sizes on a lower powered machine, HSS is the go to.
 
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