The Home Machinist!

I have a small gear that needs to be center bored so I can put and oversized bushing in the hole to compensate for the eggged-out hole. I was thnking of using the chuck itself for alignment, but that still leaves the problem of gripping the teeth. What could I do to grip the gear concentrically and ...

Ok, I now have a four jaw chuck with indepenently adjusted jaws. I like it so far, but have a question or two. I can get the run-out corrected near the chuck. Or at the end of the piece. What about getting it to do both? Is the chuck simply off or is it normal to need to jockey the work to get it al...

What works best for my 618 atlas in terms of boring bars. I have attempted to grind some from 1/4 blanks with limited success. I also need parting tools for the same mahcine. Tried grinding them from a blank with limited success. I am interested in small lboring bars to clean out and touch up inside...

Strangely, that last suggestion seems to be overlooked by many machinists. I guess it's the "everything looks like a nail" syndrome? I watched a guy turning a piece of square stock on a light lathe. "BAM, BAM, BAM, ...", shuddering the whole time. He needed a square end about 1/...

in town there is a supplier who sells the "'chunks" by the pound and real cheap. Lots of various plastic too. What town would that be, if you don't mind sharing. I'm in Midland. I turn a fair amount of ABS and it reminds me of earlier days fishing with an open reel and the occasional &quo...

How accurate does the hole need to be? This is a bit off the wall, but here goes: Could you chuck the forster in a drill, then let the drill take off the needed material from the sides. You would need to watch the heat and possibly debur the edges with something afterwards. I assume the proper grin...

How accurate does the hole need to be? This is a bit off the wall, but here goes: Could you chuck the forster in a drill, then let the drill take off the needed material from the sides. You would need to watch the heat and possibly debur the edges with something afterwards. I assume the proper grind...

what are the limits, if any. Do they differ greatly from mahcine to machine. I have done this with plastics, but wonder if it's wise to do with metals. I always find drops in the square form. They seldom exist in round bar. I tried soem A-2 tool steel, (very small piece), and it was knocking the mac...

made a part last night and it turned out fairly well for an old "hammer-mechanic" like me. Is there a way to get the shavings to stay off the turning piece, or is a vacuum system really required with these materials. Had to shut down a few times to clear the mess. Kinda annoying. Nylon is ...

Thanks to the above poster. I see Onalaska... man did we catch some panfish on vacation there a few years back! Back to the lathe... What is the rule of thumb for length that should require a center at the tail. I think someone metioned 3x the diameter once. Does this sound right. Ooops... We were i...

what kind of acurracy should I expect from a 3jaw chuck? The taper I turned last night was about .004. on a 12" piece. The tailstock appears to be centered on the chuck now. When I unscrew it, the live center point is dead into the hole in the end. Would this be checked by unscewing the tail, t...

I have a small old atlas 618 lathe. It tends to turn tapers. I use a 3 jaw chuck and live center at tailstock when turning long stuff. The taper varies from set up to set up. Is this likely the chuck not locking straight onto the stock? I still am searching for a faceplate for it so I can try turnin...