Cutting Rates

[UnkaJesse]

One of my nay-saying friends has asserted that I am taking too heavy cuts on my Sherline lathe. I say, as long as the machine will do it, why waste time making piddling little shavings when you can produce results like the ones in the enclosed attachment! I do have to dribble a little coolant onto the HSS toolbit from time to time to keep it from turning glowing red in color, but this has been no problem so far. Be sure and check out the attached photo.

Unka Jesse

[Al_Messer]

Looks good to me.

[Bill_Cook]

Whatta nay-sayers Know?
That Sherline got a chip conveyer?

bc

[Matt_Isserstedt]

Unless my calibrated eye is off, I'd SWAG you need 10 hp to take a chip that size.

That's a SOUPED UP Sherline.... [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif"%20alt="[/img]

[Michael_Az]

I think I would try cobalt and take a bigger cut.
Michael

[kap]

Unka jessie,

What kind of planer you got?
Looks like 1/16 feed x 3/8 depth of cut.
Don't you love it when they go thud on the floor?

kap

[Tel]

Hey Unk, if you increase the back rake on the tool a little you might be able to get a decent cut outta that machine.

[UnkaJesse]

I kinda figured that those chips would wake up a few of you fellers [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif"%20alt="[/img]. I have cut considerably larger chips, but not on any Sherline fer sure. Those chips came from the locomotive wheel lathe at Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga. I keep them laying about so I can remember the "good old days" when I ran the wheel lathe at Iselin shops of the GM&O RR. As to cut, I frequently took 1/4" deep by 1/4" feed at 1 RPM on the Niles lathe. It could turn both tires at the same time and had a form tool that slicked up the flange and wheel tire surface all at the same time. The shavings came off in big curls that were about the same size as the coil springs on the suspension of an automobile. I kept a sledge hammer handy to break them loose when they got too long.

I guess I should have followed Matt's advice and pulled that one out of the hat on April 1st! Just had to have a little fun though! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smirk.gif"%20alt="[/img]

Unka Jesse [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/tongue.gif"%20alt="[/img]

[UnkaJesse]

Bill, I had to get one of them metal chip conveyor belts because the chips kept burning holes in the rubber (poly) belt conveyor I started off using.

Unka Jesse

[UnkaJesse]

TEL, I tried using a greater back rake on the HSS tool, but it made the tool edge too thin and there were problems with heat build up!

Interestingly, the tool on the wheel lathe had almost no back rake at all. It was a round toadstool shaped thing about 1-1/4" dia. that simply dropped into the tool holder. Cutting, if you want to call it that, was actually just pushing the metal off much as Tungsten Carbide tools do nowdays. BTW: There was NO coolant used on the cutting tools as best I remember (been 45 years or so).

Unka Jesse