New (to me) mill and lathe

Smart move. I put my 9" on a wheeled cabinet several years ago. The ability to move the thing without calling a army is nice.

Yeah ..once it cools down enough to put on welding gear again the mill will get wheels too

I'm a novice bystander when it comes to machining work, but what I've seen and heard is that a lathe needs to be carefully leveled to produce accurate work,,,putting it on casters makes it a lot easier to move around, but the ways may not be true.

A lathe that is even slightly our of level will not only not produce accurate work due to the twisting of the ways but it will also vibrate and shake like crazy at higher RPM.

As tempting as it is to keep it mobile, I really recommend setting it up properly.

Jumper K. Balls wrote: A lathe that is even slightly our of level will not only not produce accurate work due to the twisting of the ways but it will also vibrate and shake like crazy at higher RPM. As tempting as it is to keep it mobile, I really recommend setting it up properly.

Thank You, Mr. Balls. I am less than a novice, but following along and learning what I can. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge, and suspected as much.

To OP, thanks for sharing. Here's a pic of my Logan:

I, too put it on castors thinking I was smart. I see a jack screw retrofit in its future. Love the thread...Hmmm treadmill motors, eh?

Yes I was also aware that there are some negative effects of keeping it mobile. But as long as my lil garage serves multiple roles I really dont have much option...I dont pretend that I will ever build ultra precise items, at least not anytime soon with my very limited skills.. in a perfect world I would have a dedicated room for wood projects, 1 for welding, 1 for machining, and a 3 bay garage with a lift...lol

Nearly forgot..in my perfect world I would have an airplane hanger and a 4000' runway pointing due west :)

stuart in mn wrote: I'm a novice bystander when it comes to machining work, but what I've seen and heard is that a lathe needs to be carefully leveled to produce accurate work,,,putting it on casters makes it a lot easier to move around, but the ways may not be true.

"Level" is a bit of a misnomer, it doesn't really need to be level, it needs both ends of the bed to be on the same plane (not twisted), which is often accomplished with a $$$ high precision level. You can do this without the level by taking cuts on a longish unsupported bar and measuring it down the length with a micrometer, adjust for minimal taper, I think the South Bend "How To Run A Lathe" book goes into detail on that. This can also dial out some of the bed wear you get on old worn out machines. In any event you need it permanently bolted down to a concrete floor or very solid structure to make these adjustments.

Im just amazed theres someone on here from van wert i dont know. I like seeing old machines saved.

The talk of century and 3 probes made me check your location. I recognize the probes.

Hey, I'm from Findlay and have never met either of you! I did have my windows tinted in van wert and often hit your antique malls...

Jumper K. Balls wrote: A lathe that is even slightly our of level will not only not produce accurate work due to the twisting of the ways but it will also vibrate and shake like crazy at higher RPM. As tempting as it is to keep it mobile, I really recommend setting it up properly.

For production work, you are absolutely correct. For making bushings and small one off parts at home, it's much less important. Mobility is worth more than that last .0001 of accuracy to me. I don't build watches so +-.001 is close enough.

chandlerGTi wrote: Hey, I'm from Findlay and have never met either of you! I did have my windows tinted in van wert and often hit your antique malls...

Shine do the tint? Ill end the hijack after this!

dropstep wrote:

chandlerGTi wrote: Hey, I'm from Findlay and have never met either of you! I did have my windows tinted in van wert and often hit your antique malls...

Shine do the tint? Ill end the hijack after this!

Yeah, he's really good

So jealous. The things I could do with a lathe....

In reply to dropstep:

Lol. Yeah with the probes, and the airplane in the front yard I kinda stand out ...lol...surprised to hear theres another GRM enthusiast in the hood

corsepervita wrote: So jealous. The things I could do with a lathe....

The jealousy is mutual I promise! What your doing with your jalpa knocks my socks off!

Graystang wrote: In reply to dropstep: Lol. Yeah with the probes, and the airplane in the front yard I kinda stand out ...lol...surprised to hear theres another GRM enthusiast in the hood

If i remember correctly you had what was left of a 79 pace car at one point. I drive out that way rather often.

In reply to dropstep:

Dont think I have had anything like that since I been in ohio city, but there's been so many different things over the years its hard to keep track

Color me jealous as well, looks like some solid machines. How old is the mill? If the motors don't have capacitors and are 110 they might be split phase ( doesn't matter if you mix up polarities runs the same direction either way) or repulsion induction. Both might be worth reusing.

I can vouch for the treadmill motors too. I made a belt sander with a chopped up chinese treadmill frame and motor. It's not pretty but I have yet to bog the thing down can't complain for $20, from Craigslist.

I have another made in Taiwan tread mill motor, in the old bandsaw. It didn't have the integrated flywheel the other has and is larger for the same hp rating.

Try to use a pulse wide modulated controller. It with keep the power through the various speeds. I have been getting away with using the treadmill controllers but again not pretty.

BrokenYugo wrote: Level" is a bit of a misnomer, it doesn't really need to be level, it needs both ends of the bed to be on the same plane (not twisted)

You're right, straight may be a better term. than level. If a lathe is put on a sled with casters, I suppose you could add screw feet at each end so that when moved into place the feet are run down to the floor, both to keep it stationary as well as to get everything lined up.

I think many of the online machinist guys (Keith Rucker, Tom Lipton, and so on) have videos about setting up lathes. They use a 3 point method of alignment, two points under the main head and one out at the far end of the bed.

In reply to jere:

I am not sure about the age of either of them...from what I can tell the mill has had some serious use...I havent had much luck looking online to find any concrete info as to year. Would be nice if I could find a website that would tell me by the serial# ..

I think its an M head and I think they might have stopped most production of them in the 60s or 70s (except special order) think I remember seeing that on practical machinist

In reply to stuart in mn:

Been watching a lot of keith ruckers, this old tony, and tublecane stuff of youtube..there are some skilled folks on there...I own them a debt of gratitude

I do hope in the future to add a means of locking/leveling both machines in the future, I have a thousand things to do to/with these machines...I am currently on step #7 or so...lol

So here is tonights project..

Morse taper #3 (sort of) its rough and doesn't have the best contact patch but it feels solid

Not sure if you can see the rubbed off spot to the left of the parts center