Homemade Lathe Part 7

Homemade Lathe Part 7

Compound Slide & Face Plate

The compound slide is where I concentrated this past weekend. It has the potential to be a interchange point for this lathe that I hope make numerous options for.

Below are the filed surfaces that have been brought down by a rasp, course & fine files to as close to true as I can judge. The ways also required a fair amount of work to clean-up. All fasteners are 3/16 #26 1", either round or flat head as function required.

The "T" plates are 1/8" by 9/16ths Cold Rolled Steel, this common strap material had to have major sanding and filing of edges to remove a couple of years of rust and the factory ragged edge. In Canada the Metric system and the mix of die/tap combo packs makes a challenge when trying to purchase fasteners, as the thread pitch is rarely on the packaging.

I found the exact screws I needed at Canadian Tire, but had to go to Home Hardware to get the exact tap. A neat tip I picked up from rec.crafts.metalworking is to use bacon grease as a cutting lubricant. I have a can perpetually on the go now, and it works great! I also have 2 tubs from a roast goose we had at Xmas. The only think is to keep them in the beer fridge in warm weather so they don't turn on you...

Nothing gave me more pleasure than to finally remove all evidence of my initial head stock. My enthusiasm for this project probably kept my friends from cracking-wise about the pathetic design and execution associated with the original. On a Saturday night over a few friendly hands of cards on different occasions in the shop, I'd see some sidelong looks that seemed to cast a shadow over the head.

If we were drinking hard liquor, I'm sure the truth would eventually have surfaced. Regardless, all 4 castings were reborn as the 8" faceplate pictured above.

Here is a new defect that is related to the volume metal being poured.

There was enough weight in the pour to actually lift the sand (approx 4" thick) and create an additional 1/4" to 1/2" at the base of the sprue/feeder.

I'm still using foam and loose sand the only solution that I can see to stick with foam is to bury the molds even deeper in the sand for additional weight.

Below is a buddy of mine (Ralph) that stops in on occasion to see the progress being made on what ever project is at hand. Ralph has just finished fixing a critical flaw I made when drilling the hole for the cross-slide lead screw. Being a veteran here at the shop Ralph isn't shy about getting his hands dirty as I simply can't sit and shoot the shit for any extended period of time as the weekends are too short as it is..

The last picture is the state of the lathe as I shut-down the shop in anticipation of another week of work to sustain the lavish life-style that has become my hallmark...

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