Endless lathe chips (re-adjusted the clutch on a Clausing 6913 lathe)

That was a funny post. I like it when I can Saab with laughter. You must be the Scion of a comedian. I hope I don't have to Dodge any tomatoes from my bad puns. I better pull up my Sachs and put on my shoes and run. Even better, I can Triumph by jumping on my Mustang to get away. Earache

If you run a lathe you should have a chip hook, a long steel rod with short 90 deg. bend on the end and a handle like a file handle on the other.

John

I've never failed to break mild steel chips. Throw feed at it until it breaks---and it will. Bear in mind, I'm speaking of operating industrially rated equipment, where power isn't an issue. Home type machines often lack power, rigidity and the speed required (carbide).

Stainless can be a different issue, with which I agree. Stick to the free machining grades and it's a non-issue. I prefer them (416, 303 Se, then

303 S) to almost anything where machining and chip breaking is concerned. No problems with work hardening----just use sharp tools and keep the cut moving.

I have experienced materials that refuse to break. In such a case, I try for a coil spring. It's much safer than strings.

Harold

I've never failed to break mild steel chips (speaking of roughing---all bets are off for finish cuts). Increase feed rate until it breaks, If it fails to do so and you run out of power, decrease the width of the chip breaker, or increase the depth---anything to cause the chip to curl tighter. Avoid an abrupt inner corner at the exit, however, so chips can't stack up.

When roughing, mild steel breaks perfectly well when conditions are right.

Harold

My little belt-driven SB10L, which is a more typical hobbyist's machine, doesn't like that kind of treatment. So I fiddle with grinding chipbreakers into my HSS tools until I get the best results I can.

Sometimes, machining some hot-rolled crap (which I try to avoid), ain't nuthin' that's going to break them, even pushing the feedrate to the machine's limits.

I have a really good bird's-nest hook.

I have some cool-looking ones. d8-)

I'm sure that experienced commercial machinists would look at my setups and could give me a solution, but it's not much of a problem for me, anyway, because I don't often machine the materials that give that trouble.

Right now, I'm not machining anything. I have to replace the belt on my machine. Jim Rozen gave me some belt material but now I have to decide how to join it. Do you have any glue recommendations? I can make a clean scarf with no problem.

Sorry, no. I have nothing to offer. I've never been faced with that problem, and have not been around the flat belt machines. Virtually all of my experience has come in industry, where such machines were not found.

The only SB that I ever experienced was a 17" Turnado (geared head), which I found to be borderline junk. It couldn't stand up to the rigors of the production shop. Not trying to be rude, just reporting what I experienced. There's a huge number of satisfied SB owners, I know.

Luck with the belt.

With those sticky materials that don't break well with HSS, a narrower and deeper breaker can be the solution, but it's not easy hitting the perfect balance, as a narrow breaker tends to trap the chip. I have a lot of experience with HSS----I used it alongside brazed carbide and insert tooling up to the day I closed the doors on my commercial (non CNC) shop. The real negative is that it's not easy sharpening once installed in a setup, unlike insert carbide. Registration is lost when the tool is removed for sharpening. For CNC operations, it most likely wouldn't serve well at all, but for the guy running manual machines, it really is a great solution to machining. That, of course, depends on one's ability to fashion tools with the correct geometry.

Harold

I have a lot of old brazed carbide tools, but sharpening them is a problem and I rarely waste my time with them. I use carbide mostly for turning fiberglass and other abrasive materials. When I'm building fishing rods and making ferrules, I cut enough of it that HSS just doesn't keep an edge.

However, I'll keep the narrow chip breaker in mind. And I'll keep looking for a good glue for the belt.

Thanks, Harold.

Wasn't there a recent thread about joining flat belts?

Anyway, we used to use hot animal glue - hoof and hide - to join flat leather belts. The length of the scarf is covered (I think) in the Machinery's Handbook but is several inches.

We normally used those patented splices that look like a row of staples for most machines though.

Hey Ed,

How is Jim doing? His name gets in my thoughts every so often 'cause I miss him here. Good guy. I know why he isn't here, and that is really too bad for us.

Please say "Hi !!!" from me.

Take care.

Brian Lawson, Bothwell, Ontario (Used to be Windsor, Ontario when Jim was still here)

I haven't been in touch with him for a long while, Brian, but I must do so. I'm making a note now to say hi from you when I do.

Last I heard, he was doing great.

Yeah, but there's got to be something better now.

Dobie Dave has one of those staplers that he'll let me use, but it's 'way too wide for my belt. The one on the lathe now is stapled. But I figured I'd just glue it.

I wonder how that polyurethane gorilla glue, or similar, would work?

I really hate to wrestle that 3' Brillo pad out of the chip tray!

And -- you can also lace them with leather and a bunch of holes. The leather on the pulley side runs parallel to the belt edges, and that on the other side runs diagonally between rows of holes. An old South Bend _How to Run a Lathe_ manual used to cover that.

Enjoy, DoN.

I use that stuff for a variety of things, including gluing my son's soccer shoes back together, and it's true that it's somewhat flexible and has great adhesion.

I just don't think it's flexible *enough*. Something like Pliobond or Shoe Goo would be more flexible. But I don't know if they have enough sheer strength.

I'll probably wind up calling some adhesives expert. Cripes, I used to write long articles about adhesive assembly, but the adhesives I know about are almost as old as hide glue.

Yeah, that's my other option. You have to cut relief grooves in the belt with a woodcarver's gouge, but it looks doable.

Skiving, though, is easier for me. So I'm going to try gluing.

The best stuff is called Barge cement. It's alike pliobond, but a lot better on leather. It is what shoe makers use to attach soles.

That being said, the stuff is hard to find (just like shoemakers) and a gallon would last me 20 lifetimes.

I have used Gorilla glue on my lathe belt and it is still working fine 10+ years later. I think that, although the dried glue is fairly rigid, it is able to fracture into a series of narrow rigid joints that roll around the pulleys like tank treads

It's also pretty similar to rubber cement, used in the "contact cement" mode (apply, dry, and stick.) At least 20 year old memories say so.

Either of those is pretty easy to find and might work well enough if you are not going with metal lacing (which is what I prefer, since it can be undone.) You may also want to actually lace (the leather version from which the metal version takes it's name) the joint as well.

I'll second the plug for Barge. They have several products that may work. See:

link to a brochure:

It seems to me that I found some sellers at Amazon. Otherwise try shoe repair suppliers. You might try talking to them directly. With your background you might be able to score some samples to evaluate :)