Have to Move the "Big" Lathe

I finally got around to wiring my lathe for reverse today . I'm finding the need to make metric threads , and on my lathe that means a set of transposing gears and you can't disengage the half nuts or you lose register . Gotta back out of the cut and rewind back to the beginning .

I didn't put the leveling feet on today. I just walked one end out far enough with a straight bar and block with one foot. It was faster than replacing the bad fitting. Looks like the rubber failed inside a push fit connector.

I finally got around to wiring my lathe for reverse today . I'm finding the need to make metric threads , and on my lathe that means a set of transposing gears and you can't disengage the half nuts or you lose register . Gotta back out of the cut and rewind back to the beginning . Snag

------------------------- This says you can disengage them, but it still isn't as convenient as quickly moving the carriage back by hand and setting up the next cut while waiting for the thread dial mark.

Instead of releasing the half nuts I pull up the belt engagement lever which stops the spindle and leadscrew almost instantly. After the motor coasts down I finish the cut by hand to the end hole or stack of previous chips by moving the exposed cone pulley, easy enough with back gear reduction. When done I V-chisel out the chips and smooth the thread end with a triangular file. For me the well spaced controls on a South Bend are very convenient and I appreciate the smoothly sculpted castings over bulkier square machined components. I don't ask it to give the power of a gear head lathe.

On my inch lathe with the 70 position Quick Change gearbox I need two transposing ratios to get all the metric threads I want. They are the standard 100/127 plus 120/127 for finer threads for optics. As the threading label was missing I made one up as a spreadsheet and printed it. Linking the transposing ratio into the cell formulas of a copy of it gives the metric modulus for each gearbox setting. In Britain pipe thread pitches are different and the spreadsheet won't be correct.

Boston lathe change gears are meant to go on a double splined center bushing that couples a pair of them together. The bushing bore for the thread pitch that matches my lathe's tumbler and QC box input gears is smaller than the sliding post on the banjo so I machined a new post and base. I could also have made or bought a plain bushing with the right OD and bore but no splines and bolted the gears together.

P.S. They says its the humidity, not the heat that gets you. Well when its over 115F the heat will definitely kill you, but a flood in the shop raise the humidity to southern swamp land levels. At only 95 (normally nice outdoor weather for me) the humidity after the flood was miserable while I was moving the lathe and fixing the plumbing.

P.S. They says its the humidity, not the heat that gets you. Well when its over 115F the heat will definitely kill you, but a flood in the shop raise the humidity to southern swamp land levels. At only 95 (normally nice outdoor weather for me) the humidity after the flood was miserable while I was moving the lathe and fixing the plumbing. Bob La Londe

------------------------------ The highest I've acclimated to was 105F when I lived in a drafty and poorly insulated top floor apartment, really a finished attic. My father's family is from Georgia and I didn't mind the summer heat there after two weeks. Two summers ago I was running the sawmill in 95F heat, though under a rain canopy.

Mom's side is colonial New England. I can also acclimate to cold like them but it takes a while. I'm not nearly as cold tolerant as the Native Americans I knew, just pretty good for a white guy. When I was little the bedrooms were unheated and the house cooled quickly after the last evening coal fire died. I still heat with wood, the original plus my added insulation hold the heat much longer.

Now my resting comfort range is low 80's indoors in summer and mid to high

I aim for mid 70's both summer and winter . I can handle a bit cooler in winter , but with the humidity here over about 75 or so I just don't like it . Probably comes from those Utah high mountain desert summers while I was growing up . If the humidity got over 35% it was raining ...

If you're referring to BSP threads why mention it as they're inch threads and typically differ from NPT by 1TPI, excepting 1/2" and 3/4" which have the same pitch. The ISO pipe thread is BSP.

I grew up doing summer jobs in the grapes and the cotton. We were glad to get them. Kid crews chopping cotton and working the packing sheds. We got more work done and typically got paid better than the labor camp crews made up of "adults." They didn't even hire the labor camps for the packing sheds. Acclimatized is a strong word. I can do something I enjoy without to much whining in the desert in the summer time up to around 110F unless its humid if I have plenty of water. Under 100F and low humidity, I'm great. High humidity? F this s*it!

My wife and I used to ride our motorcycles everywhere come Hell or high... well, come Hell. Not much high water around here. We'd stop at every stop and water up. On bad days we soaked our helmets and our riding gear on the hottest days, and everything would by dry by the next stop. We rode in rain, fog, cold, a lot of hot, and once in half a mile of lemons. I'll give her credit. I mostly did it from my rocking chair (FLHT or GL1200). She did it from that damned kidney grinder Fatboy of hers. After riding that thing I don't think I would ever own a softail myself. I've ridden Paughco save-yer springers that were a better ride.

I'm getting older. I can still do most things I need to do, but I go slower, grab a pair of gloves, and try to do the worst things on the better days if I can. If I have to go rescue my son's car from along the freeway on a 118F degree day I can still do it. I'm just gonna bitch about it a whole lot.

If you're referring to BSP threads why mention it as they're inch threads and typically differ from NPT by 1TPI, excepting 1/2" and 3/4" which have the same pitch. The ISO pipe thread is BSP.

---------------------------------- The standard thread pitch choices on a US Heavy 10 lathe 70 speed QC gearbox are:

US pipe threads standards were established before there was much steam engine trade between Britain and the US. We imported a few British locomotives at first, then diverged because we weren't as limited by your loading gauge and right-of-way restrictions, or Watt's objection to high boiler pressure. Inside-the-frame cylinders and one pair of very large driving wheels never caught on here. Our steamboat engines developed independently from Oliver Evan's designs.

At 73 I can still do most of what I used to do in my thirties - but it TAKES LONGER, and it HURTS A LOT MORE and I pay for it A LOT LONGER!!!!! Just did another 10 mile ride on the bicycle again today, after doing one yesterday. It's exercise that doesn't bother may back after my fusion last October, with the bike designed and adjusted to fit me properly.