Mill or lathe? FAQ

I am gathering courage to cut a piece of 0.7 mm brass in a circular shape to fit one of the 114 mm dials. I have pretty much decided to sandwich it between two pieces of wood and use a spiral cutter in my plunge router. I have a pretty good jig for small circles from Lee Valley which should be just the thing for this. I expect to get a better result than trying to cut it with snips.

I have not even got to the stage of thinking about engraving. Actually, not strictly true: I tried manual engraving and sucked at it. Most of my faces are etched.

I was thinking along the pottery wheel lines...I am trying to visualize the sawmill...

The more I read this thread and the more I think about it the more I wonder if I am neglecting wood as a material to make some of these helpful things. ABout a month ago I read through a book on old technologies - the one thing that got my attention was making wooden bearings.

For the steel I found that magents are far the best *provided one is careful about heat*. I have killed a few by prolonged grinding of a small part held by four magnets which were attached to a wooden base. It is less of an issue with the bigger parts (and now with added awareness and caution). I re-made the jig for the small parts so it is all metal and conducts the heat away better.

I found that glue is great at rest, but the heat of grinding releases the glue and things start to move a bit, if not fly. I would have thought that for a rotating table at any speed for sending purposes symmetry will be an issue.

I made something similar with epoxy. It worked up to a point...

Indeed. That is pretty much what I do now if the surface is flat, without any lips etc. Sand paper in an angle grinder (120 and 220 grit), follow with palm sander down to 400 grit. It does not have to be flat completely, just

SOunds like something I should look at. The House of Tools sella "drill press lathe attachment" for $29.95. I have not seen it...

I think I undeerstood most of it. Anyway, I saved your post for further reference. So thanks again.

It really depends on the parts you are going to make. Are there more mill parts, or lathe parts?

You can mill on a lathe sorta..and you can turn on a mill..kinda sorta

Combination machines give you the worst of both millers and lathes.

This is actually a decent enough lathe...

#1 question...what is the biggest part you are likely to very turn on a lathe, both diameter and length?

Id say that for most hobby work...a 12x24 or 13 x 36 would hande

Next big question..are you needing to work in metric, or English units? Many lathes wont do metric and if they do...they dont do English.

Since the value of the dollar is low now compared to the Canadian...lots of lathes available in California, if you are in BC..its entirely doable.

Gunner

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crisis maintain their neutrality", John F. Kennedy.