Posting project outcome

Good point! In the good old days of usenet (SCNR) this was common practice. But often enough, projects take too much time to be finished and readers lost the context of the original problem.

Anyhow, I'd like to read too, how the OP did it and that he finished successfully.

Nick

I'll second that. After you've posted a question here, it would be nice to hear the outcome.

Yeah, toss in my "second that", also. There seems to be an undercurrent of selfishness mixed with generosity on RCM - particularly of late. Oftentimes, it appears those in position to benefit from generous advice are the least forthcoming with feedback. IMO, there are few on RCM that are so accomplished they can't appreciate learning the results of their good advice.

Bob Swinney

I'd even settle for seeing a simple "thank you" once in a while from some of these guys-including a few of the regulars...

My Sony V3 does 30 FPS. Likely not fast enough for some purposes but good enough for others.

Wes S

Well, I try to post a thank you if the thread is still current. Sometimes the advice comes MONTHS before the project actually gets done, especially if scrounging or buying expensive tools is required. I got a lot of advice on my Sheldon 15" lathe rebuild, but it took 22 months to complete the job. I did toss in a few progress reports, and I should have taken more pictures. At some point, you just get into the job and WANT IT FINISHED! I've never had a major project run so long before, and it was partly my inexperience and partly because I had no absolutely no idea whatsoever as to where I could find somebody to grind that huge lathe bed for me. So, I attacked it with a die grinder and Cratex wheels! Well, it worked, but it was SLOW. Basically hand scraping for something that is too hard to scrape. I then put Moglice on the bottom of the carriage and scraped that into proper alignment and fit.

See

So, if I forgot to thank anyone for any help offered or comments on the process, thanks!

Yet another big thanks to Fitch, who provided the VFD seen on the wall above the lathe for just the cost of postage!

I have also gotten some REALLY useful help from Ernie Leimkuhler and others in setting up my eBay TIG welder and learning to do bad TIG welding.

All in all, my progress in learning to do stuff is SO VASTLY better than in the old days where I really had nobody to learn from! A friend of mine and I bought our Bridgeport mill in about 1982, and I was pretty isolated.

Jon

HOLY S*IT! That is brilliant! I would call someone complete nuts trying to grind a lathe-bed with itself as a guide. But it obviously worked.

You really gave me an idea how to regrind my surface-grinder's table.

Brilliant, really! bookmarked!

Thanks a lot for sharing! Nick

On Tue, 21 Nov 2006 08:22:05 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm, "Robert Swinney" quickly quoth:

Which reminds me, I haven't seen Fred Fowler III posts since he offered--and sent to me--the dial caliper-zeroing springs.

THANKS, FRED!

-------------------------------------------- -- I'm in touch with my Inner Curmudgeon. --

Well, it actually worked pretty well, but just duplicated the sag in the bed. Either 27 years of gravity or the stresses induced in the flame hardeneing process put a downward bow in the bed. it was low about .003" in the middle. That probably would have been good enough, but I am a recovering perfectionist. And, this is a truly TOP-NOTCH lathe, with the most amazing design features in any toolroom lathe I've ever seen the inner workings of. So, I wanted it to be better. Well, 22 months later, I got the bed straight and true to about .0002" over the full 6 feet. I then put brass tip setscrews into the carriage and cast Moglice bedway liner into the carriage. The setscrews lift the carriage to make room for the Moglice, and align it with the spindle. That was the part that had me sweating, but I got it aligned quite well, and the lathe runs just great.

I am not the only one to have come up with this idea of using the tailstock ways as a guide for a travelling grinder. But, I don't think I actually heard of this from somebody else, first.

The finishing up of the bed was a problem. Carborundum was way too fast and rough. Rubberized Cratex wheels worked well, but also left an orange-peel finish. I finally tried muslin-bonded Cratex wheels (white) and they were awfully slow, but left an excellent finish.

Jon

Your quite right Tom - my problem is, I ask a question, get lots of good advice - usually along with the resultant I have to learn/do something else before I can solve the original problem!

Received HEAPS of good stuff here - and as a rank beginner, its an enormous amount of information that I needs to put in some sort of coherent order....

And when its not too embarrassing, will start to talk about what I have achieved.....

Cases in point - yesterday, comprehensive answer to my question about how to do a 2MT taper. Understood the replies, but dont have the skills/tooling to do it (yet).

Asked a question about chatter in my 9 by 20 - again, heaps of information, culminating in a link to the Yahoo 9 by 20 group where I downloaded a rebuild manual by Cletus Berkley - thats going to be my Xmas project, and have obtained a piece of steel plate to make a new toolpost/topslide mount - hopefully, be able to bandsaw it to shape at school on Monday...

Then, when the lathe is a bit sturdier, and in better alignment, and I have made up some adapters to fit the dogs I have so I can turn between centers, and I figure out how to part off correctly, I will be able to have a go at a few more things. (like a decent 2MT taper...)

Bloody hell - this is getting complicated...

Links , lurking - so much info freely given - thank you, all of you.

Andrew VK3BFA.

Andrew VK3BFA.

Nothing to excuse for.

There are some reading here and they want to know about Moglice. I read their instructions and it really sounds attractive. Is that stuff expensive? Was it good to handle (except of your mishap)?

I posted you link to a German forum (you might have got a spike on you number of hits). One responded, that he did about the same on a big lathe (3m between centers) by attaching the grinder to the tailstock and pushing it back and forth. The tailstock is massive enough to work in this case. Not so on smaller lathes.

Yes, that stuff tends to rub and smear. I assume you are not talking about the grinding with the grinder, but the final touch.

Nick

Time elapses, people get busy, threads disappear from our newsreaders.............

If you're interested, send the OP an email asking him to report back here. Probably most people would be happy to. Randy

I think that the original suggestion is great. I always try to follow up on whatever I tried to do if I get to the point of having any results, god or bad.