Is A Metal Lathe & Milling Machine In My Future? Advise Needed.

[nicotime]

Why do you say it doesnt like carbide? The only problem with using carbide would be excessive play in the carriage and spindle. For SS you need to take deeper cuts...slow speed..faster feed......if you try doing shallow cuts SS will work harden. The only other issue is the horsepower available....for those deeper cut it takes the power to do so. You could also try M42 Cobalt bits with high rake angles...its more forgiving than carbide...if you have the power that is.

Nice resto by the way!!

 

[tazz]

Well maybe I'm saying it wrong about the machine not liking carbide, it is just a lot harder or more work to use and I'm not really setup to grind and dress carbide. Unfortunately when I got this lathe it pretty much came with nothing in the form of tooling, the one big thing missing is a collet setup and the only working chuck is the 4 jaw that is pictured. It seems like every time I want to invest in stuff for the lathe other things take priority. Hey, thanks for the kind words on the resto.

OH by the way, I don't mean to hijack this thread from the OP. I'll figure out where to start one for this...

 

[nicotime]

Ah I see....your right...sometimes getting the tooling just right is more involved (and expensive) than the actual machining of the part. I love to see the old machines brought back to life....and they will probably outlast the newer stuff if maintained well.

Good luck and most of all have fun with it!!

 

[urquidezj]

And watch the chuck key! Please, I learned quickly where it belonged lol