Machining wi' Sladey

[sladey]

Just thought I'd share this as I've shared other 'making' stuff over the years. For quite a while now I've been fascinated by machining - lathes and milling machines. It's something I've never had any training in other than watching YouTube videos, but the ability to actually create properly engineered bits for your car (or anything else for that matter) amazes me.

Recently one of the things that people quote as an amazing feature of the 3D printers is that you can use them to make a 3D printer. Well the Lathe was there a 100 years ago. Everything that is machined is a combination of cylindrical (lathe) and flat (milled) stuff.

My interest was further piqued by a guy on Pelican (profighter or something like that) who lives in Switzerland and basically seems to be constantly re manufacturing nuts and bolts and small parts for his 911 using his lathe. He seems to make them out of titanium and I thought it was incredibly cool.

I've been hanging my nose over numerous lathes on eBay for the last couple of years, and this year I decided to pull the trigger finally, and bought a Clarke CL500M - which is a small Chinese made lathe and milling machine. Ideally I'd like something older and British but I reasoned that for my current skill level (i.e. Zero) this is probably a good starting point - if I stick with it then I can go to something older, more substantial, and probably made in Nottingham (which a surprising number were!).

Anyway, here she is



The bench was included - it's not ideal but it's OK (after I'd cut it to length and re-welded it.




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[sladey]

So then it's a matter of learning how to use it - and I've always found the best way to do that is to actually make something you want - this forces you to actually solve problems.

One of the first things was the fine screw adjuster on the milling part of the machine - if you look at the milling part in the photo above you'll see it's broken off. Here is the broken bit on the bench



I'd bought a bunch of stock from local steel merchants and this included some fairly large diameter tube - that seemed a good place to start - first by cutting the 'stalk' down to size



Then drilling a hole in it



Chop it to length and tidy it up



Chemically blacken it (super-cool process)


Fit it onto the stalk


And in place with knurled outer face




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[911hillclimber]

Nice, buy the very best modern tools you can for it.
With the right tool bits the machine will give 100% more than tempting Ebay boxes of tools.

I recently bought a simple side and face with replaceable triangular tip for £15 (NEC Classic Car Show) and the difference to the Blue 'Myford' tools of 'bay is remarkable.
Suddenly you can cut stainless and brass straight after.
All the Clarks I looked at had huge back-lash but generally ok imho.

Having the milling attachment too is a real bonus.

I love my ex WW2 lathe!

[sladey]

Then I thought it was time to make something for the car. I'd had an issue earlier in the year where a spark plug blew out. It was actually because it hadn't been torqued up properly in the first place years ago, but putting it back in made me realize what a pain in the arse this was

I bought a cheap spark plug spanner from Halfords



Boy was this crap - the amount of slop in the universal joints was astounding. I thought making a more substantial replacement would be a good first car-related project.

First I took the plug-wrench part off. Then I got some round bar and the plan was to mill two flats in it so it would fit onto the plug socket exactly



Turns out that was a stupid plan - or at least the way I was going about it was stupid. My little mill had zero chance of cutting that piece held in that particular way. As soon as I tried to cut, things moved about.

I went on holiday and thought about it some more. Whilst away I ordered some engineering V-Blocks. Fantastic things. When I came back I tackled the problem from a different angle



Much better, and I managed to get it to fit


You'll note that the rod is still larger diameter than the bit it's going to join onto. I then turn down the whole width of it to match.

For the other end I found an old socket that was about the right diameter (I only wanted to use the 3/8 end of it - I think it was a 14mm socket) and I turned my rod down so it would fit into the other end



I then welded that socket on and then used the lathe to turn down the weld until it wasn't noticeable. I was then left with this



- which I was quite pleased with. I then blackened and knurled it to end up with the finished product



I was chuffed with myself and the thing actually worked as well!

However, around this time I remembered seeing something similar in the Porsche toolkit. I dug around by the spare wheel and sure enough, here it is



Whilst you could look on this as a waste of time, I was actually really pleased that I had basically reinvented what Porsche had done years before and done a similar job.




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[sladey]

OK One more project.

I won't go through all the detail on this one but I made a lathe stop - something I can quickly bolt to the bed of the lathe to physically top it smashing into the headstock (You get the smoothest finish when you automate the lathe - which basically sets it on a path to self-destruction unless you remember to stop it in time! A lathe stop prevents this)

I went from this idea


To this


And finally this


I added the nut half way down as that it what stops the lathe carriage, and it's got a second nut that locks it into place with hand pressure.



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[sladey]

I appreciate this has turned into a bit of show and tell but I'm absolutely loving learning about the lathe and the mill. Each problem is another challenge that helps me learn something more. I appreciate some of you have used lathes for years and some do it professionally. It's all new to me and I'm loving every minute of it

I've just ordered an old grinder (cue grinder jokes) off eBay so I can properly grind my own HSS cutting tools.

I've learned a lot from YouTube - my favorite channel is This Old Tony - great knowledge and a lovely dry sense of humor.

If you're thinking of having a go then I'd thoroughly recommend it - it's really rewarding and therapeutic to enter your own stuff


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[Bruce M]

Hero!
Have a permanent eBay search for local lathes but not bought one yet. Mostly too big or very broken.
Watching with interest

[hot66]

Superb.

I used to have a massive lathe and a milling machine that I bought from a friends estate when he passed away... They Could only be moved using a large jcb loader ... Unfortunately when I moved house they were just too big and had to go .... Ironically dirty cheap as no one wants the big kit

[defianty]

Great stuff Mark.

My Dad had a Myford lathe and I remember all the small bits and pieces he made for all sorts of things. Sadly after he passed away I had no option but to sell it due to lack of space. There's been numerous times since where I wish I still had it. Just a couple of weeks ago when replacing my pedal cluster bushes I thought 'could have made better ones myself with the lathe'.

[Mr Pharmacist]

Brilliant! I've been looking into getting something like that too. I need to build myself a new shed first though.

I was taught how to use a lathe and milling machine at college 30 years ago but have forgotten everything so I'll head over to YouTube and check out Tonys channel

[alanchester]

Top work!

[KS]

Brilliant! I am in awe of your 'let's give it a go' attitude. I had it once - and then I got old and lazy... Envious!

[911hillclimber]

A new dawn for you!
I use my Drummond often each week when working on the old motorcycle and the race car.
The DIY satisfaction is so good.
10/10!

[jtparr]

Top man...often thought about buying a lathe...just have no where to put it....sadly

That blacking kit is good isn't it....have used it on a number of components for the E Type

[DustyM]