I bought another lathe, and im gonna be making a heavy duty front cat head. I am looking for a piece of 6" diameter solid steel rod. I only need it to be 6" long and i cant find anything i can afford. I have found a few pieces, but my god they want a weeks pay for the dam thing. Anything from 5 3/4 to 6 1/4 " diameter. I dont really care what kind of steel it is as long as i can machine it. 4140 would be nice, stainless would be great!! Where can i find a piece or a drop?
I need a chunk of steel!!
- Thread starter skeetlee
- Start date
Inside diameter will be 2'' i am thinking. Not any bigger than 2 i dont think. I am going to make a cat head like Alex wheeler shows in his on line videos. He used small v blocks with 3/8 ball bearings to hold his barrels in place. Hard to explain. I can see where this method would be completely stress free and i think id like to try it. Anyway i dont know yet how much room i will need for my inside diameter. I dont know how hard or how much room my fat little fingers are going to need to place the ball bearing inside the mini v block. ill just have to start small and see.
The last cat head i owned, i bought from grizzly. the material wasn't particularly thick and the 3/8 brass tipped jacking bolt were not very rigid. I had chatter like you wouldn't believe. I plan to over build this one so its nice and rigid.
I really appreciate the help, and i will need to pay you something. shipping at the very least. much appreciated, Truly!! Lee
LGP
13467 N CR 400E
Mattoon Illinois 61938
Feel free to call or text. thanks again!! 217-246-0787
The last cat head i owned, i bought from grizzly. the material wasn't particularly thick and the 3/8 brass tipped jacking bolt were not very rigid. I had chatter like you wouldn't believe. I plan to over build this one so its nice and rigid.
I really appreciate the help, and i will need to pay you something. shipping at the very least. much appreciated, Truly!! Lee
LGP
13467 N CR 400E
Mattoon Illinois 61938
Feel free to call or text. thanks again!! 217-246-0787
jackie schmidt
New member
I might have a piece of 17-4 Stainless 6 inch H1150 I can send you. The machinability is pretty tough.
I have LOT of 1022 HR laying around, anywhere from 5 inch diameter to 12 inch, mostly drops from jobs. If the other offers don't work out, PM me.
The 1022 machines great, and is easy to work with.
I have LOT of 1022 HR laying around, anywhere from 5 inch diameter to 12 inch, mostly drops from jobs. If the other offers don't work out, PM me.
The 1022 machines great, and is easy to work with.
For what is is worth I have chambered barrels in my truing fixture for quite some time and it works well. Mine was overbuilt from the start since I had plenty of material laying around and I soon realized that I could hold a barrel in it mainly because my lathe is big enough a barrel won't reach through the spindle. I made hollow set screws with brass vee tips that inserted in the end and even had miniature thrust bearings between the screw and tip (which I never used). Mostly I turn a true spot on the muzzle of known diameter and hold it in one of several aluminum bushings that have an o-ring seal and insert that up into the spindle. Once in a while especially for a long range or long cartridge or if the bore shows a significant amount of curve I will use the cat head to get better alignment of the breech end and clock the muzzle.
Now I wrote all that to say IMHO skip the vees and bearings and just use flat tipped set screws and hold the barrel it works just fine and keeps things simple! Again just my opinion....
I'm sure I'll have a piece of DOM in 4140 or 1018 with a hole that small if not you can have a solid chunk of 410ss if you want to hassle machining it. I just might have 416 if you are lucky!
Now I wrote all that to say IMHO skip the vees and bearings and just use flat tipped set screws and hold the barrel it works just fine and keeps things simple! Again just my opinion....
I'm sure I'll have a piece of DOM in 4140 or 1018 with a hole that small if not you can have a solid chunk of 410ss if you want to hassle machining it. I just might have 416 if you are lucky!
Skeet,
If my math is correct, you now have 3 lathes. And I thought I was bad...
What did you buy?
Justin
Justin
I do! LOL I love the dam things, what can i say.. Actually my prized little south bend Heavy 10 " new production model" is no longer being made. I guess the company that was making this machine, didnt like or couldnt make any money with Shiraz quality demands. Such a great little machine too. Im afraid im not going to be able to obtain any parts now if something goes south..
I am always looking on craigs list and what not for machinery. I came across a 14" turn pro just a couple hours away. The machine hadn't seen much use and it came with a really nice DRO. I made a crazy offer and the folks took it. The machine looks great and everything feels really nice. I am having a stand built for it this week. So im hoping by Sunday ill get to play a little with it. I dont like the single Phase motor, but ill just have to see how it cuts. Ill probably replace the motor though with 3 phase and a VFD?? As i understand it, these turn pro units are Tiwanees made and not china made so it should be a nice unit. I hope!
I am still looking for an original heavy 10. If i ever find a nice one, ill own it!! I need a smaller Mill as well.. Did i say i love this stuff!! Lee
I do! LOL I love the dam things, what can i say.. Actually my prized little south bend Heavy 10 " new production model" is no longer being made. I guess the company that was making this machine, didnt like or couldnt make any money with Shiraz quality demands. Such a great little machine too. Im afraid im not going to be able to obtain any parts now if something goes south..
I am always looking on craigs list and what not for machinery. I came across a 14" turn pro just a couple hours away. The machine hadn't seen much use and it came with a really nice DRO. I made a crazy offer and the folks took it. The machine looks great and everything feels really nice. I am having a stand built for it this week. So im hoping by Sunday ill get to play a little with it. I dont like the single Phase motor, but ill just have to see how it cuts. Ill probably replace the motor though with 3 phase and a VFD?? As i understand it, these turn pro units are Tiwanees made and not china made so it should be a nice unit. I hope!
I am still looking for an original heavy 10. If i ever find a nice one, ill own it!! I need a smaller Mill as well.. Did i say i love this stuff!! Lee
jackie schmidt
New member
Skeet,
I feel you, dude...I just bought an absolutely cherry, loaded to the gills, Emco Super 11 which temporarily brought my lathe count up to 3. Sadly, due to space considerations, my Heavy 10 went down the road, so I've ONLY got two now. I think it's some sort of sickness...
When I get the Emco all dialed in, I'll post a report on it. So far, it's impressed the hell out of me.
I did something similar to your cathead for truing actions and used a piece of DOM. It worked perfect.
Justin
jackie schmidt
New member
Lee, did you get my PM?
Lee I used the cheap bald eagle cat head and modified it after watching Alex Wheelers video. Here is what I came up with. Very rigid and worth the work to change it. It pivots great and I don't bend barrels with dual cat heads anymore. I use high pressure grease in the small steel blocks to keep the ball bearings and blocks together.
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Skeet, I had been planning on one of those Grizzly-SB 10s and I was disappointed to see that it was discontinued. Just this morning I was looking at the Grizzly website and I noticed that the SB 10 is back on the website showing projected availability May 2018. So I guess we'll see.
Scott
jackie schmidt
New member
Get on the UPS website, it will direct you to the correct place and forms to fill out. Fill out the info. Pay by credit card.They will forward me by email a barcode that I can copy to place on the package.
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mike cockcroft
New member
lee
I made mine too small to hold on to when installing. Wish the were longer. Going to drill a small hole in them and insert a piece of wire to hold on to them while setting the screws down on them
Used a 1.250 router bit to mill the bottom to match the barrel shank.
I made mine too small to hold on to when installing. Wish the were longer. Going to drill a small hole in them and insert a piece of wire to hold on to them while setting the screws down on them
Used a 1.250 router bit to mill the bottom to match the barrel shank.
Attachments
I am going to use 1/2" jacking bolts with 3/8" ball bearings. what i plan on doing is drilling a hole in the center of the bolt and inserting a 1/16"x 1/2" long earth magnet into the front of the bolt. this little magnet should be just strong enough to hold onto the ball bearing while i place the barrel block into place. I will report on how it works. lee
Mike Bryant
Active member
Dang, Skeet, move down to Houston and I will sell you an entire Machine Shop
Jackie, I hope your machine shop doesn't come with excess water covering all the machinery and floor?