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skeetlee

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After spending a lot of time and really thinking it through I think I am going to part with my new/ import SB heavy 10. The machine is really quite nice, but there are a couple features I don't care for. Anyway I will need to find a replacement as having two machines in my shop is a must. The lathe I am really thinking about is the machine I was going to buy before I bought the New SB. That lathe is a jet belt drive 13x40. The belt drive can be a bit of a pain, but the threads this machine will cut can be flawless to the eye, I can but that machine for what I will get out of the new SB after I sell it. Another machine I like is the acer. This machine is a gear head so I worry a little about thread chatter. Maybe I shouldn't?? The new SB I have cuts extremely nice threads, so the machine I replace it with will also need to. I guess what I am after are some other machine recommendations. Anyone have a machine they would highly recommend? Lee
 
I have a gear head jet along with the south bends. It cuts threads as good as the others. Its all in the tooling and tool holders and oil.
 
My big G0509 Grizzly cuts really nice threads the majority of the time. Every once in a while on certain barrels " no particular brand" I can see very faint chatter marks. I was told that it might be from the gears??? Lee
 
Lee,

Have you tried slowing the lathe as much as you can when taking the last small passes on the threads?

Did you make it to move snow shis morning?

Jim
 
Hey Lee another thing i do that helps alot on the gear lathes is my last cut ill take off .001 and then do that same exact cut 3 more times. Seems to cut very faintly on the first 2 but the 3rd polishes it real nice
 
Dusty Stevens said:
I have a gear head jet along with the south bends. It cuts threads as good as the others. Its all in the tooling and tool holders and oil.
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Supposedly some of the early thread finish problems with those Jets could be traced back to the spindle drive motor those were shipped with. (May have been a 50 cycle motor in our 60 cycle world?)
 
Not that I am anybody, but I did talk to someone who is somebody (who will not post here) and they had the same thoughts as Jerry - that little chatter that you see on one side of the threads is due to cycling of the motor and not necessarily a gear vs belt issue.

Mike
 
savet06 said:
Not that I am anybody, but I did talk to someone who is somebody (who will not post here) and they had the same thoughts as Jerry - that little chatter that you see on one side of the threads is due to cycling of the motor and not necessarily a gear vs belt issue.

Mike
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A geared headstock, unless it is terribly flimsy and has peanut butter for spindle bearings is not going to transmit "noise" into the finish of the workpiece. Most all large lathes have geared heads. Besides, this faceting I have seen on some threads would probably help prevent galling in these stainless action/stainless barrel assemblies.
 
Let me ask this. If I buy a single phase machine, is there anything I can do to the motor to make it run cleaner? That is, if it is even needed. Lee
 
jlcprec said:
Lee,

Have you tried slowing the lathe as much as you can when taking the last small passes on the threads?

Did you make it to move snow shis morning?

Jim
Click to expand...

Agree with Jim, at the first sign of chatter, slow it down hard. When you get the chatter out you can speed it back up, but then use a heavier feed. Light weight spindles with no mass, combined with flimsy tooling, light feeds and high speeds would be my first suspect. You can actually add mass to the spindle in the form of a flywheel, which usually would be the chuck, something to consider when making aluminum spiders and chucks.
But I'm with Jerry, since I don't sell barrels, I don't sorry about faint chatter.
 
Lee, I sent you an email about a M300 Harrison that is as new. One of our fellow shooters and beginning gunsmiths passed away. He also left a new mill.
 
Thanks men, I also agree that faint chatter makes no difference. However, some type A personalities cant deal with it, when you hand it to them. Thanks Butch, I appreciate the info. Lee
 
If your lathe runs 2 belts from the motor ,make sure they are balance ie replace both at the same time .

OR just run one belt .

chris
 
An almost new mill will be for sale also. It is a Valtrax GS16V 9"X49". It has 3 axis DRO, 3 axis power feed, and a power draw bar. It is a 3HP variable speed model. That and the lathe are what I call new. When I get pricing and a list of tooling I will let you know. I do have photos of the machines.
 
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skeetlee said:
After spending a lot of time and really thinking it through I think I am going to part with my new/ import SB heavy 10. The machine is really quite nice, but there are a couple features I don't care for. Anyway I will need to find a replacement as having two machines in my shop is a must. The lathe I am really thinking about is the machine I was going to buy before I bought the New SB. That lathe is a jet belt drive 13x40. The belt drive can be a bit of a pain, but the threads this machine will cut can be flawless to the eye, I can but that machine for what I will get out of the new SB after I sell it. Another machine I like is the acer. This machine is a gear head so I worry a little about thread chatter. Maybe I shouldn't?? The new SB I have cuts extremely nice threads, so the machine I replace it with will also need to. I guess what I am after are some other machine recommendations. Anyone have a machine they would highly recommend? Lee
Click to expand...

What is it about the SB H10 you don't like ? I was thinking about getting one.
 
ergonomics and size. I like using a DRO and it would be tricky to attach one on this machine. Pricy to. the controls don't match my other machine and I don't care for that. the half nut in particular. machine cuts just fine. actually I get better threads on this little machine compared to my big machine. I want a medium size machine!! LOL!! Ill probably buy a 13" Lee
 
chris k said:
If your lathe runs 2 belts from the motor ,make sure they are balance ie replace both at the same time .

OR just run one belt .

chris
Click to expand...

Roger. When I bough my 14x40 it had a pair of cheapie belts that would stretch. Ordered a matched set of Gates USA belts from my industrial supplier and solved a lot of problems.

Don't run one belt.
 
I'm kinda liking the enco turn pro 13" machine. This lathe is tiwanesse made, and I can get one for around 6500 with a promo code. I don't know. I'm in no hurry to sell my heavy 10, as it is a really neat machine. The new shop is going to begin April 1st so there will be lots to do. If someone wants to save a bunch of money I'll sell them my heavy 10, and then I'll get a little more serious about finding a replacement machine. Lee
 
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