JerrySharrett
Senile Member
Speaking of neck turners
Look at the name on this turner!
Look at the name on this turner!
Look at the name on this turner!
Whoa! That's a veritable treasure right there. Beautiful!
I firmly believe the 10EE is the Rolls Royce of accuracy. Unless you can find one of the few 30" between center model, it has too long of a headstock for barreling. They can be bought at a reasonable price if you have patience. I use a 6913 Clausing 14X48 to chamber in the headstock. I had to make a cathead for both sides of the headstock to be able to do a 21" barrel. I really like the M300 Harrison and the Rockwell lathes. A Southbend of proper size will work.
I sold my Jaco that came from TJ's estate years ago. It was well made, but I felt it was too heavy to hold and turn. If you are able to put it in a vise it would work better.
Jim, I wouldn't want a worn out lathe, but if you chamber in the headstock all that is important is the spindle bearings. Cutting and threading the tenon will be no problem as a worn out set of ways will have a miniscule amount of taper in a 1"-1.250" tenon. The spindle bore on a HLV-H is too small to chamber in a headstock and the Rivett's headstock is too wide. I love the 10EE because 99% of most people's work is less than 13" swing and shorter than 20". Another lathe can handle the barreling. 30" 10EE would be nice if you were chambering in a steady rest. They're very very few out there and command a premium price.
FWIW, YouTube has a bunch of videos. Just search for "case neck turning".
Edit- This video from S&S Precision (Speedys old shop) shows building a long range benchrest rifle using a South Bend Heavy 10. IIRC, Speedy had more than one Heavy 10.
Many HOF shooters use the Heavy 10. One of the most famous benchrest gunsmiths, ever, Seeley Masker, had 3 Heavy 10's, His son Jerry still owns them.
The most recent IBS 600 yard group record, set by Rodney Wagner, that barrel was chambered on a Heavy 10 of which Rodney owns 2.
Rodney set 600 yard IBS records of 0.336" and a score record of 50. You have to admit, a 0.336" at 600 yards proves something!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1opz3d97iY8&app=desktop
When someone is asking a question about a benchrest situation on this forum I am assuming they are not talking about threading a water pipe or taking a cow to water.
In chambering a BENCHREST barrel the breech bore and the muzzle bore need to be dialed in as close as possible, at least within 0.0005”, IMO.
A good BENCHREST chambered barrel, when screwed on an action/scope/barrel assembly that has been zeroed, that just installed barrel should print within about 2” or less of the just removed barrel if it is given its best chance to be a competitive barrel.
The Monarch 10AEE lathe does not allow the above to be accomplished unless the finished barrel is about 28” or so long. I agree that the 10EE has very precise spindle bearings and they should be since replacement cost of that bearing pack is now in the $20,000 range. The South Bend Heavy 10 runs on an oil film in bronze bushings which makes for a much smoother setup and results in a better workpiece finish. Note that precision cylindrical grinders use the bronze bushing/oil film method and not ball or roller bearings.
Al,
I've been reading and looking most of the day, and to my mind, chambering with a cathead and spider on the outboard of the headstock seems like it would produce a good chamber. With a cathead that allows two points of adjustment, would I be correct in thinking that it would support a barrel too short to reach the spider adequately to thread and chamber? Most of my barrels fall into the 28-30" range, though shorter will eventually happen.
I am very interested in seeing pictures, I won't be getting a lathe until the wife and I move later this year so in the meantime I'm trying to learn as much as I can.
Al,
With a cathead that allows two points of adjustment, would I be correct in thinking that it would support a barrel too short to reach the spider adequately to thread and chamber?.
Excellent! I like the way you think. I'm very interested to see these pictures.
Way off my original question, but pertinent to the course this thread has taken....
There's a 16x30 Pratt & Whitney lathe for sale locally, no good pictures or model, I'm assuming a B or C, for $2k. Lathe has been in storage, and is not under power. I've read good things, and it seems like a common spindle bore for the 16" is 2", which obviously give me plenty of room to get even a large dia heavy gun barrel through there for chambering. Would something like that be worth the gamble to snatch up? In the event the ways are all boogered and need to be planed and scraped, and the spindle bearings need to be replaced (as I understand it the B model uses ball bearings and the C uses angular contact bearings), would it end up being a an over-engineered garage decoration, or a doable project to restore to good working condition?
I've also found a few Monarch engine lathes in the 78" range, which I'm assuming are on the order of barreling a 105mm....or should I consider those as well?
For the same reason I decided on a JACO, I'm in at as much for the history and uniqueness as I am the finished product. Thank you for all the help and information, I'm learning a lot here.
ETA:
I'm pretty sure it's a Model C.