Like those ER 40's !

Pete Wass

Pete Wass

Well-known member
Finally got my new to me lathe running. This lathe had no collets with it so after some looking around I decided on a set of ER 40's. I must say, so far, everything seems to be great. My lathe has a D type spindle in it so I bought a corresponding collet holder and a set of collets along with an MT3 holder for the tail stock.

Used it yesterday to hold a barrel so that I could polish it and, WOW, Impressive, to say the least. I think I am fortunate in that the spindle end holder only runs out about a tenth. ( yes, I have an indicator that will read a tenth :) ) So, great! I am going to upgrade the screws and nuts in the cross slide and compound and I should be in Fat City. Perhaps I will do a DRO kit first though.

Pete
 
Like this? I was going to order one, but wasn't sure how true it would be...

3901-5042.jpg
 
Pete Wass said:
Finally got my new to me lathe running. This lathe had no collets with it so after some looking around I decided on a set of ER 40's. I must say, so far, everything seems to be great. My lathe has a D type spindle in it so I bought a corresponding collet holder and a set of collets along with an MT3 holder for the tail stock.

Used it yesterday to hold a barrel so that I could polish it and, WOW, Impressive, to say the least. I think I am fortunate in that the spindle end holder only runs out about a tenth. ( yes, I have an indicator that will read a tenth :) ) So, great! I am going to upgrade the screws and nuts in the cross slide and compound and I should be in Fat City. Perhaps I will do a DRO kit first though.

Pete
Click to expand...

Where do you find the screws and nuts for the cross slide?
 
ER collets are great!

I've put ER-40 on everything in my shop (lathe headstock and tailstock, mill spindle, rotab, and picked up some collet blocks - they're the best thing since sliced bread. Even picked up some ER-16 to hold those tiny boring bars - get the cheapest holder you can for those, because concentricity doesn't matter.

GsT
 
I am torn

GeneT said:
I've put ER-40 on everything in my shop (lathe headstock and tailstock, mill spindle, rotab, and picked up some collet blocks - they're the best thing since sliced bread. Even picked up some ER-16 to hold those tiny boring bars - get the cheapest holder you can for those, because concentricity doesn't matter.

GsT
Click to expand...

I have a Grizzly mill, smallish one with limited spindle travel. I have been considering a smaller ER series setup for it but hate to get into two sets of collets. The ER 40 is a bit bulbs for the little mill I have.

Pete
 
Grizzly

adamsgt said:
Where do you find the screws and nuts for the cross slide?
Click to expand...

The Grizzly machines are very close to the Central Tool machines and with minor mods, a lot of the parts will fit. I have a new nut and screw for my compound and will fit it when I get a Round-To-It. I have had several round to its but can't find the last one I had.

Pete
 
Pete Wass said:
The Grizzly machines are very close to the Central Tool machines and with minor mods, a lot of the parts will fit. I have a new nut and screw for my compound and will fit it when I get a Round-To-It. I have had several round to its but can't find the last one I had.

Pete
Click to expand...

Grizzly usually make the user guides available in PDF format on their web site so I'll look for a lathe that is similar to mine and see what I can find. I find that when I extend the cross slide too far the nut disengages and I have to go around to the back of the lathe to loosen it and get it to re-engage. Plus, there's a fair amount of backlash in it as well.

Thanks Pete

PS, I also have a crate of Round-To-It's that I keep kicking around as well.
 
adamsgt said:
Grizzly usually make the user guides available in PDF format on their web site so I'll look for a lathe that is similar to mine and see what I can find. I find that when I extend the cross slide too far the nut disengages and I have to go around to the back of the lathe to loosen it and get it to re-engage. Plus, there's a fair amount of backlash in it as well.

Thanks Pete

PS, I also have a crate of Round-To-It's that I keep kicking around as well.
Click to expand...

Its supposed to. Should be a split nut with a set screw. Tighten it some to where it still works smooth without binding and will help with back lash some.
 
There is a great Youtube series

by Keith Fenner on re-doing one of these lathes. In his case the lathe is named a Rutland but it is visually identical to the one I have and the newer 12-36 or 12-40 . Now, there are some differences. I bought a new gibb from Grizzly for my Central Machinery. Somehow, the compound gibb was broken in my machine. Got around to fitting the new one yesterday. Well, the taper is quite different. I can re-machine it so no problem. It fits the hole but the longitudinal taper is a couple of degrees different. Thicker, sort of, but' that's beats going without one. Guys like Keith make their own screws and nuts. He had a viewer volunteer to scrape in his cross slide and compound via mail or UPS, which was very cool. The lad who did it made him a new gibb from a Bridgeport gibb. I guess iron is iron, eh?

I read somewhere that Grizzly bought out the company that made these lathes some years ago. They haven't made a lot of changes except for dimensions. Why they wouldn't keep them basically the same and sell parts for the old ones baffles me. Nobody is going to junk a lathe out for the lack of being able to buy a few repair parts, are they? Heck, machinists made the dern things in the first place, it ain't like they can't be re-produced.

In the series Keith installs a DRO, which is a future project for me. Nice to have the Youtube vids to watch on stuff like this. The series is called "Taking a look under the old girl's apron."

No, they are not great machines, in the "Old Traditions" but for the sort of stuff I am capable of doing, quite up to the task and affordable. I have no trouble fitting up barrels with the old girl. Actually, one doesn't need much of a lathe to chamber barrels, I don't think.

Pete
 
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DSM said:
Its supposed to. Should be a split nut with a set screw. Tighten it some to where it still works smooth without binding and will help with back lash some.
Click to expand...

Yes, it is a split nut with what appears to be a be a gib in between the nut halves. Still fiddling around with it as there is some binding.

Went to the Grizzly web site and looked at the pdf for the saddle and cross slide parts diagram for the G4003G lathe. The drawing is exactly the same as the one in the manual for my lathe. My lathe has a data plate that says it was built in 1998 in Taiwan. The only difference in the diagram and parts listing is that mine has two digit part reference numbers and the Grizzly has three digits i.e. 515 vs 15 for the leadscrew nut. However that doesn't imply that any of these parts are readily available. Also, the leadscrew nut in both drawings does not appear to be split. Wonder if the one piece would be better.
 
Interesting :)

adamsgt said:
Yes, it is a split nut with what appears to be a be a gib in between the nut halves. Still fiddling around with it as there is some binding.

Went to the Grizzly web site and looked at the pdf for the saddle and cross slide parts diagram for the G4003G lathe. The drawing is exactly the same as the one in the manual for my lathe. My lathe has a data plate that says it was built in 1998 in Taiwan. The only difference in the diagram and parts listing is that mine has two digit part reference numbers and the Grizzly has three digits i.e. 515 vs 15 for the leadscrew nut. However that doesn't imply that any of these parts are readily available. Also, the leadscrew nut in both drawings does not appear to be split. Wonder if the one piece would be better.
Click to expand...

My lathe was made in 1998 also. When you go to order the parts it will say if they are in stock. Don't buy any handles, they are smaller! :(

Pete
 
Charts

adamsgt said:
Where do you find the screws and nuts for the cross slide?
Click to expand...

If your machine does not have a typical feeds gear box, do you s have a chart showing where to place the levers in the headsock for various feed rates?

Thanks,

Pete
 
Made my Gibb yesterday

After thinking about how I was going to re-cut the taper on the new replacement gibb for my compound, I remembered that I had gotten a small Suburban magnetic chuck with my lathe. The person who sold it to me knew nothing about machinery so gave me what he had left that remotely seemed to go with the lathe. The chuck has surface rust and corrosion but has never been ground true and I don't think it had ever been used so I tried it. I figured out how much I needed to shim one end to match the old gibb and found it to be .100". No sweat, I had some old shop made parallels I had bought at a flea market and two stacked gave me the .100".

SO, I began milling. I quickly noticed that the little magnetic chuck wasn't all that sticky. I was limited to .005" passes to mill the metal off but patiently I did that and ended up with a nice gibb with proper taper for my machine.I fitted it long and at some point plan to scrape in the cross slide and compound. It's been over close to 50 years since I have actually scraped machine parts but I have confidence that is is pretty much like riding a bicycle. I also watch those sort of activities on Youtube so I am sure I ca do the work, still.

Also sold my 10L in one day on Craigslist. Guess I sold it too cheap but got what I had decided it was worth. The lad will drive three hours, one way, to pick it up in the morning. Hate to see it go as I have had it since 1968 but I don't have room for it now. Onward and damn the torpedoes!

Pete
 
pete
what lathe did you get? This is just my opinion and as we all know everyone has theirs. Anyway i dont see any real need for a DRO on a lathe. i have one machine with one and one without. I certainly wont be buying one for my machine that doesn't have one. i mount a magnetic dial indicator on my bed way and i get all the info i need from that. for diameters i just use my mic. once you learn and trust your dials a simple mic reading every once in a while is sufficient.
with all that said, i do of course use my DRO on my big machine. thanks for all your help pete. much appreciated sir.. Lee
 
I have similar thoughts.re the DRO

skeetlee said:
pete
what lathe did you get? This is just my opinion and as we all know everyone has theirs. Anyway i dont see any real need for a DRO on a lathe. i have one machine with one and one without. I certainly wont be buying one for my machine that doesn't have one. i mount a magnetic dial indicator on my bed way and i get all the info i need from that. for diameters i just use my mic. once you learn and trust your dials a simple mic reading every once in a while is sufficient.
with all that said, i do of course use my DRO on my big machine. thanks for all your help pete. much appreciated sir.. Lee
Click to expand...

I bought an older Central Machinery 12X36 lathe that is in decent shape. It was owned by an old lad who didn't seem to know much about machines. The cosmolne was still on much of the machine and the 4 jaw chuck had never been mounted. All the accessories are still in cosmoline. It is in very good shape in terms of no damage to then bed or much if any wear. A few pieces broken from movers, etc. It's a 1998 machine!

They are sort of crudely made compared to American stuff, as I'm sure you know. The dials are .002" per line and , you are right, the thing cuts what the dial sez and I have finally learned to sneak up on stuff using a mic.

I think you have made me decide to just buy new screws, nuts and all the hardware for the newer machines and forget the DRO. I have a Grizzly mill with a DRO and don't really use it very often, except for the spindle DRO.

You are welcome re the help. Any time I can , just sing out.

Pete
 
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Pete,

To echo what Skeetlee said, I rely a lot on the dial indicators. Though I charecterized the dials against DI and DTIs, I still do not rely. on them.

Here is my little lathe, a 1024. The 1236 that shows a set thru chuck has a TravAdial, which I like a lot, but would not spend 500 for a reconditioned one to put on the 1024.
 

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Nice looking rig.

NezRongero said:
Pete,

To echo what Skeetlee said, I rely a lot on the dial indicators. Though I charecterized the dials against DI and DTIs, I still do not rely. on them.

Here is my little lathe, a 1024. The 1236 that shows a set thru chuck has a TravAdial, which I like a lot, but would not spend 500 for a reconditioned one to put on the 1024.
Click to expand...

I have been using dial indicators in the past. Got one of those pancake magnetic jobies that seems to work well. The next thing I got to work on is a hard stop I think, just to be sure sometimes.

DO you want that control unit back? I got my original fixed and working great.

One other interesting thing, to me at least. I checked the tail stock quill for alignment and was able to get zeros all the way around a new drill arbor on it, straight away. I couldn't believe it! Don't think the old guy used it much, if any.

Pete
 
I work between centers on the SB I restored, and use both an ER-40 as well as a Jacobs Rubberflex collet chuck in the spindle. Perfect for barrel work, faster than dialing in my 4-jaw (though a quality Buck set-tru would also be nice).

I agree there's limited applications for the DRO I recently fitted ( though a must-have on my mill). It does save time over my way-mounted dial indicator for "Y" travel- but it's indispensable for me now on the "X" when turning down to thread a tenon. No more backlash worries, and I don't sweat sneaking up on that last few thou. Lead screws can/do wear unevenly- and on an older machine what you dial can be off a thou or two over a decent amount of travel. DRO eliminates that variable.
 
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