I could not even beat the funeral director with a first comment ADE? That new block of cast material cleaned up really nice. .003 you got a good build going on if we understand you right. Thank you for the share, Lance & Patrick.
As far as I'm concerned, I was about to do the same thing for a surface plate, but then the local import tool store had the sale they did. If it's accurate enough for your purposes, it works. It is a surface plate to your needed accuracy, and you know its limitations, so it's all good! As for the compound removal, I'm considering doing something similar to what you're doing for my lathe as well - even though it's a 12x36, it's not the most rigid and for grooving/parting it's a nightmare at times. Looking forward to part 2.
Hi, Yuchol. resourcefulness is a side effect of having no resources to work with . any method that works is a good method. not the best method but a method none the less. , i guess i never make it easy for myself , Cheers Ade.
great project and something I need to do aswel for my old Myford MF74 restoration which has a primitive ML7 style Top slide, a few things, nab some transfer punches I think I got mine from arceurotrade, they are a god send and are perfect fits through reamed holes in 0.5mm increments, great help for when I needed to spot for drilling holes in backplates when I bought some through the front mounted chucks. also I wouldn't worry about slots for oil to run along under the slide, my MF74 has them between the carriage and bed ways, they collect microscopic particles of crud and trap them, when the carriage moves back and forth it acts like a slight lap, same goes for phosphor bronze bearings when I replaced them the channels inside the bearings which were designed to flush oil all around the spindle were full with compacted crud which the oil is supposed to flush out. leaving flat with no slots will allow the slide to glide and any crud will be forced out from the back or front :) if yoy do make some channels make sure the edges are not sharp but stoned with a slight bevel so they are a softer edge instead of a clean sharp angle ( I dont mean a burr Im meaning the transition edge between flat slide face and the wall of a slot )
I believe that all lathe cross slides are setup to be almost but not quite square to the spindle axis. Specifically they are setup to produce a very slight concave cut when facing and that this is the reason your block did not come out flat after facing on the lathe. I think that this is more pronounced on cheaper lathes and hard to measure on high end lathes. This is because a slight convex cut is highly undesirable so manufacturers err towards the concave side of square.
My 'surface plate' is a section of marble kitchen worktop. It's thick enough to be stable, and is plenty flat enough for general work. Not everyone can justify thousands for a real one.
Hi Ade, thanks for your time. Just bought a lathe and would like to follow you on this project. Just wondering, how did you determine the o/a height of block? Would the tool post sit on the riser as at the same height as if on original cross slide?
G’day Ade. Good project, something that’s been on my mind as you are correct it is the weakest part of the setup, it’s like the machine is too big for it’s tool post. I am wondering won’t you want to change the tool angle to the job at times to say cut a chamfer or do an undercut in a corner, I know I rotate the tool at times. A query from an inexperienced hobbyist, cheers. Peter
I am going to make a lot more tool holders to compensate. it is more about the rigidity on production work and the repeatability when changing tools . Cheers Ade.
when you sand a surface you will always have a problem at the corners if the sand paper is not adhered to the plate. The paper is going to wear the corners first since the paper is lifting off the plate. if you adhere the sand paper with surface tension using water or a spray adhesive you would have a better chance of a more accurate test.
@@haroldpearson6025 Unless ground, i wouldn't call a glass plate flat mainly because of the way it's "cast" on top of molten zinc which could have ripples on the surface.
A very interesting project Ade, one thought though, as far as rigidity goes, do you think that in addition to the four six mil bolts would you not think that three or four six or seven mil silver steel register pins would greatly add to the strength against twisting the block round? You could drill and ream from under the cross slide, and loctite the pins in place on the block, thus giving you full registration of the block prior to the hold down bolts. Just a thought lol. A question for you, where do you get your cast iron pieces from? I am interested to know because I may well copy your idea and do the same on my Warco 300. Look forward to the rest of the series!
That would certainly be worthwhile on a larger more powerful machine . My little lathe has nowhere near enough power to even think about overcoming the clamping force of the 4 M6 allen bolts. on a larger lathe i may even think about tapered dowel pins with extractor threads . Cheers Ade.
Hi Ade, I am building my block following your guidelines; thank you. When drilling deep holes, what is the best way to keep them from wandering? What causes a hole to wonder? Too much pressure? Thank you for your videos!
Surely you should have machined a shallow boss on the bottom to fit the recess on the cross slide .. then sit it in before you drill the holes ...would have centered it up perfectly ....
If you leave a square shoulder you will not be able to turn it to adjust the angle of the cutter like for say getting close into the chuck like you do at times.
Will what you are doing stop you being able to turn the tool holder? Thats something we all do to change the angle of the tool to get at different features of the workpiece?
frank brown, you are lucky to have metal stockholder who deal in cast iron, locally. I wouldn't think any of our local steel stockholders have cast in stock here in the East London/Essex area, we are lucky if we find some who actually stock bright drawn mild steel let alone cast! ( if any one knows different please advise me lol)
@@ade63dug Great thanks for that I've been looking for a chunk of cast iron for a bit and they're only abort 6 miles up the road from me, although they're a web based company their site says you can collect with some notice ... Cheers Ade
All the other parts of the saddle are cast so I just went with it. It is really durable and stable as well although stinking stuff to machine. Cheers Ade
Great work Ade, love the videos. one question though, how do you plan to accurately square a parting tool to the work piece if the block is held in place by a recess? Look forward to part 2!
The toolpost is square by design and a slight amount can be set by the parting tool in it's tool holder . after initial setting up it will always be square. happy days. cheers Ade.
Great stuff Ade! I've been thinking of doing this myself. Will your design restrict you from rotating the tool post? I move mine all the time to change the angles for cutting and facing. What company do you use to supply the cast iron stock?
Yes it will completely stop any rotation , i do plan on making many more tool holders to help with this issue allowing me to have any tool i may need set up . the cast is from college metals online. This chunk was £15 plus delivery , Cheers Ade.
how mush did you pay for the block of steel , trying to find a pricing somewhere but all the companies that sell pieces in that size online do a call for pricing thing
@@ade63dug Hi Ade, YT flagged up a video by ROBRENZ about a solid mount and now I see where you are going. His video of parting is something that I've never seen on a shop type lathe, real impressive.
i intend to increase my tool holders to compensate for the lack of versatility, i can tilt the tools a bit also , all about the rigidity and repeatability when inserting a different toolholder . Cheers Ade.
I could not even beat the funeral director with a first comment ADE? That new block of cast material cleaned up really nice. .003 you got a good build going on if we understand you right.
Thank you for the share,
Lance & Patrick.
I'm usually the last to be fair
@@TheFuneralDirector LOL thought this was funny for today, thank you.
Cheers guys , yes very good made me laugh , Ade.
As far as I'm concerned, I was about to do the same thing for a surface plate, but then the local import tool store had the sale they did. If it's accurate enough for your purposes, it works. It is a surface plate to your needed accuracy, and you know its limitations, so it's all good!
As for the compound removal, I'm considering doing something similar to what you're doing for my lathe as well - even though it's a 12x36, it's not the most rigid and for grooving/parting it's a nightmare at times. Looking forward to part 2.
Coming along nicely! Impressive how resourceful you are! 💪🏼
Hi, Yuchol. resourcefulness is a side effect of having no resources to work with . any method that works is a good method. not the best method but a method none the less. , i guess i never make it easy for myself , Cheers Ade.
great project and something I need to do aswel for my old Myford MF74 restoration which has a primitive ML7 style Top slide, a few things, nab some transfer punches I think I got mine from arceurotrade, they are a god send and are perfect fits through reamed holes in 0.5mm increments, great help for when I needed to spot for drilling holes in backplates when I bought some through the front mounted chucks.
also I wouldn't worry about slots for oil to run along under the slide, my MF74 has them between the carriage and bed ways, they collect microscopic particles of crud and trap them, when the carriage moves back and forth it acts like a slight lap, same goes for phosphor bronze bearings when I replaced them the channels inside the bearings which were designed to flush oil all around the spindle were full with compacted crud which the oil is supposed to flush out.
leaving flat with no slots will allow the slide to glide and any crud will be forced out from the back or front :)
if yoy do make some channels make sure the edges are not sharp but stoned with a slight bevel so they are a softer edge instead of a clean sharp angle ( I dont mean a burr Im meaning the transition edge between flat slide face and the wall of a slot )
Thanks for the video, it was informitive and entertaining. Please keep them coming
I have several 'ersatz' plates that are more than accurate enough (0.002") for everyday use. Love your projects Ade.
it is less than 0.001"" for most of the plate , yes fine for everyday use as you say . Cheers Ade.
Looks great Ade, I think it will be a good upgrade. You have more guts than me drilling into the slideways! :)
Not for the faint hearted i agree, Cheers Ade.
Very well done and a good idea too. Thank you for the video
I love your "shall we call it a" surface plate... I've been thinking of doing something on very similar lines myself.
nice vid Ade. Can't wait for #2
Part 2 just uploaded. Cheers Ade.
I believe that all lathe cross slides are setup to be almost but not quite square to the spindle axis. Specifically they are setup to produce a very slight concave cut when facing and that this is the reason your block did not come out flat after facing on the lathe. I think that this is more pronounced on cheaper lathes and hard to measure on high end lathes. This is because a slight convex cut is highly undesirable so manufacturers err towards the concave side of square.
My 'surface plate' is a section of marble kitchen worktop. It's thick enough to be stable, and is plenty flat enough for general work. Not everyone can justify thousands for a real one.
Thanks for the video ADE, watching closely
Barry
Australia.
Hi Ade, thanks for your time. Just bought a lathe and would like to follow you on this project. Just wondering, how did you determine the o/a height of block? Would the tool post sit on the riser as at the same height as if on original cross slide?
yes . that is the height i went with . Cheers Ade.
G’day Ade. Good project, something that’s been on my mind as you are correct it is the weakest part of the setup, it’s like the machine is too big for it’s tool post. I am wondering won’t you want to change the tool angle to the job at times to say cut a chamfer or do an undercut in a corner, I know I rotate the tool at times. A query from an inexperienced hobbyist, cheers. Peter
I am going to make a lot more tool holders to compensate. it is more about the rigidity on production work and the repeatability when changing tools . Cheers Ade.
when you sand a surface you will always have a problem at the corners if the sand paper is not adhered to the plate. The paper is going to wear the corners first since the paper is lifting off the plate. if you adhere the sand paper with surface tension using water or a spray adhesive you would have a better chance of a more accurate test.
My surface plate is an off cut from a kitchen granite worktop supplier, it was the bit they cut out for the sink, and it was free.
that was a lucky find , i will have to check out my local kitchen fitters , cheers Ade.
12mm thick plate glass set in a wooden frame also makes a good surface plate.
@@haroldpearson6025 Unless ground, i wouldn't call a glass plate flat mainly because of the way it's "cast" on top of molten zinc which could have ripples on the surface.
@@hardcase1659 O dear, and I've neen using one for 20 years!
@@haroldpearson6025 Good for you i guess?
I see you like to live dangerously.
Looking good! I’ve been eagerly awaiting this project.
so have i , not finished yet but i am looking forward to trying it out , cheers .Ade.
A very interesting project Ade, one thought though, as far as rigidity goes, do you think that in addition to the four six mil bolts would you not think that three or four six or seven mil silver steel register pins would greatly add to the strength against twisting the block round? You could drill and ream from under the cross slide, and loctite the pins in place on the block, thus giving you full registration of the block prior to the hold down bolts. Just a thought lol. A question for you, where do you get your cast iron pieces from? I am interested to know because I may well copy your idea and do the same on my Warco 300. Look forward to the rest of the series!
That would certainly be worthwhile on a larger more powerful machine . My little lathe has nowhere near enough power to even think about overcoming the clamping force of the 4 M6 allen bolts. on a larger lathe i may even think about tapered dowel pins with extractor threads . Cheers Ade.
Thanks Ade - great informational video, and a great project
Hi Ade, I am building my block following your guidelines; thank you. When drilling deep holes, what is the best way to keep them from wandering? What causes a hole to wonder? Too much pressure?
Thank you for your videos!
Surely you should have machined a shallow boss on the bottom to fit the recess on the cross slide .. then sit it in before you drill the holes ...would have centered it up perfectly ....
Thankyou for the video Ade 👍🏻
If you leave a square shoulder you will not be able to turn it to adjust the angle of the cutter like for say getting close into the chuck like you do at times.
Hi nice video, Good for you and your inspection plate because I also use the same plate and it is accurate enough for me to :)
careful using transfer puches on thin castings though as you use them like extended straight shank center punches, just a light tap will do
Very nicely
Will what you are doing stop you being able to turn the tool holder? Thats something we all do to change the angle of the tool to get at different features of the workpiece?
Looking good .. where did you get the cast iron block from Ade ? ... Regards Andy
It was from College Metals online , was £15 plus carriage , cheers Ade.
frank brown, you are lucky to have metal stockholder who deal in cast iron, locally. I wouldn't think any of our local steel stockholders have cast in stock here in the East London/Essex area, we are lucky if we find some who actually stock bright drawn mild steel let alone cast! ( if any one knows different please advise me lol)
frank brown in no way was I criticising you mate, just saying you were lucky having a place where they let you get into a skip! Where are you based?
@@ade63dug Great thanks for that I've been looking for a chunk of cast iron for a bit and they're only abort 6 miles up the road from me, although they're a web based company their site says you can collect with some notice ... Cheers Ade
Wondering why you used cast iron as opposed to mild steel?
All the other parts of the saddle are cast so I just went with it. It is really durable and stable as well although stinking stuff to machine. Cheers Ade
Great work Ade, love the videos. one question though, how do you plan to accurately square a parting tool to the work piece if the block is held in place by a recess? Look forward to part 2!
The toolpost is square by design and a slight amount can be set by the parting tool in it's tool holder . after initial setting up it will always be square. happy days. cheers Ade.
Where do you get your materials from ADE?
Im in the UK and know of a few suppliers but id like to be able to get some cheap offcuts as stock.
I use. College metals . Aluminium Droitwitch and ebay searches mostly. Silver steel from Zoro is good also . Cheers Ade.
Great stuff Ade! I've been thinking of doing this myself. Will your design restrict you from rotating the tool post? I move mine all the time to change the angles for cutting and facing. What company do you use to supply the cast iron stock?
Yes it will completely stop any rotation , i do plan on making many more tool holders to help with this issue allowing me to have any tool i may need set up . the cast is from college metals online. This chunk was £15 plus delivery , Cheers Ade.
Top slide I should have said!
how mush did you pay for the block of steel , trying to find a pricing somewhere but all the companies that sell pieces in that size online do a call for pricing thing
Hi Ade. Just wondering why you want it squer?
I made mine round
HI Ade, how will you change the angle of the tool? Not like you've got a Multifix tool post.
Lots more tool holders . Cheers Ade.
@@ade63dug Looking forward to seeing how that goes. Cheers
@@ade63dug Hi Ade, YT flagged up a video by ROBRENZ about a solid mount and now I see where you are going. His video of parting is something that I've never seen on a shop type lathe, real impressive.
Where do you purchase your cast iron
College metals online normally. Cheers Ade.
@@ade63dug thank you sir
Hmm nice Ade, I have a novice question. Perhaps someone would like to answer it.
Why do you use cast iron?
Tnx Peter
No correct answer to this , I guess it is wear resistant , tough, and does not warp and twist when machining as much as tough steels . Cheers Ade.
Jamie, thanks a lot for this clear explanation.
Can the toolpost not turn ??. Fine work
Hi jorgen , i want it to be solid and repeatable. i intend to make many more toolholders to improve the versatility , cheers Ade.
@@ade63dug The ekstra toolholders will improve versality ( 50 toolholders) so you do not mis the turning, cheeres Jorgen
Get them oil groovs when you get your mill. M
But some time's you want to turn the tool post. To do something? M
i intend to increase my tool holders to compensate for the lack of versatility, i can tilt the tools a bit also , all about the rigidity and repeatability when inserting a different toolholder . Cheers Ade.
@@ade63dug thanks for your reply. M
Me too
If you cut a recess, the tool post can't turn......
brilliant i want it not to turn , cheers Ade.
M