Mini Lathe stuff part 1 Anodised riser

Originally on Attila's Workshop channel Nov 2022
Well I've made a video of me taking a lump of metal and making a lump of metal haha:) But seriously, although this part looks simple and is relatively simple, a surprising amount of work went into it not to mention also being the guinea pig for my first attempt at anodising. Ever since I got my mini lathe back during the first lockdown I've wanted to get a quick change tool post for it. Doing my research it soon became clear that either the tool post or the compound would need to be modified in order to fit it, so I forgot about the idea, until I saw a video from a pretty good machinist where he was replacing the compound with a solid riser on his lathe. This sort of gave me permission to do the same lol. Whenever I need to use the compound, it's a five minute procedure to swap it in again. Now I don't have the gear to mill steel so I thought a sufficiently large lump of aluminium would be solid and rigid enough for the task the only downside being that the top surface of the riser will wear more when swivelling the tool post, but I figure it will last long enough until I get a mill and then it can be replaced with a steel one. The cutting capacity with the riser is about the same as with the compound fitted.
About the anodising: When I first lifted the part out of the electrolyte it looked as though the anodising had failed but after drying and further inspection it turns out that the anodising was quite good. What happened was that the flats where the screw holes are located didn't receive enough sanding so they have a brushed appearance as opposed to the smooth finish everywhere else. This no doubt was an unconscious act causing me to back off in these areas so as to avoid 'oval out' of the countersinks. So in fact the anodising was a success:)
See my main channel 'Attilas Workshop' here: / @attilasworkshop

[@TinSVM]

So relaxing to watch, thanks.

[@awintheshed]

Thanks, glad you enjoy the videos.

Excellent work, very professional. How thick is the steel used?

[@awintheshed]

40mm plate.

[@ThanasisThomas]

what model of optimum lathe is that?

[@awintheshed]

Optimum 2506V

[@jw200]

Satisfied with the lathe?
works out of the box or you needed tons of mods to make it work?

[@awintheshed]

It's my first metal lathe so I have nothing to compare it to. It works fine though the compound slide was not very rigid so I made a solid block for my tool post.
For a noob like me it's great:)