Which way is up?

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mmatisoff

mmatisoff

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I'm getting the hang of cutting brass on my Taig lathe; however, steel is proving problematic. I've sharpened the tools so that I can see my own reflection in the face (as I do with my wood chisels). The question I have is "which way is up?" I'm pretty sure that the angles of the rake are the problem.

That said, when positioning the tool in the tool holder, does the rake go up, down, outward, inward? I'm trying to reduce the diameter of a piece of 12L14 steel. I'm getting terrible chatter. The tools work excellent on brass, but even slowing down the RPM for the steel does not allow me to cut it. I get really nice ribbons of brass as it cuts; however,I the steel stops the tool in its track.

Thanks.
 
Perhaps these will help:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrDr4rYLiAk[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRyqIm5JR5s[/ame]
 
One more question. The cross slide dial on my Taig mini lathe has an ~1/8” gap between the dial and the bearing block. I’ve loosened the allen screw inside the dial, and I’ve removed the brass ring from the bearing block, but I can’t eliminate the gap. When I move the cross slide completely toward the dial, the gap disappears, but when I move it away again the gap increases and the cross slide is free to move ½”.

Can you tell me what I need to do to remove that gap.
 
:p:eek:... What he fails to say in that video is that his lathe can swing 8ft dia and 100 ft between centres...:rolleyes:.. so what kind of South Bend lathe has he got?;D

mmatisoff... I think you need to replace the brass ring you removed, this was almost certainly a thrust spacer.Backlash can usually be adjusted out by slackening the grub screw/s then turning the handwheel a little to remove most of it... followed by locking the grubscrews again.
You will probably only be able to reduce the backlash to around 5 thousands of and inch.. which is quite normal on most lathes.

Check also that the nut the crosslide leadscrew runs in is fixed in place properly... it may be loose, or has perhaps come adrift... you may need to remove the crosslide to get at this.

Best regards.

SandyC
 
Crank off the top slide exposing the lead screw. Make sure the lead screw is pushed all the way into the bearing (toward you if you are in front of the lathe) so the maximum amount of shaft is protruding out the front. Make sure the nob is on all the way and tighten up the set screw. I am assuming you have the new style lathe.

As for the tool chatter. It is common for new Taig users to be off on tool height. You can check the height by bringing the cutting end of the tool mounted on the cross slide near the point of the tail stock center (if the drill chuck is on the tail stock remove it so the center can be exposed). The tip of the tool should match the tip of the tail stock center. If is too high you can regrind the tool bit. If it is too low you can shim the bit up.
 
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