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After getting the little Alba 1A spruced up and working I decided to have a crack at making a tool holder that is based on the Armstong style. To be clear this is NOT my design. I have included the pic of the plan for reference which I believe to be in the public domain (i.e. not sold). From...

Hello everyone. This request is for both myself and a mate. We both have BF20 or equivalent machine that has been converted to CNC for hobby use and in that setup are quite effective. We are now looking to push them forward again with a belt drive upgrade from the current geared system. We...

It's finally arrived! The new-to-me Alba 1A Shaper. This is my little restoration project that I plan to beetle away at over the coming months. Its not going to be a fast project as I also have to completely reorganise my home shop to make way for a new Lathe. I decided to take the plunge and...

I have a new toy .. err .. tool ... yes TOOL. I've been having fun with the BF20 but that is now in bits under going a CNC conversion and I wanted something that was a bit chunkier, a bit more solid, manual and yet not OTT. So after a rash moment by SWMBO where the magical words "yes you can...

A little show and tell on an LPG (propane to some) burner I built in preparation for a home forge based off a 9kg (5 gallon) LPG bottle. First some various bits and pieces to be made use of ... Pressure controllable valve One of two fittings for the 5mm ID gas hose. Notice the "fun"...

The next stage of the lathe stand evolution is well on its way - the Coolant System. Central to this is a tank. But not just any old tank, a custom built aluminium one with a bit of bling for a good measure. I've been pottering away at things for a whee while doing things as I can in between...

Finally I have finished off the slitting saw arbor I have been making. This is designed to hold saws with a 16mm mounting hole. Some points of interest, well perhaps of interest. :-) - All material is 1215 free cutting steel using 25mm, 12mm and 6mm sized round bar as source material -...

A small little update to the AL-320 lathe. The standard saddle locking system is a plan old hex head bolt into the saddle clamp. Which is fine but it is a pain to keep reaching for a spanner. So I decided I didn't want to keep doing that. The general concept is to make a replacement bolt with...

This series of posts will show setting up a Hafco AL320G with a 3 axis DRO. The linear scales are Dalco low profile scales and an HXX GCS900-3D display unit. The linear glass scales just "do the business" where as the challenge is in the display unit. The GCS900-3D is not an expensive unit...

In an effort to control the disaster of lose metal stock in the garage which is a significant impediment to getting the wife's car back in the garage I came up with an idea to stack the metal on some floor based racks that were low profile, stable and reasonably simple to make. I'm not sure how...

Next little project that should result in a nice usable tool and progress general machining experience. So the game plan is take these blanks and turn them into this simple grinder rest as designed by Harold Hall (http://www.homews.co.uk/page146.html) As you can see from the...

I've been looking at the threading dial on my AL320G and thinking it must be usable even though the "manual" that comes with the lathe doesn't tell you anything other than how to set up the change gears. So first off some research into threading on the lathe by reading Workshop Practice Series...

Having taken delivery of the last of the new tools (BF20LV) I'm looking at the drawbar with the expectation of getting some tooling. The manual says its M10, but the JT6 drill chuck arbor that came with the tool has these numbers on it: MT3-JT6-1/2-12 I have tested the arbor and it screws...

A new Chinese built lathe seems to mean a big clean up. Before starting on this I did a check with Machinery House, the NZ wing of the AU Hare & Forbes, and they informed me the head is cleaned, oiled and run up before shipping. So the focus will be on the ways, saddle, cross-slide, top-slide...

Yes another newbie is struggling with the “what lathe do I get” question. Later it will be the "what mill do I get". But first things first - Lathe. I have been reading and reading on both this forum and many others, as well as looking at peoples personal websites. I have subscribed to MEW...