cutting internal keyways?

[ronm]

I have to offer a little caution here about using the carriage to cut keyways, if you have a lighter-duty lathe...my 12" Craftsman is a pretty nice little lathe, but I'll never forget the sickening "SNAP" when the carriage gearbox let go when I was trying to cut serrations on a shaft using the carriage travel. Bottom line, it just wasn't designed for that duty...only good part was that the "advertised on TV" aluminum rod I got in a box of other stuff at a yard sale worked like a champ to stitch the box back together. You guys with big beefy lathes don't have to worry about such things...