Sorry for the lack of progress once more while waiting for the mailman, however I scored a 3 jaw chuck for my lathe that appears to be in new condition if not new and never used.

Sadly, it did not come with a face plate to attach to my lathe, so I decided to take on a bit more than I could chew and see if I could use my limited skills to make an adapter that would allow me to use a face plate that I had here which does attach to my lathe and see if I can match it up to the new chuck.

The adapter required 1 face to have a machined impression in it, while on the other face it required a raised circular center piece to cup into the back of the new chuck.

Not being familiar with how to approach it I found a scrap piece of 8mm thick plate and cut a square piece which fitted nicely into the jaws of my 4 jaw chuck.

Long story short, I machine both faces to a nice neat fit and cut a hole in the center.
After finishing the 1st face I had to flip it to do the other side, that was when I realised that I would probably lose some accuracy.
Nevertheless, I finished the impressions, then cut off the corners and mated the face plate and chuck together with some new bolts and machined down the outer edge to match the diameter of the chuck etc.

I then set it up im my lathe and did a run out test.
Sadly, I was about 18 thou out.
From what I have learned that is not good.
I fooled arounded with it and could not improve it, so I fell back to my bush skills and made it worse, now over 25 thou.

I took a look on YouTube and found several methods of correcting this issue using more technical methods and will next attempt to apply one of these methods to reduce the run out.
For me anything under 10 thou would be a big improvement and with my lathe skills I think I'd be happy with that in a 3 jaw chuck, considering if I want precison I'd go with my 4 jaw chuck.

In hindsight, I should have only machined the face that mated with the face plate and installed to the face plate and then installed this unit onto my lathe and proceeded to complete the 2nd face.
I feel sure that would have helped me greatly to minimise run out.

All the same I've learned something and have gotten a new 3 jaw chuck that attaches to my lathe and will eventually be accurate...

If nothing else this post will provide a good belly laugh for those who are really machinists...

 

Long story short, I machine both faces to a nice neat fit and cut a hole in the center.
After finishing the 1st face I had to flip it to do the other side, that was when I realised that I would probably lose some accuracy.

How I would have done it. Machine the first face and the center hole. Then flip and re chuck it in the 4 jaw and indicate the center hole. With the center hole running true tap the part against the jaw faces and recheck the run out of the center hole.

Can I ask why you didn't just machine the faceplate to fit the new chuck, and not have any adapter?

To correct the run out you now have, I'd machine one of the locating hubs so there was some play between it and one of the other parts, chuck or face plate your choice. The put the bolts into the chuck and snug them but not overly tight. Then indicate a known round part, like a piece of drill rod(think it's called "silver rod" down there) and tap the chuck to get it running true. When it is running true tighten the bolts fully.

 

Good call Shortbus, firstly I tried rotating the fit of the adapter to the next set of holes, it was worse.
I also changed my test piece that was used with the dial gauge.
A little improvement but still no numbers that were worth a sod.

I had a buddy suggest, that I keep the face plate and the adapter, but remove the chuck and try to face the chuck side of the adapter, even just with sand paper or whatever
Sounded reasonable, so, I did this yesterday and also introduced a better quality test piece being a large thread tap with a suface I felt would be more reliable as far as round goes.

Withrespect to re-machining the face plate to suit the new chuck, I was tempted, but I do have another external 4 jaw chuck, or at least a 4 jaw chuck that is setup opposite to the regular 4 jaw I generally have been using and I figured I'd like to be able to bolt that on if required since I am becoming a little more ambitious these days.

Anyway back to discussing what my buddy had offered, so I did roughly what he suggested and I figure you would have considered if you were here looking over my shoulder, plus with the improved test shaft for dialling and after completing those two tasks, I now have a run out of just 6 thou.

That to me that is a huge improvement for little work and I think I will count myself lucky and call it good.
I think with my naivity, I was pretty lucky to get away with it and ducked a bullet this time round.
I have learned several lessons during this exercise that hopefully will improve my approach to future tasks...

So now, I sit and wait for the mailman who still has not delivered my end cutters for my keyway cutting.

 

Anybody feel like a humorous distraction while I am waiting for the mailman, here is a skit that I saw on YouTube that was funny, so I thought I'd just post the link on here for any body who enjoys a good laugh.
I hope I am not breaking any rules, but once in a while it can be a nice distraction from the seriousness of our projects and vehicle indugence.

 

OK, while still waiting for the mail man, I did a practice keyway cut on a shaft.
My persoanl feedback is that my lathe chuck speed is not fast enough, as would be desired by the purists, but it does cut, I just got to take it easy.

 

Again not a real criticism but some guidance. Using a single cut with an end mill to make a keyway isn't the best way of doing this. Did you try a key in the keyway after you made it? Doing it with a cutter of the same size as the key usually ends up with a key that is too loose in the keyway. And a loose key will only get looser over time if any load is on the shaft or component on the shaft.

End mills have a tendency to cut slightly over size when making a blind cut like that. I know you don't have a mill so it's not easy to use a smaller diameter cutter then move off in each direction to get to finish size, which is the common way of doing it in a mill. The only cutter that I'm aware of that makes an on size keyway in one cut is a woodruff cutter, this is because they don't have cutting edges on their sides, only the diameter.

One way to make a lathe work as a milling machine is a milling attachment. I know you like to make things so maybe one of the DIY milling attachments could be something to think about. Google search results for doing it - https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=lathe+milling+attachment+plans

 

Yes Shortbus, you are 100% correct regarding my keyway cutting.
That is the limitation of my setup.
I was wondering how I could shim it up or down according to my needs.
The trial cut is only 1/4" and I plan to use a 8mm keyway in my project, when the mail man arrives with it...

I've been looking at those adjustable attachments, you must read minds as well.
I feel the need is coming and that I may indulge myself and buy one in the near future.

My tool post holder and travel platform is not a flat area like I see on most other lathes which feel is a bit restrictive to my innovation at times.
Nevertheless, I will, persist and see where it leads me.

As always, your comments are appreciated.

 

My tool post holder and travel platform is not a flat area like I see on most other lathes which feel is a bit restrictive to my innovation at times.

The ones I've seen over the years don't attach to the compound its self but replace the compound. There is a good size flat surface on the cross feed to then mount the attachment. I'll include a couple of PDFs with plans.


The first mill I bought for home use was something they call a drill mill. Similar to this but not the same brand and I see they went way up in price - https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzly-6-x-20-3-4-hp-mill-drill/g0758
The only problem with them and it's more of an inconvenience than a problem is they don't have a table that moves up and down, the quill is the "Z"movement.

 

Shortbus, I just missed out on an old small milling machine, but really I dont have the space for it and I also lack knowledge when it comes to buy such items. I realise the attachments can come at a high price when copared to the cost of the base unit so I dont want to paint myself into a corner acquiring a cheap base unit and overtime discover I need several costly add ons to get the full potential from the mill.

I am onto a local bolt on vertical mill attachment which could be for sale.
I am told it was purchased but never used, still in the box so to speak.
This could be the break I need...

 

About all that you need for most every thing you'll do in a mill is a vise and a set of clamps and studs for the "T" slots. I ended up getting a rotary table and a index head but have yet to use the index head. None of these including the mill, a old Bridgeport, were new. I don't know about Australia, but here most of the off brand mills use the Bridgeport model, they are basically clones and parts interchange.

For doing things like equally spaced holes in a bolt circle I never even use the rotary table, there is something called "jig boring bolt circle coordinates" that is actually more accurate than doing it with a rotary table. I use the one in the "Machinerys Handbook" because I have a couple. But there is also a coordinate calculator online - https://littlemachineshop.com/mobile/bolt_circle.php

A Machinerys Handbook is also something to look for. New ones have gotten expensive but older ones work just as well since little changes over the years., and most of the good stuff has been around for a long time.

The site that has that calculator has many good calculators and other information on machining too -
https://littlemachineshop.com/mobile/menu.php

 

Good information.
Your prices are so much cheaper than my neck of the woods.
I know that area where that store is located, so will make a point if I ever get a chance to visit to check out that store...
I like the hole calculator idea.

 

I'm still waiting for the mail man, but in the meantime, I scored this vertical adjustable device for my lathe which should help me a lot when doing milling stuff.

 

Good score! That looks new. Just need a vise for it. And you will need to indicate the solid jaw of the vise so it is parallel with the cross feed movement. Just mentioned that in case you didn't know, it is the first thing that gets done when mounting a vise to a mill table too. If you don't do it every thing you do will be off at an angle.

I mention things like above because I'm not sure how much machining you have done, not meant to insult you.

 

Good to know Shortbus.
Keep mentioning this stuff as I have never had a lesson or found any relaible advice ever.
Yes, I am pretty happy to have scored this item, being that it appears never to have been mounted and was stored in grease wrap paper.
This item, should make cutting future keyways more like a walk in the park I feel...

I have been spending my time fabricating and installing a back board to my lathe as a means to better prevent swarf from flying every where and it is looking like a good place to hang a couple tools as well.
I never really had one previously and just tried using a piece of scrap sheet metal as a deflector.
Not so successful, but given I am now using my lathe more often it is a good upgrade.

 

Keep mentioning this stuff as I have never had a lesson or found any relaible advice ever.

For not having any teaching overall your doing a good job. I have a bad habit though of giving advice where it isn't wanted. So if you don't mind I'll chime in when I see something. I hate to think I haven't helped when I could, and at my age and health I'll be taking a lifetime of knowledge when I go. I tried to get some of the local kids interested in machine work and would have helped them to make things using my shop, but it was a non-starter.

 

All good Shortbus.
From my experience as a beginner, it seems that having a correct project to start out on that is meaningful helps keep my attention.
Machining for maching sake or practice alone dones not seel to hold my attention.
Taking on something too complex is probably a recipe for disaster and a quick loss of interest...
Mind you some folks just ain't that ambitious in wanting to learn new stuff that may help them in the future both in work or recreational hobbies etc.

 

recreational hobbies

What you said is something that does blow my mind about the world today. Around a hundred years ago, in the 1920 - 1950 era there were books and magazines full of DIY projects, for both wood and metal. And machine tools to do both were kind of available but to the times very expensive. And today when machine tools are more available and less expensive, there are no such magazines and very few books. And even fewer people wanting to make stuff! I have a hard time wrapping my head around this.

 

I hear you my friend...

 

While waiting for the mail man, I decided to install a improved back board setup to catch the swarf.
It was a good opportunity to reorganise my attachment stuff.
It appears to be a great improvement to what I had and I am hoping I will be better organised and able to find stuff more easily.

 

How do you keep the cutting oil and coolant from ruining the peg board?

And that brings me to another thing I learned in the years of the trade. For most drilling and cutting I use mixed soluble oil and water as a lubricant. Not pumped on the cut like they do in industrial high speed cutting, but from a squeeze bottle, just a little at a time.