G'day everyone,
I have been working on this years major project, and it has been taking longer than expected. I was planning on releasing part one this week, but a few things got in the day so I have decided to delay it a week, rather than try and rush it.
So I had a good thought about what projects I would recommend to someone who is getting started with lathe-ing. Somewhat difficult because we pick things up at a different rate, but I have a short list of projects I think would be a good fit. Most of them revolve around lathe tools, which is good because once you are finished you get a tool that you will actually use.
If you think that I have missed a good project let me know in the comments. Cheers
#machining #lathe
Top lathe Projects
Beginner Lathe Projects
Metal Lathe Projects
Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
0:57 - Half Centre (Very Easy)
3:45 - Scriber (Easy)
5:17 - Machinist Hammer (Easy)
7:25 - Tap Follower (Medium)
10:38 - Tailstock Die Holder (Medium)
12:46 - Carriage Stop (Mill Required)
Mini Lathe - Sieg c3 7x14 Mini Lathe
Mill - Sieg x2.7l
Big Lathe - Hafco Al 250G
My list of lathe projects has been stuck at 1 for years. 1: Get a lathe.
Perhaps slicing project number 1 into smaller pieces would help? 1a) Save some money for a lathe budget, 1b) find a lathe which fits said budget, 1c) actually purchase the dang thing. Admittedly, I am still stuck at 1a, but perhaps you can make it further down that list than I did so far.
Mine too!
I picked up one from a local industrial manufacturing facility. They had an old machine and they outgrew it so they charged me $200 and collection at my own cost. It needs a new motor and coolant tray but for a machine that costs $6000 brand new, i got really lucky. Check your local industrial shops and just ask around. Facebook marketplace is also a great option, many business owners sell their old machines and you can get a good deal. You dont need a new machine, lathes and mills are not like cell phones and to be honest, youre better off with a slightly older machine because things were actually made properly back then.
Mine was too, for about 2 decades. After I bought my first lathe, I wondered why it took me so long! If you are short on $ (we all are) get an used machine, even an worn-out is better than none. That's the most useful tool ever, that will lead you to the ultimate hobby itself.
You can totally 3d print an indicator holder for the carriage. Won't work as a stop, but works well enough I haven't made a metal one and I've been using it for years.
When are we going to find out why you needed to make those giant taps?
If all goes to schedule you'll find out in 2 weeks time
@@artisanmakes awesome can't wait!
Umm... Read between the lines. He made this video because that project isn't ready. Be patient young one
For threading in the lathe I'll often start single point to remove most of the metal then use a die to finish since the die will bring the thread to size quickly. It works especially nice if I need the thread all the way to a shoulder without a clearance groove.
Yes I find you have to use this procedure when you use a "cheap" die some times, might be a relief problem with them.
For the carriage stop if you don't have a mill a drill, hacksaw, cold chisel and a file will work. You can also learn some pretty handy manual skills along the way. Did it as an apprentice and hated it with a passion, now I am so grateful they made me do it.
Nice summary of good projects. Thanks for sharing
Excellent video as always. I would also love to see some really cool lathe modifications as well, like using the lathe as a mill and other mechanisms that allow out ot the box solutions for the lathe.
Another excellent video and great review of these important tool builds! Love your sensible and economic designs!
Very informative video, and like you said, for a new operator there are several techniques that are compulsory for every machinist. Enjoyed, cheers!
Great little video, showing some very useful first projects, I think most people could work out how to mill the carriage stop on the lathe using the cross slide (with some ingenuity). It's a slightly more advanced way of thinking about a lathe but as you yourself have said a lathe is also a horizontal mill. Thankyou for sharing
Thanks you for this introduction. A well s presented video that will be a big advantage to beginners! 😊👍👍👍
I love a good lathe project. Will try some of these.
Thanks for the video
At least normal centers are useful without a Lathe. We always had one in our kitchen drawer when I was a child. We used it to open cans of condensed milk 😊
I think the half-center is often ignored because for most projects you can just choke up on the stock to face it. Awesome video though, maybe it will be cool to know that my my first shop professor had me make most of these when I first started machining. I love the handle on the die holder. I've had a lot of trouble holding my own die holder (which lacks the big handle) when cutting steel
Okay the adjustable hammer got me good.
This is so awesome!
That last one is easy enough to print if you just want the indicator holder. I printed mine and wouldn't be able to do most of my work without it.
@5:57 - I've a small lead hammer made by an old plumber. It's on a small cast iron pipe handle.
Incredible video 👍👍
We make our scribers from 8mm round stock with a masonry nail epoxy resined into the body as a tip. Lasts about a year of 24/7 use.
Thanks! 👍💪✌
cool vid mate !
Sometimes you might get a tap with a point or rounded end rather than a convenient hole. I have a few BSF taps like this. Easy to make a tap follower with a hole. I used a BSA motorcycle cam follower to make mine as it was good steel with ready made concentric recess for the tap end
Thanks for the video! Btw do you use dcmt 7 or 11? Or whats better. Does it matter if you have the bigger lathe now?
Instead of a Dial indicator, you could also buy a micrometer head, and put that into a carriage stop, you can then adjust a hard stop on your machine.. a Dial(test) indicator can also be mounted in a magnetic arm on a lathe, that works too... I do like the machinists hammer.. i might one day make one too..Keep up the nice projects!
Thanks for this , i,m retiring next year and bought a brand new lathe and have been slowly buying up tools , stock , etc for when i get time and these projects are just perfect for me , one thing that i,m looking for is a good chart on holes and thread sizes something that confuses me . any help appreciated. Thanks again for a great channel.
Which one did you purchase?
Machinery's Handbook, but it's definitely not cheap.
there are charts all over the net, but a Zeus book is hard to beat
I love me the engineers black book, just a nice pocket size reference book I keep in the workshop. Worth it if you find it on discount/sale.
nice
If you don't have a mill, a 3d printer is a great way to make a carriage stop.
And if you don't have a 3D printer?
What are you doing step cylinder?
Oh no
You are dedicated to making videos.❤
I may have a faulty memory, but with your old lathe, you mostly turned the chuck by hand when single point threading, but I notice you do run the motor when single point threading with the new lathe, is my memory correct?
I'm beginer and love lathe machine, pls advice me which one to take
The die holder that I made is held in the tailstock chuck, trying to turn that section into a tapered part, I didn't feel comfortable with.
Any thoughts of adding an ELS electronic lead screw kit to your new lathe to cut any threads from acme, British pipe, metric/standard fine /course etc..even custom threads are possible without gear changes via the stepper motor controlled lead screw..they have inexpensive plug n play kits available..it would make a great video series besides being a great addition to the shop..Cheers..
For me I have zero interest in adding one to any of my machines. Nothing against them but I just doing find the project interesting
@@artisanmakes Yeah having the ability to cut any thread on earth accurately in minutes for a couple hundred dollars total,seems like a complete waste when you can spend hours making a tap or die each time you need it..guess its more about the journey then the final destination..I totally get it..obviously a guy that hacksaws everything isn't interested in quality of life innovations..which makes you stand out from most..Cheers..
That's not what i said. I just don't find it to be an interesting project, so it has never been near the top of my list of things to do.
Tungsten electrodes make good scriber tips, too.
What is a good weight for the head of a machinist's hammer?
Could you make a similar vid for only using a mill
NUMBER ONE beginner project: Learn to grind HIGH SPEED TOOL BITS. That would have saved you ~ $450-$1125 right off the bat just for the carbides you showed. 1 $10 tool bit will replace 100's of carbide inserts and can be shaped to do any job then RE shaped to do another and can be re sharpened 100s of times. You will learn the basics of how cutting tools work and it will also translate to sharpening other tools, like drill bits etc. Whatever you do, you will do better if you know how to make your own tools.
I agree 100% Sooner or later you will need a tool to get into a place that a carbide insert tool won't reach or you need to turn a certain profile and will have to grind a tool for it . i see so many times where a newcomer buys a lathe and goes straight to insert tooling because they are scared of grinding a HSS tool bit - this basic skill can be a game changer and can save you heaps of money . I have heaps of insert tooling for my machines but am migrating back to HSS tooling because it is tunable to the material being machined - i can easily change cutting tool angles / rake etc to improve the finish which can't be done with insert tooling .
@@ianbertenshaw4350 When I started we still had some high carbon steel tools but mostly High Speed tools and if needed we had Stellite and/or brazed carbide tools we could make. All hand ground. That covered almost all the bases. Then this insert thing came in. The intention was for PRODUCTION work NOT shop work and for production it works well and makes sense but in the general shop it is ridiculous. After 50 years I did break down and bought ONE insert holder for the lathe and ONE insert face mill. For anything else I braze a piece of carbide on a shank and grind it. Luckily there are plenty of old carbides to be had for free to braze on that someone ELSE paid full price for🤣.
@@ianbertenshaw4350 My guess is that most beginners shy away from regrinding HSS cutting bits is because they can't see what they are doing. Especially ones for a mini lathe, I certainly can't and what with having to get the angles bang on, forget it. Now if there were a jig to hold them, like the drill bit sharpening machine that I use, I'd give it a go.
@@steveclark.. i don't usually use a drill sharpener or jig either - unless i am doing four facet grinds that is ( use a dbit grinder for this ), i was taught how to grind them by hand and yeah sure they aren't as good as new but they get me by . The angles on a HSS bit are not super critical and you can make life easier by setting up the rest on your grinder to give you the approximate rake or clearance angles required. The biggest mistake newcomers make is reading some data book and thinking the cutting angles have to be precise and it scares them to death but i find that near enough is good enough and for me it is more important to hone the cutting edges so they are sharp and this also removes the marks from the grinding wheel which gives a better finish in most cases . i use an optivisor sort of thing as my eyesight isn't what it used to be. There are four basic skills a metal worker or machinist should master : Hacksawing, filing , tool bit / drill bit grinding and basic marking out - these skills have got me out of so much trouble it isn't funny ! P.S the HSS tooling doesn't have the overhang a carbide insert holder does which is a real bonus for small machines like a mini lathe that struggle with rigidity.
@@ianbertenshaw4350 All great advice there. I'd say that I've used my mini lathe more with carbide tipped tools than any other cutters, the brand new set that came with it, I found useless, I then got an HSS bit that had already been ground, sure that worked OK but overall I'd say that carbide bits are far better and easier for most to get along with.
SALUT MERCI ET CONTINU A FERRE DES VIDÉO DU CANADA QC.
You always have to protect the tip
Are button dies standard sizes ?
expanding (split) mandrill?
Do you have plans for any of the stuff you've made on your other videos? I'd really like to make that 2 piece vise from you 22JUL2023 video
Check your taps. My older taps all have rounded ends so my follower needs to have a concave end, not a pointed end.
I love your videos and if you can handle some friendly criticism, your editing could use a little more careful attention. Anyway thanks for the informative entertainment.
Too fast or something else. I'm moving over to a different editing suite and I might be missing a few things without noticing
@@artisanmakes I don't know if this is what he's talking about but a couple videos ago there was a part where you were mid sentence and it just went silent for a few seconds instead of hearing what you said. Didn't really bother me when I noticed it, though I wish I'd commented now, given you probably would've actually seen it.
I might have missed it myself then. What can ya do I guess. Cheers
I guess the half center would be good in some situations but you still have the hole in the end of the material that also might need to be removed
dude, this is very helpful, how about for the 100k special, some tool giveaways? like those 30usd set of lathe insert holders out of Aliexpress or some small chucks
I've been watching some of your old videos. Did you ever build the gearbox you cast the housing for a year ago? kzhead.info/sun/l8OIYriSgp6vonA/bejne.html And if so, can you post a link to the video please. Thanks
Er if there's not enough room on your lathe for the Tap Wrenches you have why don't you design and make one that is the right size to use on it. I mean surely it's a easy enough project seeing as you've already made a larger one. To get the torque you need it might take a bit of clever designing with say folding arms so the one that's at the bottom at the time folds out of the way of the bed but once past folds out and extends again to give you the torque you might need. That or just make it with shorter arms as I can't see you needing more torque than shorter arms would give you anyway. You still really need a band saw and preferably compressed air in your shop, if just so you can blast clean the Mill or whatever whenever you're using it. Love the fact that you've built a shop that's effective and where you can make things and do the things that obviously make you happy and that you enjoy. It's obviously your passion and despite obviously not having unlimited resources or anywhere close you've bought the machines you can afford and are making the most out of what you can afford and get. I mean whilst Clickspring has a larger lathe and can obviously afford to spend on machining that you can only dream of at this time he shows regularly just what is possibly, the percision and accuracy, the inventiveness and stunning finished pieces that are possible on a small, cheap lathe. A few tricks, a bit of out of the box thinking and taking the time to ensure that things are right are far more important than the machinery and Tools you have. I'd imagine you've already found his channel but if not you definitely need to check him out, there's also Inheritance Machining where his level of percision and dedication to getting things as good as they can be are amazing to watch.
If you want you use use a tap handle in the lathe that's small enough enough work. They still have centres so you still end up using the follower. Even a small tap wrench and the follower is used to keep it allowed. Cheers
Can you make a lathe carriage stop for a myford lathe mate
I have never used a myford so I wouldn't know where to begin.
I think the title is a bit of a misnomer if 2 of the 6 projects require a milling machine :¬( Other comments 1) the stylus needs something to stop it rolling - falling off the bench is the main cause of tip breakages 2) surely if it's for beginners, at least 1 project should avoid steel and stick to brass, alloy, Delrin etc? 3) cutting the slot for the tap follower can't realistically be done without a mill. Would it be possible to make a through slot in the outside holder (using repeated drilling and hand files), then fit a screw-in pin to the inner part to match the slot?
Of course you can do it without a mill. Hold endmill in the lathe chuck and hold the centre in a tool holder and advance the cross slide to machine it. The channel We can do that better does that type of work quire often.
Well.as I said in the video it's entirely up to the user what material they use. On a big lathe steel is pretty straightforward. At leastit was for me when I was shoved on one
Eh, 'affordable' benchtop mills are a relatively recent thing. What d'ya think model engineering hobbyists did back in the day? They used the toolpost to hold the work or stuck a vertical table on the cross slide and milled with their lathe. Love ArtisanMakes but he's understating the ability of the lathe to do most things you'd do with a mill. Of course, if you have a mill, you'd use that but if you don't have an extra £1500 to spend on a mill after you spent a grand on a lathe then don't be put off; import vertical milling attachments are pretty cheap and after a bit of cleaning, fettling and setting up you'll be doing milling on your lathe when you have to (it's a pain in the ass to set up but that's what happens when we're poor: inconvenience, I'm afraid 😂)
Right, so the endmill I don't have, because of course I don't have a mill, will do the job, if only I, a total beginner, can work out how to hold ~20mm round stock in a toolpost that only takes 10mm tooling. No doubt possible, but I think I'll stick to my suggestion which doesn't require any of this. Thanks anyway.@@artisanmakes
@@artisanmakes Missed the comment about using material of choice, just noted everything was steel. The 'big lathe' is in the workshop I don't have alongside the mill I don't have so I won't be using that any time soon :¬(
AM, 6:25: "It's easily one of my most used tools if not my most used tool." Hacksaw: 😭
ai:7
I don't understand buying thousands of dollars of machinery, to spend miltiple hours or days, to make items you can buy for $12.
Then you don't understand how to learn how to use machine tools. These projects used to be the kinds of things you used to do early on as an apprentice. There are plenty of old machinists out there who, if they dig hard enough through their tools, they'll find the machinists hammer they made as a spotty youth. These projects let you practice facing, turning to dimensions (even if they're dimensions you made up in your head 10 minutes before you started), turning to a shoulder, adding chamfers and potentially boring and single point threading. I mean, what do you think a beginners first project would be? Building a fekkin space shuttle? 😂
@@stevedavey1343 spending thousands of dollars on a machine you have no idea how to use is dumb. Professional machinist made their apprentices make those as a test before they trusted them to working on anything important. Neither of the two purchased the machinery. That's far different. I have never once had the desire to make any of that junk. The projects and repairs I do are of far greater priority of my time.
If it doesn't interest you then don't do it. But a lot of people over many generations have found these projects to be useful. And sure you could by them, nothing against that, but this is what i have always chosen to do with my hobby.
it is called fun dude ! Why do i spend thousands of dollars to go and catch fish when i can spend $15 at a shop to buy fish fingers ? Because it is fun for me !
@@ianbertenshaw4350 yeah that's fine. Bit no one is out here showing practical, cost effective, applications and solutions for people who have better things to do
This is a filler video.
I enjoyed making it, I think think it's a useful bit of content. It's not fair to label this as filler.
@@artisanmakesignore the attention-seeking child. 😉
@@stevedavey1343I'm not saying that to troll or be mean. I'm just being honest that these types of videos don't nearly carry as much interest as project videos.
Variety is the spice of life - not all videos are project videos and you have to remember making these videos is meant to be fun for the creator - not a job or chore so you get what you're given !
@@artisanmakesI enjoyed watching it mate, cheers 👍
you are talking about precision and then you use imperials. That is wrong.
1 thousandth of an inch (1 thou as British machinists call it) = 0.0254 mm (25.4 microns). 1 ten thousandth of an inch (called a tenth by machinists, a tenth of a thousandth; not to be confused wirh a tenth of an inch which not even woodworkers would use) = 0.00254 mm (2.54 microns). Imperial or metric? Irrelevant to precision.
Calm Down Man , Time Machines take Time to build