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Post by 90GTVert on Jul 1, 2017 5:35:31 GMT -5
Watch out for poor quality stock material, it isn't always a bargain and can be very frustrating. I remember when the shop I worked in bought some cheaper Asian sourced steel. It was nearly impossible to get a good finish. I never did like working with aluminum but I love good 4140 steel. We all have our favorites though. Here's a question : Is the metal rod that they sell in hardware and home improvements stores worth using or should it stay on the shelf? I see it's about $5.50 for 3ft of 1/2" steel round at Lowes. 3ft of 1/2" 41L40 ("Easy-to-Machine") is about $10 (plus shipping) at McMaster. Hardware store aluminum prices are good too, about $7 for 3ft of 1/2" round. They don't tell you what that is either though. What I bought was 6061. I looked at it yesterday, but I noticed that the aluminum rods were all bent there. Not a little warped, but like they were mishandled or purposefully bent. I'm gonna guess all of that stuff should stay on the shelf and I should stick with paying a little more. Just wanted to ask since it's the only convenient local source that I know of and shipping can get expensive on metal. I tried to google local spots, but the stuff that came up was all around Baltimore (long drive, terrible traffic). |
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Post by 90GTVert on Jul 1, 2017 5:37:27 GMT -5
Cutting oil helps keep the HSS tooling alive longer also.  I'll have to get some. I've been using motor oil with steel stuff and WD-40 or oil with aluminum. Both have been useful on the drill press so I didn't buy any actual cutting oil yet. |
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Post by 190mech on Jul 1, 2017 6:04:36 GMT -5
I use 2 stroke oil most of the time,,Cutting oil has sulfur additives which help..Knowing the metal type is important for a job that might require to be welded or have good wear qualities,McMaster has some good charts that show the properties of many metals,,Unknown alloys are OK for all sorts of non structural stuff,the only way to know is try it!!
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Post by thephranc on Jul 1, 2017 8:39:26 GMT -5
Watch out for poor quality stock material, it isn't always a bargain and can be very frustrating. I remember when the shop I worked in bought some cheaper Asian sourced steel. It was nearly impossible to get a good finish. I never did like working with aluminum but I love good 4140 steel. We all have our favorites though. Here's a question : Is the metal rod that they sell in hardware and home improvements stores worth using or should it stay on the shelf? I see it's about $5.50 for 3ft of 1/2" steel round at Lowes. 3ft of 1/2" 41L40 ("Easy-to-Machine") is about $10 (plus shipping) at McMaster. Hardware store aluminum prices are good too, about $7 for 3ft of 1/2" round. They don't tell you what that is either though. What I bought was 6061. I looked at it yesterday, but I noticed that the aluminum rods were all bent there. Not a little warped, but like they were mishandled or purposefully bent. I'm gonna guess all of that stuff should stay on the shelf and I should stick with paying a little more. Just wanted to ask since it's the only convenient local source that I know of and shipping can get expensive on metal. I tried to google local spots, but the stuff that came up was all around Baltimore (long drive, terrible traffic). Stay away from the lowes or home depot metals for machining. They are low quality. McMaster is really good about replacing poorly received products. Might want to give them a call. I use www.metalsdepot.com/ for my metals now. Shipping is great compared to metal supermarkets( who have at least 2 MD locations )Material costs were less too. |
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Post by ryan_ott on Jul 1, 2017 9:09:24 GMT -5
Another source for steel is fazzio steel, they have several locations around here but also ship. They have anything you could ever need. www.shopjfi.com |
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Post by oakleyscoot on Jul 1, 2017 11:00:27 GMT -5
Here's a question : Is the metal rod that they sell in hardware and home improvements stores worth using or should it stay on the shelf? The material one chooses must fit the application.
What is it your wanting to make ?What I bought was 6061. For many many things 6061-t6 or 6061-t651 is a very good choice, it welds very well, machines fairly easily
and is structurally pretty strong. I looked at it yesterday, but I noticed that the aluminum rods were all bent there. Not a little warped, but like they were mishandled or purposefully bent.
The fact that the bars and not exactly straight ( same is true for flat stock, it isn't flat either ).
Usually one uses an OD size that will be close to your finish OD size, it is VERY common to take OD cuts to make it
to the size you want. Once cut it will be both straight and round.
As long as the part length you need fits fairly well within the non straight area, just cut the OD. Now that doesn't
mean you can make a straight part from a "U" bolt :-).
I'm gonna guess all of that stuff should stay on the shelf and I should stick with paying a little more. Again, it depends on what your going to use it for. I have made parts from re-rod ( used in concrete work ), re-cut old bolts,
black pipe, and a lot of other materials.
yes while a little playing necessary but they turned reasonable well and they worked just fine for the application. Just wanted to ask since it's the only convenient local source that I know of and shipping can get expensive on metal. I tried to google local spots, but the stuff that came up was all around Baltimore (long drive, terrible traffic). |
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Post by oakleyscoot on Jul 1, 2017 12:09:02 GMT -5
One thing to check on your new toy...
Check how close your tail stock ( live or dead center ) center line is compared to the head stock center line.
The longer the bed the more chance there is to variance in center lines.
If you have the length, take a piece of material ( aluminum is OK ) that is the largest that will fit through
the head (maybe 12" long, less if you can't do 12" ).
Chuck it up with the right hand end in the lathe chuck ( pretty much flush with the chuck jaws ).
Take a center drill and give yourself a center in that end.
Then pull the test bar out and grab on to the left end of the bar. Put your live center in the tail stock
and support the test rod on the right end placing the live center into the center you created.
Put your tool into the holder and go to the far right end of the test bar and take a small cut at some depth,
for some distance ( like 1" or 3/4" long and .01 or .005, whatever you choose ).
it does not matter the depth cut, just as long as you get a complete cleanup on the right side end.
Take a note of the cross slide dial number (line).
Go to the left end of the part and make a cut at the same dial number and roughly same length ( not necessary to be same as right end ) but you want the SAME depth.
Once done, measure the diameters at both ends.
IF they are not the same, you will be cutting on a taper along a length. (not good)
Hopefully there will be a way to move the tail stock "in and out" so you can adjust. Re-adjust about 1/2 the
difference in diameters and make another test cut and adjust as necessary until you get the same diameters at
both ends.
makes life much easier when you know you get a straight part (consistent diameter along the length) when you take it out to use it.
The tail stock can also be out vertically, much more challenging to correct that situation.
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Post by 90GTVert on Jul 1, 2017 15:13:46 GMT -5
The material one chooses must fit the application.
What is it your wanting to make ? I get that. I guess it was a vague question. I don't have any plans. My goal was just to get a little steel around for we'll say general purpose use. So if I get an idea or if I tear something up that I can probably fix with the help of the lathe, I don't have to wait a week for something to show up. I won't be building a chassis or machining a new engine or making fasteners to support the house anytime soon. Maybe something to patch up the scooter or riding mower. I'll prob end up getting some 41L40 from McMaster, but I'll prob get some cheap hardware store steel to check out as well. |
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Post by 190mech on Jul 1, 2017 15:32:14 GMT -5
Heck,I found a large bolt on the side of the road years ago,likely from a farm tractor and threw it in my metal pile,ended up making the spindle shaft for my iggy test machine with it,been past 13,000 rpms with it,cut the flywheel taper on my little 6" Craftsman lathe,love 'free' metal!!  |
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Post by oakleyscoot on Jul 1, 2017 15:33:33 GMT -5
Ah, got ya,
12L14 cuts like butter as I suspect 41L40 does (both contain lead, so they DO NOT weld )
good for a lot of general things.
Check out onlinemetals.com I buy all my metals from them.
You get 1 cut free and they will sell an inch if you need just that all the way to 8ft or longer.
They also provide material certs if required.
They are a part of Copper & Brass, always good metals and they ship quick.
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Post by FrankenMech on Jul 1, 2017 17:35:29 GMT -5
There are also good charts and lots of info in a Machinery's Handbook. You can find print versions and PDF versions. They have up to date material specifications that are useful to determine what you need for a particular application. I need to update my library to a newer version. The Home box store and hardware store material is usually low quality. The steel is usually suitable for welding though. Free metal is nice but try to determine what material it actually is. Stick to vendors that sell material by known designations. That way you have some idea what you are working with. I shop with some local vendors that sell material. www.metalbythefoot.com/www.airpartsinc.com/There are larger local metal vendors but they only sell in quantity. Some local shops used to sell steel but they no longer will due to liability. They will prosecute if you go dumpster diving. I have purchased things from www.mcmaster.com/ but I know nothing about their metals. |
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Post by 90GTVert on Jul 2, 2017 7:02:39 GMT -5
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Post by spaz12 on Jul 2, 2017 16:57:13 GMT -5
If you have the time and inclination, I would gladly pay for two of those "bullets". I think they would make some pretty cool key chain trinkets.
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Post by 90GTVert on Jul 2, 2017 17:26:55 GMT -5
Might as well play with the knurler and improve the lathe a little more. I used the idea from THIS VIDEO to create what you see below.   Put a taper on this end.  Cut it off with a hacksaw, faced that end, and put a taper on it.   I guess I didn't take pics, but I drilled all the way through the part and then drilled most of the way through with a larger bit to create a step for a bushing to rest on. I made a bushing out of a piece of leftover drill rod from when I needed a rod for 10mm axles on my wheel balancer.  I cut it off with a hacksaw and then smoothed the cut end by rubbing it on sandpaper, sort of like the sandpaper and glass truing method.  All of the parts for a new handle.  Handle installed.  It feels better and works better. No more removing the handle when I move the slide. I'm sure I'm still doing a lot wrong, but I am happy with how it turned out. Looks like a good machinist could do it in 15-30 minutes. Took me a few hours. |
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Post by aeroxbud on Jul 2, 2017 18:11:27 GMT -5
Your machining skills are coming along well.
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