Old Guys Simplex moto-peddle bike

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indian22

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Dec 31, 2014
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Thanks for the input guys, my homes layout is a challenge not only of interior dimensions and layout, but also of lot size. it's long and narrow with no access possible from the rear or sides ( 4' minimum property lines) and no alley on the rear. The utility right of way has three buildings constructed under it. All of this was somehow approved 70 plus years ago and is "grand fathered" in the zoning. Any shop construction materials etc. will have to be hand carried in from the street, small shed not a big problem, just adds to the cost.

Moving stuff to the basement this weekend was a reminder of how dangerous the stairwell is to carry even small things down or up. I'll use it for organized storage primarily at this time. I moved 15 sets of new tires and 6 sets of wheels, plus the odd unmatched wheel & tire. This freed up more room than I'd imagined as did removing some bike frames etc. I need to purchase some large plastic totes to clear up shelf space too.

Good news is I've cleared enough space to get the lathe setup and UPS has it scheduled for delivery today.

I'm hoping you all had a great weekend and are preparing for the Spring time change and an early one as well...regardless of what "Phil" saw.

Rick C.
 

curtisfox

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Dec 29, 2008
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minesota
LOL there are a lot of house like that here, packed like cord wood, spit on the neighbors form bedroom window. Mine included but not that close, I am on a corner have a half a block one way but not to deep. If it weren't for the house being grandfathered in, I wouldn't have a back yard, or very little. The other way have room for 40ft garage and a shed, the only reason I am still here, close to the street but side street.

Good luck with the setup, and the new lathe. Wishing it were mine, but will make mine do, it does what I need with extra time setup...........Curt
 

indian22

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Dec 31, 2014
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Curt once I get a bit more organized I'll have adequate room to work in my single car 1950's size garage on bike size projects. Though I'll keep 5 or six bikes inside it as well. I'll have wheels under these and I've a car port to move them out of the way when I require more space for work.

In my big shops I had wheels under a lot of tools to relocate close to the ongoing work, saved a lot of wasted steps, but wheels under tools in a small space that doubles as parking allows storing tools out of the way and quick setup when needed.

I've a buddy who has the adjustable shelving stand components from a large K-Mart store...freebees. so if I want, I've got and they are stored only three blocks away. I can wall mount these and have shelves from floor to ceiling on three sides. If I want to really organize it won't cost me a lot of $$, & just a little time.

Rick C.
 

indian22

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Dec 31, 2014
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Lathe arrived late yesterday, no damage in shipping. I've noted two items which will be modified. Neither slide has a lock feature, easy modification to make however. The tail stock has a quick lock which I noticed before ordering. I'll check things out today and mount it on a stand tomorrow I'd think, if all is well.

Quite a few accessories on order, one batch scheduled for UPS delivery today.

Needful things, these lathes!

Rick C.

lathe1.jpg
 

indian22

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Dec 31, 2014
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Setup for testing basic lathe functions was a yesterday activity and things checked out well as far as I took them. Made a few chips along the way. Quick change tool post installed and basic new machine setup maintenance completed. Since I'm missing several key components; ,for example a MT-2 Jacobs 1/2" chuck for the tail stock, I didn't much bother with testing machine accuracy. In addition since I've some mods planned the lathe is sitting loose on it's stand until I've made my mods.

I mounted a 3/4" diameter length of 6061 aluminum through the bore of the three jaw chuck with 2. 5 " stick out and faced it, turned it down 20 thou for clean up and then turned to a .250" shoulder gradually increasing feed and spindle speed. I limited my rough cuts to a maximum .008" and feed was set using them slowest gear setup (too fast) provided with this machine. The spindle speed was 550 rpm and the brazed cobalt tool broke good chips with no birds nests or even occasional stringing during these simple operations. I finished with a couple of spring passes @ 850 rpm. Finish was quite acceptable. I worked dry, no lube only applied blue to aid seeing concentricity along the way.

Not setup in the least I was not expecting good results only testing functions on this one but I was gratified with the results, minimal though the are, but as I stated in an earlier post my recent experiences with setting up the "Sieg" manufactured mini lathes have been really good. One of these is setup in a commercial operation (not recommended) and motivated to and the operator was a complete novice but very competent and motivated to turn out accurate finished parts for the aviation market which he has a really great reputation with. He's become quite good with the items he specializes in, none of which are "high tolerance" but still need to be close tolerance in order to function well.

Of all the things I'm missing at this point the MT-2 Jacobs 1/2" tailstock chuck is what I'm immediately in need of to actually go much forward in my testing. however I'm pleased that the only real damage was the breakage of the useless plexiglass chuck guard...no loss there.
The heavy tail stock assembly must have come loose in transit and singled out the guard as a target of destruction. Cross slide was lightly marred in a non-critical location so I was fortunate that more damage didn't occur. The tailstock is a serious chunk of steel floating loose in an international delivery crate. Otherwise the packing itself was terrific.

The quality of the metal gear sets is very good the best of any I've seen to this point and equal to the 1
$150. aftermarket change gears I've seen offered by the better specialty vendors. No plastic gears or controls except where they make sense for motor control and power functions. Also the Chinese version of "Cosmolene" a ;transport grease that requires a torch to burn off wasn't used, just a light film of oil and no corrosion

Now I must have a moment of patience and wait for required stuff.

Rick C.

lathe 5.jpg
lathe 2.jpg
lathe first chips.jpg
 

indian22

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Dec 31, 2014
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The 4 jaw independent 5" adjustable chuck is on back order till June. It has a 1.25" spindle bore and compared with the 4" 3 jaw chucks, 3/4" bore it gives space to handle larger rod & tube diameters. One of the features that led me to purchase this machine was that it came with the 4" chuck whereas many of the 7x14 inch machines are equipped with 3" three jaw chucks. Many owners have successfully increased the chuck size to 5" and the spindles have held up and performed well which speaks to robust bearings.

There are a lot of negatives with this machine too, some of which I plan to rectify, others I'll live with knowing this isn't a tool room lathe...the base price of the lathe confirms this.

The stand I've placed the lathe on is a repurposed BBQ grill, lol and topped with 1.4" thick particle board. It 's robust, looks ok, sits level & smells like steak. Cutting fluids will take care of the latter in short order.

Rainy day her so I'll take advantage and work to organize and clean up this work space some more.

Rick C.
 

Tom from Rubicon

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Apr 4, 2016
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Lathe wise, you are going to use that turret tool post aren't you? Maybe its the times I did production work on a lathe that makes me prefer a turret. Ya know Rick, it's this kind of conversation be loaded to my thread if you would please.
And besides, it's my birthday. Woke up 70 and already lost an hour because of the time change. Grrr.
Tom
 

indian22

Well-Known Member
Dec 31, 2014
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Oklahoma
Happy happy Tom & yes the quick change post is installed & as the mini-lathe keeps expanding I'll post photos and updates to your tread as I learned many years ago: it takes awhile to gather kit and tune the machine to suit.

Rick C.
 

Oldbiscuit

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Oct 3, 2020
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Lathe wise, you are going to use that turret tool post aren't you? Maybe its the times I did production work on a lathe that makes me prefer a turret. Ya know Rick, it's this kind of conversation be loaded to my thread if you would please.
And besides, it's my birthday. Woke up 70 and already lost an hour because of the time change. Grrr.
Tom
Hey, Happy Birthday Tom ! Yesterday was mine as well. Only I turned 65 but my body tells me I much older!