Homemade machining equipments

[Screwdriver]

buying stock steel can be what is needed but if off then you need another way to make it level and straight

the drum sander is one way the other way is this way

then you need a slide to get it square and keep it straight

Why did you specifically edit this comment out of my quote?

You can pull yourself up by your bootstraps, make a machine to make a better machine etc. etc.

 

[Screwdriver]

You do know that the guys locked up in Colditz in WW2 made a lathe...?
And a printing press, radio and tools to help them make keys to open all the doors? Oh, and a 2-man glider.
The guys in Zagan made replica German rifles and uniforms and forged documents, including photos of the bearer. They also dug a few tunnels (for the Great Escape).

Where there's a will, there's a way

I did not know that, heard about the glider of course and a radio is trivially easy (not quite from scratch!) but desperate times call for desperate measures and there were a fair few of the Best of British locked away in there...

On the other hand, if they had had access to say, a secondhand lathe going cheap, do you think they would have gone for that?

 

[Memmeddu]

The idea of building a lathe is not too bad I think.
The metal lathe as we know it today didn't exist , someone made the first one without using a lathe obviously, same thing for milling machines, surface grinders and gingerly shapers (hope to have written it right)
All this without the modern technologies,an knowledge
Ps this post isn't meant to get someone upset

 

[Screwdriver]

The idea of building a lathe is not too bad I think.
The metal lathe as we know it today didn't exist , some made the first one without using a lathe obviously, same thing for milling machines, surface grinders and gingerly shapers (hope to have written it right)
All this without the modern technologies,an knowledge
Ps this post isn't meant to get someone upset

I am just trying to help because despite all of the theoretical possibilities, building a useful lathe from scratch is a big ask. Depends what you want to make from it I suppose and my assumption is, a useful general purpose lathe for turning out parts.

Now if you had a workshop and your intention was to enjoy the difficult process of manufacturing one from scratch as a fun project, knock yourself out. On the other hand if you want to build up a machine workshop, the heart of a good workshop is a good lathe and they are currently as cheap as chips secondhand. That won't last as the world slowly runs out of these older machines.

India and China are currently the world leaders in high volume manufacturing and I remember the days when they were hoovering up all the big machines as the UK went into white collar service industry. Those two observations are not unrelated. The best way to make a small fortune is to start with a large one.

 

[Memmeddu]

I am just trying to help because despite all of the theoretical possibilities, building a useful lathe from scratch is a big ask. Depends what you want to make from it I suppose and my assumption is, a useful general purpose lathe for turning out parts.

Now if you had a workshop and your intention was to enjoy the difficult process of manufacturing one from scratch as a fun project, knock yourself out. On the other hand if you want to build up a machine workshop, the heart of a good workshop is a good lathe and they are currently as cheap as chips secondhand. That won't last as the world slowly runs out of these older machines.

India and China are currently the world leaders in high volume manufacturing and I remember the days when they were hoovering up all the big machines as the UK went into white collar service industry. Those two observations are not unrelated. The best way to make a small fortune is to start with a large one.

General purpose lathe for turning parts , nothing exceptionally accurate but acceptable
Not exactly a machine shop but being able to turn out parts I need , refresh /make key holes ,etc just light machining and hobby type works

 

[Screwdriver]

General purpose lathe for turning parts , nothing exceptionally accurate but acceptable
Not exactly a machine shop but being able to turn out parts I need , refresh /make key holes ,etc just light machining and hobby type works

Most if not all of the many diy build videos out there are mad by people with a decent workshop, doing it for the fun of it.

What you will discover is that building a machine from stock materials will end up costing more than repairing/restoring an existing machine. So if your objective is to end up with a good useable lathe the best way to "make" one is to start with one, even if you make it up out of scrapped or broken parts. Once you have a capable, repeatable machining process, you can build other machines/mechanisms to the limit of your ability to design them.

 

[Memmeddu]

Most if not all of the many diy build videos out there are mad by people with a decent workshop, doing it for the fun of it.

What you will discover is that building a machine from stock materials will end up costing more than repairing/restoring an existing machine. So if your objective is to end up with a good useable lathe the best way to "make" one is to start with one, even if you make it up out of scrapped or broken parts. Once you have a capable, repeatable machining process, you can build other machines/mechanisms to the limit of your ability to design them.

I do prefer to buy one to restore it

 

[Screwdriver]

I do prefer to buy one to restore it

That is the most likely plan which ends up with you having a lathe.

For the home built, starting from scratch brigade:

The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!

 

[Memmeddu]

Now seriously what I should do if I find a milling machine prior finding a lathe?

 

[gaz1]

Starting from scratch is difficult bordering on impossible. You can pull yourself up by your bootstraps, make a machine to make a better machine etc. etc. but a lathe (mill, shaper, grinding machine) is merely a method for transferring a dimensionally stable, perfectly flat surface from the machine to the workpiece.

To do that, you need to start with a dimensionally stable, perfectly flat thing. Easier to buy a broken one and cobble something together. A lathe looks simple enough but the precision it must maintain is actually very difficult to achieve. It’s not uncommon to find parts machined to within tens of millionths of an inch to allow accuracy within a thousandth.

weather i leave it in that context or edit it down really makes no difference the fact that your spot on by the mention of dimensionally stable perfectly flat surface from the machine to the workpiece.

really dosnt change a thing the edit down to just that alone should confirm the importance of the piece

 

[Screwdriver]

weather i leave it in that context or edit it down really makes no difference the fact that your spot on by the mention of dimensionally stable perfectly flat surface from the machine to the workpiece.

really dosnt change a thing the edit down to just that alone should confirm the importance of the piece

I just thought it was funny that you would quote me, remove the bit where I suggest you can make a machine to make a machine and then go on to suggest yourself that he makes a machine to make a machine.

 

[Carl Wilson]

Coming late to this. I'm assuming someone has mentioned the Dave Gingery books?

Carl.

 

[Memmeddu]

Coming late to this. I'm assuming someone has mentioned the Dave Gingery books?

Carl.

Yes someone did

 

[Screwdriver]

Now seriously what I should do if I find a milling machine prior finding a lathe?

If you find a really good one that's ideal for your needs and you are confident you will want one one day, buy it. A decent low footprint smaller milling machine is difficult to find anywhere for cheap. Bridgeports are two a penny (so I'm told) but they are seriously heavy. That plus a lathe and you will need to discuss it with a structural engineer (I'm not kidding either).

But while you'd struggle to build a lathe using a milling machine, once you have a lathe you could conceivably build a milling machine. However, you can perform milling operations on a lathe with commonly available accessories; Flycutters, vertical slides etc. If anyone tells you you can turn a shaft then cut a precision thread on a milling machine, take it with a pinch of salt.**


**no doubt in some far flung corner of the dark web, someone did that, just for sh!ts and giggles.

 

[Memmeddu]

If you find a really good one that's ideal for your needs and you are confident you will want one one day, buy it. A decent low footprint smaller milling machine is difficult to find anywhere for cheap. Bridgeports are two a penny (so I'm told) but they are seriously heavy. That plus a lathe and you will need to discuss it with a structural engineer (I'm not kidding either).

But while you'd struggle to build a lathe using a milling machine, once you have a lathe you could conceivably build a milling machine. However, you can perform milling operations on a lathe with commonly available accessories; Flycutters, vertical slides etc. If anyone tells you you can turn a shaft then cut a precision thread on a milling machine, take it with a pinch of salt.**


**no doubt in some far flung corner of the dark web, someone did that, just for sh!ts and giggles.

If I bring a lathe at home and I learn how to use it properly (enough good ) I will surely try to make something
A Bridgeport would be great but it's to big and complex ,I like the shaublin 13 style milling machines , but it's to big for me , something similar but bench top version

 

[Memmeddu]

A shaublin sv11 or 12 would be great for me , it seems a little tiny lovely machine

 

[Maker]

**no doubt in some far flung corner of the dark web, someone did that, just for sh!ts and giggles.

I've seen a lathe chuck mounted on the spindle of a horizontal mill with a tool clamped in the vice. Not sure if it was for tits and pickles or to solve a specific problem, I suppose you could swing a bigger disc in it than on most lathes.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

But while you'd struggle to build a lathe using a milling machine, once you have a lathe you could conceivably build a milling machine. However, you can perform milling operations on a lathe with commonly available accessories; Flycutters, vertical slides etc. If anyone tells you you can turn a shaft then cut a precision thread on a milling machine, take it with a pinch of salt.**


**no doubt in some far flung corner of the dark web, someone did that, just for sh!ts and giggles.

CNC mill and you could thread cut.

Turning a shaft. Workpiece in a collet and toolpost fixed to the table

Would I do it. Nope. Easier on a lathe.

Wrote this earlier @Maker decided not to post but as you set the ball rolling.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

A shaublin sv11 or 12 would be great for me , it seems a little tiny lovely machine

You're not going to find one of those for sweeties.

 

[Memmeddu]

You're not going to find one of those for sweeties.

I know that
But I can wonder about