Making washers on a lathe.

[pedrobedro]

What size Warco are you using?

 

[God mode restorations]

What size Warco are you using?

Warco wm 240b .

 

[daleyd]

I don't think anyone was being negative, I'd prefer the term realistic!!

As said, the process of being able to make one is a good skill to learn, and for odd shaped washers or specific sized spacers etc then it would be the way to go, but to knock out the hundreds that would be needed for such a project when they can be bought for so little - that's just wasting material and time that could be better employed elsewhere. Once you've done a few everything else is just repetition so you're no longer learning anything "new", just burning up time.

 

[ibrooks]

Reminds me of an "incident" here. They were making some very precise washers from something precise and non-ferrous and surface grinding them to a final thickness after they were parted off the lathe. Being non-ferrous they wouldn't stick to the magnetic table on the surface grinder so they paid a small fortune for some double sided sticky tape that was a guaranteed thickness when applied in a specific way so they could stick a row down and then run the surface grinder across the faces. All was going well until the lathe operator changed and the new guy was parting them off a little thicker than the first guy. The bloke running the surface grinder hadn't spotted it and was dialling the grinder to the same height for the initial pass.

It spat a row of washers off the table like a machine-gun.

"Words" were had.

 

[God mode restorations]

I understand guys it's cool. I don't look at it as negative. I asked a question and I appreciate the time and skills for those that have taken the time have given there opinion and points of view. That's what the forum is about. Yes a lot of washers is time consuming and I can purchase them off the net.but I will make some and it will give me some time with the machine.

 

[Gritineye]

Your hand to control movements and muscle memory (new fangled term) will have become instinctive by the end which is a big plus, get em done!

 

[Rudi McAnichal]

Many years ago I had to make a few thousand special washers, and parting off was no problem at all. Nothing to do with my (mediocre) skill level, but because the bosses had provided:
- good quality, rigid machine (Ward capstan)
- rear tool post for parting off
- lots of coolant
- free-cutting steel stock

Beginners may easily run into problems if they try to learn lathe work using offcuts of unknown composition. Best avoid stainless until you have had plenty of practice on the free-cutting stuff.

 

[rtbcomp]

Talking about unnecessary work...

A guy at Sheffield University I worked with was making a telescope and he needed some nuts to fit in a very tight space. He spent weeks filing nuts down to get the right size flats.

Once he finished I suggested he should have bought nuts with the correct flats and then drilled & tapped them. He never lived it down.

 

[God mode restorations]

Out of interest guys. Is it OK to bolt a lathe on to a wooden bench. Providing it is flat and rigid enough.

 

[Mr shiney]

Out of interest guys. Is it OK to bolt a lathe on to a wooden bench. Providing it is flat and rigid enough.

Mine is. I have absolutely no problem with it putting true. Its got a solid timber sub frame bolted to the floor and all with a kitchen worktop over that. Lathe is bolted down to and levelled and its never moved. I check it every time its used.

Its a Myford Super 7.

 

[ronan]

Out of interest guys. Is it OK to bolt a lathe on to a wooden bench. Providing it is flat and rigid enough.

What size lathe ? I have seen small myford type lathes bolted down to thick countertops, the hardwood type maybe 2" or 3" thick.

 

[8ob]

Level is a good start.

Bob

 

[God mode restorations]

Lathe is a warco wm240b. Weight is 110 kgs.my bench is massive and made of 100x100 timbers.the top is 50mm thick marine ply.

 

[Mr shiney]

Similar to a Myford. Marine ply is very stable. Try it, you have nothing to lose and it will be better use of your time than making washers!!!

 

[God mode restorations]

Similar to a Myford. Marine ply is very stable. Try it, you have nothing to lose and it will be better use of your time than making washers!!!

LOL Mr shiney. I hear you about the washers.
I would like to get a gear head warco 550 lathe later next year.soon as I make some more room in this place.need to do something with this monster stick welder that takes up half the space

 

[God mode restorations]

Yes OK so it was easier to order washers I hear ya. They turned up in the post today.

 

[Screwdriver]

Out of interest guys. Is it OK to bolt a lathe on to a wooden bench. Providing it is flat and rigid enough.

No. Any torque at all on the hold down bolts will compress the wood and introduce a distortion.

If you're aiming at thousandths of an inch, stick a bolt into a solid block of wood and measure it with a DTI as you tighten it up.

The whole purpose of a lathe body is to maintain accuracy over a span and I can twist my Colchester measurably just by adjusting the feet!

Sure you can get away with it but is it OK? No. It isn't.

S.

 

[God mode restorations]

No. Any torque at all on the hold down bolts will compress the wood and introduce a distortion.

If you're aiming at thousandths of an inch, stick a bolt into a solid block of wood and measure it with a DTI as you tighten it up.

The whole purpose of a lathe body is to maintain accuracy over a span and I can twist my Colchester measurably just by adjusting the feet!

Sure you can get away with it but is it OK? No. It isn't.

S.

I no this sounds picky to some but the washers I oredered ain't what I would call quality. They are slightly off centre and have no uniform at all.

 

[God mode restorations]

I no this sounds picky to some but the washers I oredered ain't what I would call quality. They are slightly off centre and have no uniform at all. View attachment 92569 View attachment 92570

So if anyone would like to machine me 10 washers. M12. 50mm OD . 5mm thick. I would be very happy. Cash waiting of course.

 

[zx9]

Sometimes if anyone would like to machine me 10 washers. M12. 50mm OD . 5mm thick. I would be very happy. Cash waiting of course.

Not exactly a precission product are they, at 5mm thick I would have expected them to have parallel faces. I suppose the hardened washers you find behind cylinder head bolts would be too expensive ?