"Prometheus" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 01 Oct 2007 08:26:25 -0400, Wes wrote:

Prometheus wrote:

Thanks Pete- though I think I'm just going to order the McMaster Carr
ones- I should have thought of that first, but it completely slipped
my mind that those guys have everything.


I was looking at McMasters for you yesterday but I didn't see oversized
rod.
Pete's idea on the oversized dowel is excellent! UPS on that is likely
only
going to be 5 bucks in most of the country.

Actually, I got it figured out, and figured I'd share in case anyone
else runs in to one of these type situations, where the lathe needs a
turned part but you've still got a mill availible.

Turns out the hole was a .060" smaller than the visible pin diameter,
so it needed to be turned. I actually used a hitch pin from the
hardware store, cut it off with the notion of trying to very carefully
grind the pin down and then realized that a .500" pin would fit in a
1/2" collet just fine. So I stuck it in the collet, and mounted a
left-hand lathe cutter sideways in the milling vise and turned it to
size using the quill as a feed. Worked pretty good- I got everything
to within .003", which was close enough to push it in with an arbor
press and some effort, and it plenty accurate for something that is
simply a point for the lathe to push against to rotate the turret.

Probably something most of you guys already know to do, but I'm fairly
new to manual milling, having had most of my working experience with
CNC machines.

There's a lot to be said for rediscovering old tricks. It keeps the mind
fresh. d8-)

--
Ed Huntress