On Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:03:49 -0700, Dom wrote:

Easy solution. I just had to grow some balls. I was a little shy
about breaking the tool, and this led me to taking too light a feed.
I discussed the problem with a colleague, (who happens to be a
national workskills champion) and we had some fun experimenting. He
really carved into it, hand feeding, really heavy cuts, you could hear
the motor loading up, no chatter though, and a beautiful finish. We
tried power feed too, this was maybe a little too slow, and could have
been increased at least double. We tried some 1020, 4140, and 316,
all with no problems. 316 gave the best finish. 4140 had the
cleanest chip.

Thanks all for your input. (I did a follow up post yesterday, but its
not here?) Its been interesting getting other peoples take on the
subject.

Cheers Dom.
(Queensland Australia)


I would suggest that it is still worth looking for play in the chuck/headstock
bearings/apron. A tight lathe will take very thin cuts with a parting tool
without chatter. You have got around some play somewhere in the system by
loading the tool up, but you will still have the same problems when it comes
to light facing cuts.

Have a good one

Mark Rand
RTFM