In article ,
"DoN. Nichols" wrote:

On 2008-05-08, Joseph Gwinn wrote:
In article ,
"DoN. Nichols" wrote:

On 2008-05-08, Joseph Gwinn wrote:
In article ,
"DoN. Nichols" wrote:

[ ... ]

But the tool is upsidedown, so that won't happen. Well, not often.

One of the benefits of upside down is that chips tend to fall
out of the cut. But with a long curl, you would have the chip feeding
back cycle after cycle until there was enough to drag into the cutter
from pure edge friction.

The tool tip is slightly angled, and so the chip usually curls into a
helix, versus a tight jellyroll.

O.K. And if the tip has a shallow 'V' in the top, it will make
the chip narrower than the slot, to reduce the chances of catching.

Yes, although I have not had that problem if I can prevent self-feeding
and overly thick chips.


I've been looking for a cutoff tool that can be used in front, but with
reverse rotation. The BXA7R doesn't actually work for this, instead
being intended for use on the back side of a forward rotating workpiece.
What is needed is the mirror image of a BXA-7, versus an upside-down
BXA-7.

I've also been looking at the Aloris holder for SGIH blades, BXA-77.
However, it isn't clear that one can use upsidedown blades in this
holder, as the bevels on the blade are not symmetrical.

Perhaps the best solution is to install a cutoff tool bar with
rectangular shank upsidedown in a regular tool holder.


[ ... ]

I found the drag to be a problem.

Well ... it needs to be just right. Too loose and vibration
will change it -- even with a balanced crank. Too tight, and it is easy
to overshoot when you get past the friction limit. Just right and you
can steady the crank with one hand as you loosen the thumbscrew, rotate
the outer dial, and re-tighten the thumbscrew.

Thumbscrew? Mine came with hex socket cap machine screws riding on
brass slugs. Hmm. The 5914 manual shows knurled thumbscrews, also
riding on brass slugs. So both thumbscrews were lost and replaced. The
cap screws are clumsy to use.

Mine had one thumbscrew and one cap screw, so I ordered a
thumbscrew along with the leadscrew and T-nut for the cross-slide.

I may do the same. I'm close to ordering a T-nut for the cross-slide
screw.


[ ... ]

There are some larger Logans, I think. We've got an expert on
the newsgroup -- Scott Logan.

Yes, there are suitable 1000# Logan lathes, but none came onto the local
market while I was looking. Logans were a definite possibility because
Logan Actuator still exists and still supports their old iron.

Yes. I guess that more of the Logan lathes were sold in the
hobbist size range, so we don't see the larger ones coming up on the
used market very often.

Actually, one did go by, at Gold Machinery in Rhode Island, but before I
was ready to buy anything. So did a Clausing 5914 for that matter.

Gold's reputation around Boston is that they are expensive, but have
good stuff. http://goldmachinery.com/machinery/index.htm


[ ... Nichols mill ... ]

Someday. Space is my issue. I saw a local Nichols horizontal hand mill
go for ~$500 about six months ago. There were few takers.

Mine was $200.00 on eBay -- and cost more to ship down to the DC
area from the Boston area. :-)

That's a bit of a drive. How much did the shipping cost, and what year
was this? Perhaps I should have considered non-local sources.

I don't remember for sure, but I think about $240.00. And this
was back around 2000 I think.

Even with eight years of inflation, not such a bad price. One problem I
had with getting stuff from Gold Machinery was the distance. Perhaps it
was not as big a problem as feared.

Joe Gwinn