Bob La Londe wrote:

"Tim Wescott" wrote in message
...
Bob La Londe wrote:
Well, I tried to assemble the hole thing and the push rod threaded into
my piston crooked... How is that possible I wondered. I did everything
on the lathe. Oh, ****. No I didn't. My mini lathe was too small so I
only center drilled the piston on the lathe. I drilled it on the drill
press. I really need to throw this damn thing away. The table was
tilted side to side. I straightened that today, but found the table is
also slightly tilted front to back. GACK!!! Its not horrible for
punching holes in sheet, but I guess I need to add a mill drill to my
wish list for anything else.

Next time, rough drill it undersized in the press, then bore the hole to
size, with a boring bar in the lathe.

I'm not sure about "too small", though -- unless the tailstock chuck won't
take the drill, you should be able to keep loads light by feeding slowly.

Actually it has an amazing amount of power for a cheap tiny lathe. HF calls
it a 7 X 10, but I think its really a 7 x 8. Several people on-line have
commented that when they swap out to the 14" bed from The Little Machine
Shop they gain about 6 inches of working length rather than the 4 you would
expect. As soon as they are back in stock I plan to order the longer bed
for it, and turn the old bed into a tail stock parking rest. I still want a
bigger lathe but this little one is handy sometimes.

Now to save that piston... I am thinking I might bore it out further,
hammer in a plug, and re drill it concentrically. Then either drive in a
couple wedge pins or just slap a couple weld tacks on it.



Bore it out oversized and concentric, tap it, and either use a larger
rod, or an internal/external threaded bushing.