On Wednesday, June 5, 2013 11:37:43 PM UTC-4, Ignoramus13376 wrote:
On 2013-06-06, Existential Angst wrote:

"rangerssuck" wrote in message

...

On Tuesday, June 4, 2013 11:21:20 PM UTC-4, DoN. Nichols wrote:

You'll probably also get a rather poor finish at such low speeds
with such small workpieces.

OK, I understand why 500rpm is too low to cut properly on small diameters,
but is it possible to increase the speed of this particular lathe? Is
there something about the drive or bearings that makes it impossible?

Can you increase the "motor speed" of a 70 year old grandfaher? What will
happen to the grandpa in the long run? we all know

i

Sorry, I'm not buying that metaphor. This lathe, as you described it, is only 70 years old by design - not by mileage. I would assume that any shop buying that lathe 70 years ago would have known what they were going to use it for and would also have had a smaller, faster machine for doing smaller work. But that doesn't mean it's impossible to do. Of course, you're not going to spin an 8" (or 12"!) chuck at 2500 RPM, but is there anything about the mechanics of this lathe (bearings, gears, whatever) that makes it impossible to spin a 5C collet with your 0.250" workpiece that fast?