On 1/16/2016 6:23 PM, John B. wrote:
On Sat, 16 Jan 2016 16:52:22 -0600, amdx wrote:

On 1/12/2016 3:59 PM, amdx wrote:

I have one of the Harbor Freight 7 x 10 lathes.
I have a bicycle seat post that I want to reduce the diameter by 0.025".
The spindle head is to small to accept the post, the bed is to short to
use the tail stock.
Any clever ideas how I could use this lathe to do the job. The post is
aluminum.
I took it to a machine shop, he laughed and said, "I've already spent
more time on this than the part is worth."

Mikek

I used a piece of 3/4" plywood, cut the shape of the ways on the
edge, then I bolted a piece of 2" angle iron to both sides to ride on
the ways. I then drill one angle iron to except the original tailstock
clamp.
I put a bit in the chuck and slid the plywood assembly against the
drill to make hole to accept the live center.
It worked. I got it turned down to slide in the tube.
Because of the extra length above the seat post to accommodate the
spring and hardware, the new post puts the seat higher than the original
seat. I need look into the best way to reduce the height. It's out of
simple height adjustments. Might need to cut the spring length.


Thanks all, Mikek

What are you making? A spring supported suspension type of seat post?
--

Cheers,

John B.


I bought a spring loaded post for my bike seat, the post was to big to
fit the tube on my bike.
http://www.amazon.com/XLC-Suspension...0mm %2C+Black
Had to turn it down to fit my bike.

Mikek