Hi all,

I'm having difficulty getting cold rolled steel for the ways. Someone told
me stainless steel plate is as flat as cold rolled. It this true?
Another suggestion I got was to get a slab of 1" thick of hot rolled and
have it milled on both sides down to 1/2" or so.
At one place I can get a plate of 24"x2.5"x1/4", which would be 1/2" less
than Gingery specifies. Would that affect the capabilites of the lathe?
And how to tell it's actually CR? Any other material suitable for ways?

Any advice thanked in advance.

Regards,

Mongke

"mongke" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I'm having difficulty getting cold rolled steel for the ways. Someone told
me stainless steel plate is as flat as cold rolled. It this true?
Another suggestion I got was to get a slab of 1" thick of hot rolled and
have it milled on both sides down to 1/2" or so.
At one place I can get a plate of 24"x2.5"x1/4", which would be 1/2" less
than Gingery specifies. Would that affect the capabilites of the lathe?
And how to tell it's actually CR? Any other material suitable for ways?

Any advice thanked in advance.

Regards,

Mongke

Cold-rolled is your best bet. Ordinary stainless has problems as a bearing
material; it galls and drags. Hot-rolled won't be as hard as CR after you
mill off the scale. It's inferior as a bearing material.

Tool steels are an option but they're very expensive.

What's the problem with getting CR? Are your suppliers out of stock, or are
you having trouble finding anyone who stocks it at all?

Ed Huntress

On Mon, 12 Apr 2004 11:13:40 -0500, "mongke"
wrote:

===Hi all,
===
===I'm having difficulty getting cold rolled steel for the ways. Someone told
===me stainless steel plate is as flat as cold rolled. It this true?
===Another suggestion I got was to get a slab of 1" thick of hot rolled and
===have it milled on both sides down to 1/2" or so.
===At one place I can get a plate of 24"x2.5"x1/4", which would be 1/2" less
===than Gingery specifies. Would that affect the capabilites of the lathe?
===And how to tell it's actually CR? Any other material suitable for ways?
===
===Any advice thanked in advance.
===
===Regards,
===
===Mongke


I agree with what Ed says. Call up McMAster Carr or visit them online
and order what you want. They have it i lengths of 2, 3 6 and 10 foot,
and its reasonably priced for the most part as comared to online
metals websites, that charge by the inch.

CRS is not hard to get in some sizes locally, as its just stocked
according to demand. Rounds are easy but some flat stock is rarely
used enough to warrant stocking locally.

I would not go any narrow on the bed ways than 3" as the Gingery lathe
and his other machine tools can use all the width and rigidity that
can be built into them. I would go wider before I went narrow. If you
was to get a piece of HRS and have it milled you'll be paying a heap
of money for machine time to get it to the size you need as well, and
you still won't have anything as good as CRS will be.

http://www.mcmaster.com/

Part Number for CRS (1018 alloy, low carbon) in .250" x 3.0" x 36"
size on McMaster-Carr site:
8910K573 cost $22.12 + shipping which would probably be about 6 or 7
bucks. I paid over $35.00 plus tax locally for a 30" pice of this
stuff.

Online metals wants close to $50 for a 24" piece.
Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wifes,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

Subject: steel for gingery lathe ways?
From: "mongke"
Date: 12/04/04 17:13 GMT Daylight Time
Message-id:

Hi all,

I'm having difficulty getting cold rolled steel for the ways. Someone told
me stainless steel plate is as flat as cold rolled.

Yuck - not a nice bearing material unless it's chromed. Best avoided for a
lathe bed.


Dave Baker - Puma Race Engines (www.pumaracing.co.uk)
I'm not at all sure why women like men. We're argumentative, childish,
unsociable and extremely unappealing naked. I'm quite grateful they do though.

mongke wrote:
Hi all,

I'm having difficulty getting cold rolled steel for the ways. Someone told
me stainless steel plate is as flat as cold rolled. It this true?
Another suggestion I got was to get a slab of 1" thick of hot rolled and
have it milled on both sides down to 1/2" or so.
At one place I can get a plate of 24"x2.5"x1/4", which would be 1/2" less
than Gingery specifies. Would that affect the capabilites of the lathe?
And how to tell it's actually CR? Any other material suitable for ways?

Any advice thanked in advance.

I'm working on the same project.

Where are you located? When I can't find a local supplier, I've
used www.onlinemetals.com. They are often the same price as the
local supplier (and way cheaper than the Home Depot type stores).

Also, I recently took a local welding class and got a lot of good
information from the teacher as to were the best distributors are
located. Any chance you know anyone in the trades you can ask?

Regards,
Al

Roy wrote:
Part Number for CRS (1018 alloy, low carbon) in .250" x 3.0" x 36"
size on McMaster-Carr site:
8910K573 cost $22.12 + shipping which would probably be about 6 or 7
bucks. I paid over $35.00 plus tax locally for a 30" pice of this
stuff.

Online metals wants close to $50 for a 24" piece.

Am I looking at the wrong thing? It looks like onlinemetals was
$13 for a 36" piece of .250 x 3.0 CRS (1018)

Regards,
Al

It comes up $49.27 for a piece of this material (1018) cut to 24"
without shiping.

How about you check your end again , or I may be doing something wrong
as well, so I am curious as what the big price difference between us
is.

This is the link to the price I got:
http://onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm...owunits=inches

On Mon, 12 Apr 2004 18:40:01 GMT, ab wrote:

===Roy wrote:
=== Part Number for CRS (1018 alloy, low carbon) in .250" x 3.0" x 36"
=== size on McMaster-Carr site:
=== 8910K573 cost $22.12 + shipping which would probably be about 6 or 7
=== bucks. I paid over $35.00 plus tax locally for a 30" pice of this
=== stuff.
===
=== Online metals wants close to $50 for a 24" piece.
===
===Am I looking at the wrong thing? It looks like onlinemetals was
===$13 for a 36" piece of .250 x 3.0 CRS (1018)
===
===Regards,
===Al

Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wifes,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

But you have to consider 99% of folks making these Gingery tools are
in the dark and have a very limited to almost no existence of machine
tools or machist knowledge. They follow the steps and suggestions
given by old dave, who in my opinion did a fair job of knocking
together a bunch of odds and ends out of nothing and made a milllion
on his books and is now setting back enjoying his CNC equipped shop
while his aluminum melts in a huge electric furnace all computer
controlled, while smoking his imported Cuban cigars dressed in his
sillk suit. Of course he changes into his bib overalls and worn out
boots and straw hat and climbs in his old beatup Ford Pickup truck for
public appearances when he is not jetsetting around the world in his
Lear jet, or cruising the country side in his Hummer.

For what its worth CRS will work fine for its use on this machine,
Going high end tool steel would be overkill for the most part unless a
lot of other mods were also made. Same for his other machines.

On 12 Apr 2004 17:55:13 GMT, a (Dave Baker) wrote:

===Subject: steel for gingery lathe ways?
===From: "mongke"
===Date: 12/04/04 17:13 GMT Daylight Time
===Message-id:
===
===Hi all,
===
===I'm having difficulty getting cold rolled steel for the ways. Someone told
===me stainless steel plate is as flat as cold rolled.
===
===Yuck - not a nice bearing material unless it's chromed. Best avoided for a
===lathe bed.
===
===
===Dave Baker - Puma Race Engines (www.pumaracing.co.uk)
===I'm not at all sure why women like men. We're argumentative, childish,
===unsociable and extremely unappealing naked. I'm quite grateful they do though.

Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wifes,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

On Mon, 12 Apr 2004 17:50:50 +0000, Roy wrote:

From: (Roy)
Newsgroups: rec.crafts.metalworking
Subject: steel for gingery lathe ways?
Reply-To:
Message-ID:
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On Mon, 12 Apr 2004 11:13:40 -0500, "mongke"
wrote:


I agree with what Ed says. Call up McMAster Carr or visit them online and
order what you want. They have it i lengths of 2, 3 6 and 10 foot, and its
reasonably priced for the most part as comared to online metals websites,
that charge by the inch.

CRS is not hard to get in some sizes locally, as its just stocked
according to demand. Rounds are easy but some flat stock is rarely used
enough to warrant stocking locally.

I would not go any narrow on the bed ways than 3" as the Gingery lathe and
his other machine tools can use all the width and rigidity that can be
built into them. I would go wider before I went narrow. If you was to get
a piece of HRS and have it milled you'll be paying a heap of money for
machine time to get it to the size you need as well, and you still won't
have anything as good as CRS will be.

How about stacking two plates of 1/8" CRS. This is the most thickness I
can get locally with 3" width. Online ordering is out of the question as I'm not in the
US. The shipping charges overseas would kill me.

http://www.mcmaster.com/

Part Number for CRS (1018 alloy, low carbon) in .250" x 3.0" x 36" size
on McMaster-Carr site:
8910K573 cost $22.12 + shipping which would probably be about 6 or 7
bucks. I paid over $35.00 plus tax locally for a 30" pice of this stuff.

Online metals wants close to $50 for a 24" piece. Visit my website:
http://www.frugalmachinist.com Opinions expressed are those of my wifes, I
had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

On Mon, 12 Apr 2004 18:40:01 +0000, ab wrote:

Sender: Aaron Kushner
Message-ID:
From: ab
Subject: steel for gingery lathe ways?
Newsgroups: rec.crafts.metalworking
References:

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Roy wrote:
Part Number for CRS (1018 alloy, low carbon) in .250" x 3.0" x 36"
size on McMaster-Carr site:
8910K573 cost $22.12 + shipping which would probably be about 6 or 7
bucks. I paid over $35.00 plus tax locally for a 30" pice of this stuff.

Online metals wants close to $50 for a 24" piece.

Am I looking at the wrong thing? It looks like onlinemetals was $13 for a
36" piece of .250 x 3.0 CRS (1018)

Regards,
Al

http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant...owunits=inches
I'm getting $9.79 for 24" of 0.25"x3" of 1018 mild steel rectangle CF (is cold
finish the same as cold rolled?)


Mongke

Roy wrote:

It comes up $49.27 for a piece of this material (1018) cut to
24" without shiping.

How about you check your end again , or I may be doing
something wrong as well, so I am curious as what the big price
difference between us
is.

This is the link to the price I got:
http://onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm...owunits=inches

I purchased plain cold rold steel for my ways (~ 5$/ft at onlinemetals).

http://onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm...owunits=inches

The URL you referred to was for low carbon tool steel. Is that
what should be used? I made an oops if you say yes...

How about stacking two plates of 1/8" CRS. This is the most
thickness I can get locally with 3" width. Online ordering is
out of the question as I'm not in the US. The shipping charges
overseas would kill me.

Not going to work. Two pieces of 1/8" are not as stiff as a
single piece of 1/4". And welding them together would probably
cause warpage.

Are you in an industrialized country? If there are local
machineshops, you might stop in and see if you can chat with
one of the machinists and see if they have recommendations
on sources.

As to shipping, the 36" piece is about 7.5 lbs. Yikes. The
cheapest postage is about $30.

On Mon, 12 Apr 2004 15:52:26 -0500, "mongke"
wrote:

===On Mon, 12 Apr 2004 18:40:01 +0000, ab wrote:
===
=== Sender: Aaron Kushner
=== Message-ID:
=== From: ab
=== Subject: steel for gingery lathe ways?
=== Newsgroups: rec.crafts.metalworking
=== References:
===
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===
=== Roy wrote:
=== Part Number for CRS (1018 alloy, low carbon) in .250" x 3.0" x 36"
=== size on McMaster-Carr site:
=== 8910K573 cost $22.12 + shipping which would probably be about 6 or 7
=== bucks. I paid over $35.00 plus tax locally for a 30" pice of this stuff.
===
=== Online metals wants close to $50 for a 24" piece.
===
=== Am I looking at the wrong thing? It looks like onlinemetals was $13 for a
=== 36" piece of .250 x 3.0 CRS (1018)
===
=== Regards,
=== Al
===
===http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant...owunits=inches
===I'm getting $9.79 for 24" of 0.25"x3" of 1018 mild steel rectangle CF (is cold
===finish the same as cold rolled?)
===
===
===Mongke

I would assume CF is the same as CR as the alloy properties for both
listed on their website are the same. 1018 shuld be 1018, and the
only difference should be its temper perhaps, I really don;t know.
All the CRS I have ever seen has always been called either CRS or 1018
period, andits always had nice squared edges not rounded anywhere, and
a smooth or pretty smooth and scale free usually somewhat shiney
surface finish unlike HRS which is usually ronded n the edges somewhat
and has mill scale.

Unless this 1018 on the link I came up with at online metals is ground
to a closer tolerance perhaps.



Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wifes,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

"mongke" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I'm having difficulty getting cold rolled steel for the ways. Someone told
me stainless steel plate is as flat as cold rolled. It this true?
Another suggestion I got was to get a slab of 1" thick of hot rolled and
have it milled on both sides down to 1/2" or so.
At one place I can get a plate of 24"x2.5"x1/4", which would be 1/2" less
than Gingery specifies. Would that affect the capabilites of the lathe?
And how to tell it's actually CR? Any other material suitable for ways?

Any advice thanked in advance.

Regards,

Mongke

As long-term readers of the group know, we usually stay out of the
conversations on this group - you're all more than capable of finding us (I
think my last post was about 6 months ago). I just wanted to take a moment
to clear up a couple of things that came up in the thread:

1. We use the terms CF (cold finish) and CR (cold rolled) interchangeably on
the site. Probably a little sloppy, but the material is the same. It does
have the square corners and shiny finish that one of the posters describes.

2. Both posters were correct on the pricing, but in different ways. I think
you all finally figured out what was going on, but I just wanted to make
sure we were clear...1018 is available in two different forms - as CR/CF,
and as precision ground. The CR/CF is available in pretty much any length
up to 96" (240" if you're in Seattle and can pick up). It is by far the
less expensive of the two, and the category can be found at
http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?id=199&step=2. The precision
ground is available only in 24" lengths. This category can be seen at
http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant...2&showfrac=yes.
Judging by the way the conversation went, I'm assuming that the original
poster could probably use the CR/CF material.

Should you have any questions, comments, or barbed criticisms, please feel
free (as usual) to let us know...

Chris Sypolt
OnlineMetals.com
Small Quantities, No Minimums