Awesome!! You do suck just a little with yer fancy 4 jaw...
I've got a rocker base for your tool post I can send you. Not sure if it's the same width/radius as yours..hmm...I'll just send you the whole thing. Not having a drill chuck for the tail stock shouldn't be a big deal. They typically use standard Morse tapers. Probably a #3. HF sells a pretty decent one for ~$15 but it's a #2 taper (MT2), but that may be the size you need anyway.
http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-half-inch-mt2-mini-lathe-drill-chuck-42340.htmlSeriously, go ahead and start saving up for a quick change tool post. You will be glad you did.
Wow! Looks like the price has actually dropped on these! They were $125 when I got mine. This gives you the ability to set up your facing tool, boring tool and parting tool ONE TIME. Then you just swap out the tool holders on to the qc post. Saves sooo much time not always having to reset/shim your tool height like you have to do with a lantern style. Plus the lanterns flex so bad parting is nearly impossible, which is why I had to buy mine. Have fun learning to grind parting tools....total black magic. I would attempt to give you advice here, but I'm still learning myself.
http://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_category.php?category=-419988835Also, HF sells these little gems for $25. Total of 15 cutting faces. Worth every penny and they hold up foreeever,even cutting stainless, as long as you don't crowd them or try for an interrupted cut in hard metal. The screw that holds the insert on is absolute rubbish, so before you use any of the cutters snap all of the screw loose then snug them back down. If you wait til later and they get little metal dust particles in them you'll never be able to turn the tip.
http://www.harborfreight.com/5-piece-indexable-carbide-tool-set-39931.htmlOne more thing that makes a huge difference: don't use standard twist drill bits in the tail stock to locate center/ start drilling a hole. They will wander around like a drunk pig on roller skates. Get yourself a set of center drills. The ones HF sells are sharp,but brittle. Be careful feeding them and letting the chips escape and they live. Crowd them and they snap. But I've drilled a TON of stainless with mine and only snapped the little tiny one. They gum up real bad in anything deep, so only use them for starting holes or putting a small center for your tail center. If you don't already have these for starting holes you'll get spoiled to them real fast. Super rigid and won't wander at all. And they stay sharp forever.
http://www.harborfreight.com/center-drill-countersink-set-5-pc-60381.htmlI'm happy for ya man!!! This is awesome!!!
Does this mean you don't need those neck cones now? lol
Oh, and check out Tubal Cain on youtube. He is a retired shop teacher for back in the day when shop teachers actually knew something about shop. The amount of info on his channel regarding machine work is awesome. Another thing: set your jibs on your cross slide and your compound. Too loose ( they usually are ) and your cross slide and cutter will chatter giving you terrible surface finish. Too tight and it's just a hassle to operate (you can't feel your backlash very well) and it is kinda hard on your ways with excess tension. And don't use motor oil to lube the ways. Gears,lead screw, etc... motor oil is fine. But the ways need a light oil or the apron drags ( more than you would ever imagine ) and just makes life not happy. I use sewing machine oil.
Locked
Now to figure out how to use it. I can't wait to make some oval pistons with the 4 jaw chuck.
That other beauty is a CL 350. It belongs to a customer. He wants me to check the condition of the engine, and get it running, so he can go on and turn it into a basket case.
