Building a big brother for my X2

[DogWood]

turning the ballscrews is actually pretty easy if you have the lathe to do it (and with a g0602 you do ;-)
with the proper bits you can cut right through the hardened outside shell

[mhackney]

Thanks. I'm actually more worried about threading! I've not done that on a lathe yet.
But, I suppose I can practice as soon as I get the G0602 setup!
cheers,
Michael

[DogWood]

threading is fairly easy as well, surprisingly so actually, don't let it scare ya :-)
But practicing is a good idea.

Or if you're really worried you can just use a die, you have to get the diameter right in either case

[mhackney]

I thread smaller diameters with a die. It is pretty difficult to keep the threads concentric with the rod. I think I'll practice some threading, I need to learn how to do it anyway. I understand the principle and have done a lot of reading.

cheers,
Michael

[mhackney]

That was quick - I got the shipment notice from Keling today! Maybe if the mill takes longer to arrive I'll have everything ready to go! Maybe.

cheers,
Michael

[photomankc]

Threading isn't bad but here's a link to a gotcha that many folks hit on this lathe. If you don't swap the spacer and gear around between power feed and gear cutting then you get some close, but not quite right, TPI that loves to destroy the thread as it goes because the thread dial is off too. I ran into this one because it's depicted in the pictures but not really mentioned in the instructions.

Yahoo! Groups

Also I can highly recommend the AR Warner insert threading tool. It's a little pricey but it does a great job.

[mhackney]

Is this the Ar Warner threading tool you mean? 1/2" shank?

Here is why I love my small home based business and CNC machining - no matter how much money I make selling reels and reel kits, I can ALWAYS find something else I NEED to have to make more kits and reels! It is a vicious cycle.

regards,
Michael

[photomankc]

That's the one. Comes with two inserts I think but the one you want to use is the one with top-rake. I wish it had a smaller internal threading minimum bore but the external threading is easy as pie with it. If you can grind up a nice 60* tool yourself then it may be a non-issue but I just wanted to get on with making stuff and didn't have a grinder anyway at the time and carbide doesn't make a very nice finish for me at 150RPM. This is real sharp and shows very little chatter even with pretty stout DOC passes.


Hey, at least you have an excuse. I have made, other than parts for the machines, exactly one portable DVD player car mount for my kid. She didn't pay me much for the work

[mhackney]

I've thought about SS inserts before. All my work is in aluminum and brass. Does Warner sell direct or is LMS the only supplier? I love LMS but being on the west coast, it costs more to ship so I usually try to group an order with them.

regards,
Michael

[photomankc]

They will deal direct, but you have to call. No internet store as I remember.

[mhackney]

Great! My G0602 lathe just arrived. The UPS freight was a smaller truck so he could back up to my garage. Good thing because the ice on the driveway leftover from the 18" of snow we got on Tuesday would have prevented a roll down the driveway on the push truck (lift gate service). As it was, he took 1 run at the garage, stalled and said "here it sits". I said "that ain't gonna happen!" and gave him 3 choices:

1) wait for me to finish chipping the ice (about 10 minutes)
2) try again with me helping to push
3) load it back on the truck and take it back

He opted for choice 2. We pulled it back to dry pavement (5 feet from the garage door) and both pushed. Piece of cake and once it was in the garage, easy to maneuver out of the way. UPS was supposed to deliver yesterday and never called to confirm a delay. I only found out because I called them. Yesterday, there was no ice on the driveway - it all came from snow on the roof melting.

One lower corner of the crate side is separated from the base. I noted it on the delivery receipt but just noticed the driver checked "wrap intact [yes]" even though I told him I wanted this damage noted. Any recommendations on what to do? I am hopeful there is no problem. I'm going out now to open the top.

cheers,
Michael

[rwestbr]

Congrats!!!! Sorry if I missed it , but are you going to CNC the lathe to???

Rob

[mhackney]

So I just opened the crate and all seems ok. I am planning to CNC it but not until after I get my G0704 and CNC it. I don't have much experience with CNC lathe but I have a Sherline CNC lathe that I picked up dirt cheap to play with. The software is what has me most concerned. Lathe CAM seems to be much more expensive than mill CAM. But CamBam seems to be heading towards supporting lathe and for my simple stuff it should be fine.

I'll post deboxing photos in a few minutes. I guess I should start a thread in the minilathe section? Is this a minilathe?

cheers,
Michael

[mhackney]

Ok, since I am not planning an immediate CNC conversion of my lathe, I'll just post some sidebar info about it here and create a dedicated thread for it when I'm ready to convert.

Firstly, now that it is sitting in my garage and I can bask in its full heft, I really wish that I had not traded my Super Strength in exchange for finding a cute wife! I guess I'll just have to pick away at the part removal until it is light enough to convince my brother-in-law to help me move it. It's my turn now anyway after he had me help him move a huge armoire up a gawdaweful staircase!

So, here, is the Unboxing of the G0602!

The Box


The corner that was tweaked


The coffin lid fasteners opened up


First peek! no immediate obvious damage


A bit more to see


The front panel looks good


The damaged crate corner was on the back left at the lathe head end. It looks good with no apparent damage.


The obligatory toolbox shot Every Chinese tool I've bought has at least a few allen wrenches. There are none with this lathe. Did anyone get allen wrenches with theirs? I had to run down to my shop to get some allen wrenches to start disassembly.


Ahh, August 2010 Vintage - a good month and year


Ok, here's something. The backsplash bracket is a bit tweaked.


As you can see in the way the backsplash is slightly splayed. No biggie.


I have a photo album with a few more photos here: Grizzly G0602 Lathe.

Somewhere I read that someone broke in their lathe while it was still in their garage. I think I might give that a shot.

Cheers,
Michael

[mhackney]

Found the allen wrenches! They were in an oily plastic bag with some hardware.

[diyengineer]

NIIICE! I cant wait to buy one and convert to CNC as well!! Lucky!!

[mhackney]

It is both exciting and frightening at the same time! I'll feel a lot better once I get it in my shop. I read somewhere that the first step in becoming a home shop machinist is to become a rigger! Having 18" of snow on the ground adds a new challenge! I did snow blow an 8' wide path down to the grass from my driveway around the corner to my bulkhead doors. I have a wide concrete staircase going down so it isn't as bad as some. I'm really thinking about leaving it on the pallet and sliding that down 2x8 skids fastened to the stairs (at least the bottom cleated). I can use a hoist to control the descent but need to figure out where to fasten the hoist at the other end!

[mhackney]

The lathe has a nice inspection sheet with a diagram of measuring method, inspection and target value and measured value. My lathe checks out pretty good.

[photomankc]

Somewhere I read that someone broke in their lathe while it was still in their garage. I think I might give that a shot.

Cheers,
Michael

I Did. I tried to test what I could reasonably test right there in the garage including a few hours of run time beyond. If it died in the basement I would have shed tears about getting it back out.

As it was I did have a tweaked lead-screw but they shipped me a new one and I still need to get the shear pin reinstalled right but it was much better. I argued with the support guys a bit that I was not going to ship it back to diagnose this because I was not hauling it up and down the stairs again.... I didn't need a lathe that bad.

[mhackney]

UPS just left my Phase 2 wedge type ATA 100 tool post and some tooling I ordered from Enco. Egads is that thing heavy! 12 #s.

I've been reading CreaviceReamer's G060s conversion log and I am so thinking of doing a simple stage 1 conversion with stock screws and a G540. I think I have everything I need in my shop already to do it! Too many decisions, too much to do, not enough time!

cheers,
Michael