7 Mods and Improvements for a Metal Lathe

[@nataliepotter3635]

well it's a lathe kzbin.infoUgkxN9zrzkkhnjUF5PQbuA_B1gYdsfCu9k6z but it wasn't what i would have anticipated. Headstock, tailstock, carriage apron are manufactured from aluminum now not cast iron. The spindle diameter for the bearings is too small allowing for a few play in the spindle so I am using some blue Loctite to take out the play.

[@matthewf1979]

That shield is ingenious!

[@michelhv]

Machinists never cease to amaze me with their ability at using a machine to actually improve said machine. I think only programmers can really do that also, but they’re not working out of chunks of metal.

[@David-hm9ic]

It's been said that the lathe is the only machine that can be used to make a copy of itself. Certainly if they're not too badly damages they can make their own replacement parts.

[@budzab]

1:34 You should do handwheel with 2 step ratio (push to slow fine ratio - pull it out for larger ratio for quick reposition )

[@GiacoWhatever]

Congrats on the new shop man!

[@nealepitts]

One of the best ( if not the best) videos explaining issues and problem solving in a fact packed package..... no waffling on, no umms and errs ! 👏👏👏👏👏

[@johnathonmontie2234]

Dude, love the video and hope you do more of these improvement videos!

[@johnmcclain3887]

Hi, twenty years ago, I was low budget, getting my machines, and there was a guy "Metal Lathe Accessories", might be still around, but he made and sold casting kits for tool posts, milling fixtures for a lathe, all kinds of attachments, with plans. The castings were almost all done in Amish foundry's, and the castings were consistently fine grained, clean machining, both iron and bronze, quite useful in my shop. You could likely find some in the UK, at least thirty, forty years ago in my youth. Thanks for a good bit of work, fine improvement.

[@davidangelo8902]

I've been thinking about fabing a chip shield & tool holder shelf for my lathe. Your solution is good & gives me a visual concept to work from. Thanks!!!

[@Laura-wc5xt]

Dear Phil, you Sir , are a true craftsman and great narrator.....thank you for sharing your great ideas and work.....cheers from the USA, Paul

[@MiniLuv-1984]

Loved that you used a mag base tool post to mount the shield. Tool posts sit idle most of the but suddenly, its used every time the lathe and the mill are used and can still be used for the dial gauge. Ingenious!

[@AlADrake]

This video and the lathe video series of TechTom are the best starter tips for beginners. I appreciate that! Dont stop making such nice content.

[@CafeRacerGarage]

This was awesome brother thank you :)

[@nilslemann4903]

Sehr schön. Deine Ideen sind immer der Hammer. Und auch die Sorgfalt mit der Du die Dinge umsetzt. Einfach genial.

[@TheDrewdaddy44]

The new shop looks like it’s more your STYLE. Your Style is clean and efficient and it’s an honor watching you work. Cool videos brother.

[@PhilVandelay]

Yep but most importantly I'm not freezing my ass of in winter

[@clarenceedrusnell7187]

Hello Phil. It is so nice to watch your view of the improvements you posted. I have to tell you I like your sense of humor even more. Your high degree of skill really shines.

[@Dave.Wilson]

That chip shield is genius, I know what I'll be making soon. Thanks for sharing. As for the videos and content, go for quality rather than quantity.

[@ScottTurnerformeindustrious]

Great Improvements Phil! I need to do the Cross Slide Mod for the same reason. Cheers!

[@millomweb]

Thumbs up awarded for replacing top slide with a solid block for rigidity. That's a great bit of scientific work with a very valuable result.

[@davidwillard7334]

WITH !! ALL !! THE !! MODIFICATIONS !! THIS !! GUY !! HAS !! DONE !! HE !! COULD HAVE !! GOT !! A BETTER LATHE !! FOR !! A !! CHEAPER !! PRICE !!!

[@Jestey6]

@@davidwillard7334 why are you shouting David, chill.

[@drjwrg]

Enjoyed the video, many thanks. I have commented on others replacing the compound with a metal block and conclude that in most cases they go over the top in increasing stiffness. If you consider that what is being done is to equivalently increase the stiffness of the compound slide arrangement. Consider what stiffness combination does the cutting tool see. A very simple model would be the stiffness of the compound slide, the stiffness of the cross slide and the stiffness of the carriage. These all act in series so that the overall stiffness will always be less than the least stiff of the combination. So increasing the stiffness of the equivalent compound way beyond the others will eventually provide very marginal improvement. Attempting to put some numbers to the problem, consider the stiffness of the compound to be K, the stiffness of the cross slide to be say 5K and the carriage stiffness to be say 10K. Place these in a series combination to find the overall stiffness and watch what happens as the compound stiffness gradually increases beyond K towards rigidity. I would suggest that a steel or cast iron block no greater than the footprint of the tool post is all that is required.

[@joewhitney4097]

Great video, great solutions and upgrades. Thank you.

[@5phutsangtao-iQ]

you are a genius

[@AlexanderGibbonsAudio]

That shield on an arm is genius! Great video Phil, thanks for posting this.

[@forthrightnight]

Very nice. Congrats on the new shop. That heat thing sure is a luxury.

[@courtneyfaas1266]

This is one of the greatest lathe videos I have ever seen.

[@HepcatHarley]

I've given up trying to part off on my Sieg SC3, now I know why, great modification, Thanks :)

[@clayz1]

Even your bandsaw cuts straight. Not bad. I like your improvised stereo too. I am a machinist, I don’t know why some machining videos are so much fun to watch. Thanks.

[@intotheblue50]

I think I have seen this chatter dealt with by mounting the cut-off tool upside down and running the lathe backwards, but your solution will give more benefits. I liked your video, thank you.

[@dariushmilani6760]

Isn't it strange that today I thought that it's been a while I ve seen a video from you and I missed watching the Grinder build. After finished watching part 3 latest video appeared. Don't leave it too long between builds. Its so enjoyable.

[@BROCKWOOD64]

PM-1228 that's what the lathe portion of my Grizzly Combo G0773 is. Yes, they are projects in the making - but worth the improvements! I thank you for sharing your improvements. My improvements are different, many address the same shortcomings just the same. Thanks again!

[@joels7605]

Beautiful work. Well done, sir.

[@MagnetOnlyMotors]

4:00 very nice idea. 14:00 most excellent !

[@inactive67]

Nice new shop and the upgrades were pretty slick

[@Felipe.Portugal]

Love the video man, I didn't realize you could customize a lathe that way. Btw the videos with commentary are much more engaging than the previous one with music and text. Keep up the great work!!

[@henrypostulart]

Congratulations on your shop upgrade!

[@paulomito9938]

I have one just like yours. in mine I put a three-phase motor with speed adjustment. congratulations for the changes, it turned out very well

[@TheKnacklersWorkshop]

Hello Phil, Congratulations on the new workshop... some nice modifications to your lathe... Take care. Paul,,

[@TheMadMagician87]

Hope you are enjoying the new shop! Thanks for the ideas on the lathe :-)

[@bcwrangler]

Great additions....that solid tool post made a huge difference!

[@ignaciop9592]

Love this type of contenten Phil. Cheers from Argentina

[@tomdahmer7596]

I'm another non-machinist who watches your videos with my jaw hanging open and mumbling to myself: Did he really just do that??? Congratulation on the new shop. And thanks for the 3-part series on building a belt grinder. I lack the tools and skills to build one but it is inspiring to watch how you did it. Nice work.

[@lcsavi]

Great improvements! Congratulations!!! And I'm happy to see that I'm not the only one with an OCD about plastics on lathes.

[@BK-cj4le]

I agree... you are slow at issuing content! However, the content you produce is extremely rewarding for us followers. You may think you have no audience for content like this, but I can assure you, you do. I find it very rewarding to see how different people optimise (not optimize) their workshop, tools and equipment, not to mention the ideas it provides. Would be good to see more, either projects or workshop enhancements!

[@mRowden100]

I don't have a lathe. I'm not going to get one. I'm still going to watch this though!

[@generalawareness101]

Did you ever get one? His Sieg SC10 is a pretty damn big "mini" lathe at 12x24. I was looking at a 7x14, 8x14, and a 8x16. #1 deal breaker for me is if it is plastic gears, and/or belt driven. Stay away from those.

[@MF175mp]

@@generalawareness101 belt drive isn't that big of a deal but if the speed change is by switching pulleys, run

[@generalawareness101]

@@MF175mp How would one know if the merchant doesn't say?

[@MF175mp]

@@generalawareness101 idk. But almost all lathes have a belt at some place

[@generalawareness101]

@@MF175mp The switching by pulleys I know some of them do it as I have seen the videos of the ebay Chinese stuff. :/

[@IcanCwhatUsay]

Thank you thank you thank you for this video, I've had this chatter issue on my mini lathe for years and figured it was just a dull cutter!

[@CrimFerret]

This is a great video! Great solutions to the issues you were having and I'll take functional, ugly, and cheap. It's a tool, not a showpiece. That is a nice lathe. I've looked at that same line. When I get a place that has the room for one, I may well get one. That's about the perfect size for anything I'd be doing. As nice as the old Monarchs look, once again it's not about looks.

[@jaggernaught2129]

I rarely comment on videos, but I felt that the originality of your carriage handwheel mod deserves some serious applause 👏. That’s a very useful upgrade! I will be looking at my mini lathe to see if there is enough room to do something similar. Great job and thanks for sharing it!

[@PhilVandelay]

Thanks, I actually just revised this mod and built an even better version of it that fixes a few issues. There's gonna be another video like this one soon-ish where that will be included

[@jaggernaught2129]

That’s great! I’m looking forward to that!

[@CraigsWorkshop]

I love the flexible way covers, and the guard. The carriage hand being reversed - I think that one would catch me out!! One more idler wheel though and I'm sold on the idea. I also loved the table covers and chip guards on your mill. If you ever feel like doing a similar video on the mill, I'd love to see that.

[@Gottenhimfella]

OR a toothed belt...

[@davidwillard7334]

IT !! STILL !! MAKES !! SWARF !! MESS !!! LIKE !! IT !! OR NOT !!

[@CraigsWorkshop]

@@davidwillard7334 Okay.. ?

[@rickguyevans]

Thank you for an excellent, well produced video with lots of great ideas for mods! Cheers from Canada

[@hanslang3764]

Great job, love your work and humour :-D

[@bostedtap8399]

Excellent modifications and upgrades. Thanks for sharing.

[@kwadlife4106]

Im building a lathe. I like to watch these upgrade videos to give me inspiration for things to do on mine.

[@Jestey6]

Very helpful. Regarding parting off, it looks like your the new tool post is working well, but it would be interesting to see how it performs if you move it to the rear of the cross slide and mount the tool upside down. This prevents the operation lifting the Chuck/main bearing and increases rigidity.

[@truyerroe]

i really like that last improvement the metal lathe in my school has a stationary one but it pretty big and most of the time its in the way

[@MProper]

That's the kind of video I am looking for ... No "talking face" (I wanna see the stuff, not the storyteller!). No useless redundancy of information. No begging for likes and subscribes. Great video! Thanks!

[@PhilVandelay]

That's the idea! Glad to hear people notice

[@hogan6216]

I am glad to see some one else besides my self doing all kinds of mods to your shop tools.After watching your vid i looked around my shop and i counted up all the mods i have done and it came to 17 total...To be honest the labor and mat was well worth it and would do it again.Nice job....

[@RepLicanT00100]

Congratulations on the new workshop …. 🙏🏻 much deserved. (Late on this I know ha)

[@brandontscheschlog]

I think your next mod should be tapered Gibsfor the carriage. I did this to mine and it made a world of difference. Not only has it increased rigidity but the carriage moves like butter.

[@PhilVandelay]

Do you mean for the cross slide? The crappy gibs on that are actually one of the main things that bothers me about this lathe so probably not a bad idea. How did you go about it?

[@jamesdepaul3410]

Well done mods. Like the shop and machines.

[@johnwick358]

I am not even a machinist but this video made me want to be one🙂. Seamless audio and excellent video. You my friend are a video expert as well!!

[@keithammleter3824]

This is a really nice presentation by Phil. Good clear video, good clear voice, and some really good ideas clearly explained.

[@sambonefarmer9139]

Congrats on the new shop; you did a good job of hiding the deficiencies of the old shop...kitchen table > makeshift shop -> proper shop - progress is good...so is heat!

[@bigmotter001]

Very nice mods Phil. I will be incorporating some of them over the next few months! Thanks for posting and take care!

[@reamer1363]

Hi there, thanks for the great watch. I know you made this clip a while ago now and probably has already been said but parting vibration is a lot of times caused by a Chuck jaw problem. Try wrapping a piece of paper around the job at the tip of the jaws you might just be surprised how much an improvement it makes turning small diameter parts but also parting especially. Keep up the good videos and will definitely be watching more. Thanks again.

[@MrHuntnfish]

Thanks Phil, Professional as usual, several great ideas, please never stop thinking of new tool toys. Regards Dave,

[@roncar1565]

You are very enjoyable to watch and listen to. You do excellent work very enjoyable.

[@brandontscheschlog]

I always have wanted to replace the plastic covers as well. I picked cast iron and it made a huge difference reducing vibrations.

[@cowdogg3085]

Until I watched this video I was on the fence about looking into purchasing one of these lathes. Now I think I will look into them, great mods by the way!👍👍

[@rustedfriend]

Ooh, I hadn't thought about doing an adjustable magnet shield. I'm going to have to make one of those, I love that idea.

[@atunguyd]

I have the Seig SC8 which I believe is the same machine as with slightly less swing. I have had no problems parting on it with the compound mounted. I even part 306 using power feed. Maybe I just got a more rigid compound but thought I would let you know that the machine is capable of parting pretty well.

[@chrisford9045]

Yes, I also part off, no problems

[@ardemus]

Great stuff, thanks for the insights, and congrats on the new shop.

[@richardgalli7262]

Well done sir. I agree no plastic parts on the lathe.

[@davidwillard7334]

NO !! PLASTIC !! PARTS !! ARE!! QUITE !! EXCELLENT !! FOR !! A !! LATHE !!!

[@hartiaacres]

Very nice set-up. Lots of creative out of the box thinking. Nice to see the belt grinder being used. That is a work of art. I had to buy the plans for that machine. Be a winter project next year if all goes well.

[@richardsargent113]

Glad you made this video. Good ideas fo my shop.

[@elduderino1329]

Great improvements. My favorite is the handwheel gearbox.

[@QuebecoisSti]

Pretty neat mods! Greets from Eastern Canada! ✌

[@domenic5136]

Wow! Excellent video, thanks for sharing. Now I know why I get so much chatter when parting I will do what you did to your cross slide.

[@brandonshudy789]

I Resently found your channel! I love it! I plan to watch some of your older videos when I have time. Thank you for your continuation!

[@henmich]

13:12 Ha! Iove it.. look at that monster... Nice work!

[@kevinmurphy5506]

Been missing your videos but this is definitely worth the wait thank you.

[@traitorouskin7492]

I agree with the other comments. Some great improvements. Thanks man.

[@berniesr]

love the shield

[@ussweeneyd]

Some bloody brilliant ideas ! Tak.

[@danielstewart3507]

Great content Phil. Always love it when you upload.

[@TrPrecisionMachining]

Very good mods,,thanks for your time

[@marsrover001]

You upload more often than Michael reeves. And that's all one can ask for at this point.

[@PhilVandelay]

I guess we're both well versed in the art of building anticipation

[@davekimbler2308]

Very nice and handy mods ! I like the cross slide and shield the most !

[@petersmith5277]

Many thanks for excellent improvements of lathe - will be improving my own

[@BourneAccident]

Incridible mods. You're so talented. I just liked this video and more importantly... subscribed. I hope to figure out some way to stop the chatter on my 11x26. Thanks so much.

[@j.hankinson7803]

Many great ideas. Thanks for posting.

[@joell439]

Phil, Great to see you’re doing well. Thanks for sharing 👍👍😎👍👍

[@MeechJacobs]

Take your time bro, I'll wait!

[@708mrmike]

Great video, and Loved the shield and tailstock DRO, you should start selling them id certainly buy the shield lol

[@bikeridernz6169]

Superb as usual

[@Spikeydelic]

Intelligence lvl over 9000 very nice my dude!!

[@SteveSummers]

Nice work👍

[@allnicksweretaken]

Great video. I smiled at that hard drive magnet.

[@PhilVandelay]

Haha good eye

[@rockdog2584]

I wish I had half as much of a machine shop as you obviously have! I would be ecstatic just to have that 12X28 lathe at my disposal.

[@jmtx.]

Thanks for sharing your awesome mods! That super adjustable cover is a great idea!

[@tomspeed2000]

You have a grate skills.. Absolutely fantastic jobs