Adam Savage Fixes His Lathe Live Center!

Adam gives a breakdown of how his lathe's tailstock and live centers work, and shows how one of his live centers is just 1/8 of an inch too short to marry with the taper inside the tailstock. So today's repair job is to extend the end plug of that live center by machining a replica of it--using the lathe itself!
Shot by Adam Savage and edited by Norman Chan
Music by Jinglepunks
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Thanks for watching!
#adamsavage #lathe #machining

[@tested]

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[@bobrobert6277]

how do you make a lathe with just a lathe as a starting tool? how do you make gears? how do you make the bed?

[@sberOntrO]

Adam, I think it would be a nice One Day for you to make a lathe on your lathe

[@joshwelch8288]

​@@bobrobert6277 there are many attachments for lathes, for example their are milling attachments so you can use your lathe like a mill. It wouldnt be easy, or cheap but you could theoretically make a lathe with a lathe, minus the castings ofcourse

[@uncannyvalleywoods7248]

Since I had the good fortune of getting to this vidya right after it dropped, I just want to thank Adam for all the work he did during Covid. Those live streams were an anchor of sanity. Thank you!

[@chuckkincaid986]

You ain't lying Uncanny

[@aaronwarrior]

I second third and fourth this comment.

[@dcan911]

Jesus, i lived off this channel (and a couple others) during lockdown.

[@gloriouslyimperfect]

@@dcan911 Same...

[@hanslain9729]

The unique content on this channel broke the Groundhog Day pattern we were experiencing again and again...

[@alexh3974]

This is oddly calmly, relaxing and wholesome. Adams happiness crafting a perfect little metal end cap.

[@fullmetalpenguin]

I was waiting for the “metric” revelation. When you measured 26 TPI, my first thought was, hmmmm…that’s awfully close to 25.4…

[@ZippoVarga]

Awesome video Adam! Being a retired machinist myself, I feel obligated to suggest that you use some Cold Bluing to prevent rust on the tail cap from forming. If you notice, the old tail cap is Blued. Cheers! Zip~

[@TeamDreamhunter]

Always fascinating to see Adam come up with such a different solution than I myself thought of - my immediate idea was to build additional material onto he existing end cap, rather than replicate a slightly larger one

[@RichardsWorld]

I didn't know Adam was teaching machinist stuff. What an awesome person to have as a teacher.

[@MsKoffeinjunky]

If your threads lock up after a few turns they are usually not cut deep enough. Just give them a little more depth and a couple of spring passes. Also make sure you tool got the correct flank angle. There are inch treads with 55° and 60° angle.

[@aserta]

Could also be that they're too tall (wrong diameter). In which case you file them down.

[@wobblysauce]

And some times you just doo all of the above.

[@VoidedWarranty]

And sometimes if the tool nose radius is too big you can shove a triangle file in there and help it a bit

[@janosszabo98]

I'm trying my best not to be mean because Adam is a great guy and just genuinely enjoy playing with his toys, but those threads don't even remotely close, so the only useful tip would be to try to identify and cut the correct thread. I doubt this part would last a week in a high production environment (especially if that bearing does indeed ride on this, in which case this should be hardened), but in a prototyping shop, this will easily outlast it's maker (so troubleshooting is kinda pointless)

[@bijiont942]

That is what I was immediately thinking was "are we sure those aren't 55° threads?!"

[@GigglyPigeon]

Cleans it up to make it look nicer then promptly drops it. Brilliant and very informative video. Thank you

[@staticsodapop87]

I just finished learning about how to design threads, nuts, and bolts in CAD, in my design and drafting class, and this was one of the coolest videos I’ve seen! thanks Adam and Tested crew!

[@zekeabercrombie3583]

I had one like that too. I just glued a couple of washers onto the end.

[@ComedyBREWHOUSE]

That's what I'd have done too. But I guess that's not an interesting video?

[@jackorlove4055]

That double v-block work holding solution is something I'm gonna keep in the back of my mind. Crazy to think I used to watch Mythbusters when I was like 12 years old, so like 2004 or 5? I love that you're still making content.... Also love that you use the analog vernier. Imo, it's easier and more accurate to read than a digital one, you get a better feel for your measurement.

[@arnoldsmachinetool4632]

Nice video and a good job. Just a little note. When single-point thread cutting. Do not disengage your half-nuts on Metric threads. Get to the end of the cut. Back the tool out and then run the lathe in reverse about an inch or two pass the end of the work. Move your compound or cross side ( depending on your cutting method) to the next cutting depth and run the machine forward to cut that pass. Repeat until you get to the depth. Standard threads you Can disengage the half-nuts.

[@patricks_music]

Be as passionate with your work as Adam is with his!

[@michaeltilse4233]

Hi Adam, I love your channel and the work you do in your shop and everything you share. Thanks. I want to add a safety note: Please do not wear your watch when using machine tools! No watches, bracelets or rings is pretty much number one safety rule for machine shop work, right after eye protection. And no necklaces or long hair (or hair kept well constrained) is next. Be safe and keep on making!

[@PhilG999]

Absolutely! I spent most of my professional career as a Mechanical Engineer (now retired) going into machining environments where everything could cut you, squish you, or burn you. Went to a vendor's place years ago to see about a machine part they were making for us. Walking toward the shop area I took off my watch and Southern Polytechnic Alumni Signet ring and dropped them in my left pants pocket. Started to walk forward and the guy said: "You need safety glasses"! I said: "These are NIOSH, MSHA, OSHA rated polycarbonate (I have all my eyeglasses made that way)." He said: "They don't have side shields". OK, I took one of their pairs off the rack and put them on OVER my glasses". Took one more step and he said: "You need to take that tie off"! I reached up and grabbed it and handed it to him (it was a clip-on). "Anything else"? 😆

[@guitarchitectural]

Safety comment... That's cute. You must be new here 🤣

[@Tasarran]

Well, at least he's got the hair covered...

[@Tasarran]

@@guitarchitectural IKR? Did you see the bit at the beginning where he tests the part for straightness in the chuck by putting his finger in there while it is running? within a half an inch of the chuck? makes me think of cutting a small piece on a table saw without a push block.

[@DogDog173]

enjoying this build and watching it slowly so that it doesn't end too quickly

[@jonbrooks8232]

Adam savage’s next one day build: prosthetic ring finger

[@jamesdavis8021]

I think it’s more likely that he will have to build a Luke Skywalker hand when,that watch gets caught in a rotating item

[@logantravis2084]

I really enjoy this channel and the host. He has such great stories, a delightful way of teaching and a contagious enthusiasm for everything. I bet all that would be visible in print form in a book. He should write a nice beach read of a book. He would be really good at that. What is that at 30:43 ??? Nice subtle product placement @tested !!! Very impressive and what a respectful way of letting us viewers know about what is surely a great read for all of us that enjoy his work. Now let me go add that to my wishlist

[@jpsuperstar]

My god, loved this whole bit and fell off the couch when you asked an empty shop to do division and it answered immediately

[@joshuawalker7054]

They edited out the "Hey, Alexa" bit so it wouldn't trigger anyone else's system.

[@Horsewomann]

Very nice! I have a wood lathe that I enjoy the heck out of using to make pens and other small items. Nothing to the level of precision a machining lathe needs, but I’m happy with that.

[@macmcgauley3757]

the painters tape and sharpie is an amazing idea you just saved me so many headaches

[@frozenrocketfuel5762]

YESSSS!!! Tool fixing and shop organizing are the best types of videos

[@chuckkincaid986]

Adam!!!!!! I fricking love your cave, respect and admire you as a craftsman and as a human!!! Love your work and you make this world a better place simply by existing, thank you sir.

[@seangilchrist3102]

long day ay work and the first thing i do after getting home is watch adam and his lathe

[@maggs131]

Another project you could undertake and would be a good YT video would be disassembling that chuck and cleaning it. It looks painfully tight which is a pet peeve of mine. You should be able to turn that chuck key with one finger.

[@KaseyShocks]

Hey Adam and Team Tested! I am a fan of the content this channel puts out. I just have a questing that I'm sure someone in this group of fans can probably answer. Does the lathe use a foot switch to turn it on and off? I just finished watching the foot switch for the drill press video ;) Keep on spreading the thrill that is ingrained into the Maker community!

[@LoneEagle2061]

Every time Adam looks over the top of his glasses at an operation which requires eye-protection…

[@jameszd4470]

Love the copy of "Every Tool's a Hammer" just chilling in the background there

[@FrenchCanadianGuy]

Thanks for all this knowledge Adam!

[@johnderoy916]

Wish you would have shown how hard it was to get/how you got it out before the fix.

[@DimtheEnderman]

20:46 That was a perfect twitter notification whistle

[@glennfelpel9785]

Make it easy on yourself. We simply stick a magnet of the proper thickness on the back of it. They when it needs to be ejected the magnet is in there for the spacer. Haven't crushed one yet. But I must say we don't gronk down on inserting the tool into the taper. Just enough to make it hold. My fear is that too much might crush the magnet. This idea came out of an emergency situation where there was no time to do anything else. As usual the center is still that way. Thank you for the video!

[@benstrait333]

So if I were to make that part, I would have cut wrench flats on it instead of a flat head slot. Just because I despise flat head screws on principle 😁😁😁

[@robertogrady1321]

That's a coincidence, I only came across a centre in a drawer the other day and it was missing that same plug. I'll have to make one now after seeing this!👍

[@DongHoDocLa]

hello, nice day!

[@Pirabit943]

Not where I’m at!

[@widgren87]

I like watching videos like this because I would love to have a workshop of my own but I can't afford it. Oh well, that is what dreams are for ;-)

[@Rafferty3231]

Thank you for editing out "Alexa" - mine always hears you talking to it. :)

[@tdalum2762]

I always love these videos! Very insightful

[@TheDesktopguy]

At the top of the video you said there was a nut inside the tailstock that essentially pushed against the centre when you wind it all the way out. Wouldn’t it hand been easier to simply adjust that nut in the tailstock to be closer ti the lathe?

[@OscarSommerbo]

Lathes enabled the industrial revolution, by enabling mass production of identical parts (for varying degrees of identical) and shaping metal efficiently.

[@Philtoid]

Whats the secret to your possitive attitude and energy. Its bloody awesome

[@darrellmora1319]

Color me jealous of your shop. I can sympathize wholeheartedly with the sentiment of lathe operating for sheer pleasure. I miss my old Logan, alas lost in storage years ago, that had me making chips into the wee hours of the morning and ecstatic at the reach for perfection. Enjoy, brother!

[@CarboniteDreamer]

why could i see Adam making his own lathe chuck lol love it. crashed jamies lathe lol didnt he also spin a bottle of soda with it? lol jamies poor lathe lol

[@aaronl_trains_and_planes]

Saw your book back there and forgot I downloaded it and haven't read it yet.

[@Gman1024]

Ah, deep breath, it's done. Came out good too, great job.

[@whyidontknow7113]

I'm sure you know, but another fyi to new lathe operators. Not only is the one lever for cutting threads because it feeds slower, but it also is typically gear driven, while the other is clutch driven. The clutch is an added safety measure if the lathe is crashed, but is usually not precise enough to cut threads.

[@LEXX7901]

Please do a one day build where you make a chuck guard. Things vibrating off the headstock onto the chuck fly off at great speed.

[@grendel1960a]

while you may have had the correct pitch, what thread angle were you using 55 deg or 60 deg, the metric thread should be 60 deg, if you used a 55 deg cutter then it would bind. after a few threads.

[@simonilett998]

UNC, UNF and Metric all use a 60° thread form. However, Whitworth threads use 55°, but I highly doubt Adam would ever need a 55° threading tool in the US🤣 The thing that caught my attention was him starting off with such an odd thread pitch (26tpi) made no sense. I'm pretty sure the problem he encountered was his orginal major diameter was too large to match the metric size he realized it needed to be, due to him starting with an imperial major diameter. If he'd reduced the diameter 0.1-0.2mm less than the correct metric major diameter for the finished thread, and then cut the 1.0mm pitch thread to the correct finished depth, it would've been a win👍

[@1pcfred]

Modern standard threads are 60° Old British standard threads were 55° No one's used that crap since the Great War. If they would have they'd have lost. We certainly weren't going to regrind our lathe tools to suit them.

[@johnk7302]

Adam wasn't a lathe one of the first machines we had that could produce what we consider to be precision? I believe it was a French guy if not it was at least a few hundred years ago.

[@chrishartley7493]

My dad's a 84 year old machinist. He said the exact same thing why he loves lathes.

[@loofy26]

Thanks a lot for the teaching

[@PharaohMoan]

Have tried flipping your thread cutter, running the lathe in reverse, and feeding away from the stock? I see this method it quite a bit.

[@RugbyDebuts]

Adam putting a full 2L coke bottle in Jamie's Lathe is peak Mythbusters - kzbin.info/www/bejne/apOtlXyPlNaMrq8

[@nathkrupa3463]

Great video Mr Adam sir

[@sebastianarias7042]

the ultimate handy man. it be nice learn from him.

[@miker4460]

i'm surprised you don't have drawers of sand paper and emery cloth on your slab cart for ease of access. one day build? :)

[@umahunter]

Nice job 👍👍👍 love your videos would be cool on the lathework to show more close up of what you're actually doing 👍👍👍

[@patchvonbraun]

I would have been tempted for reasons of "sexy" to put a bit of a knurl on that part. Beautifully done. Me and my buddies took a machine shop "night class" for 7 years (mostly for cheap access to a not bad machine shop). I still learn things watching Adam, and "Inheritance Machining" and "This Old Tony". Again, Adam, lovely part. The very first part I ever made in a lathe was a bronze bushing for the power-head on our pricey vacuum cleaner. I was SO proud of that little part. That was probably 20 years ago, and as far as I know, it's still going today (she got the vacuum cleaner in the divorce...).

[@aserta]

Not a good idea to put knurls one something that goes inside a precision bore. It's asking for gouges.

[@autumnbeds]

Currently in the process of restoring my first lathe. 100 yrs old. Side note .. is that where "dead center" came from?

[@VeniVidiVid]

That’s gorgeous! Lathe jewelry.

[@TwigTheThird]

Lathe live love

[@jpresnick2008]

Thanks again for the meditation in steel. Very satisfying it is. Ì am a 77 yr old fart who appreciates a simple fix. It is simple if you know what you are doing or a least how to start. Cool beans!

[@bobbykozak6032]

Had a instructor who would always complain when people called 'bearing centres' 'live centres'. True 'live centres' are the ones that are driven, usually by the spindle nose when turning between centres. But that sort of thing is not done with metal very often.

[@TheBaldingVW]

Might be unnecessary, but did you consider hardening the new end cap? I’m guessing the other one was hardened by the color of it.

[@SolaceEasy]

Close enough for Adam work.

[@Dresden_Nova]

How many times is Adam gonna say that a lathe can build itself before we see Adam use a lathe to build a lathe?

[@richc9890]

Great job. Now you just need to clean up the live center to match the end you made.. LOL

[@starhawke380]

Im thinking back on a similar project I had a few years ago... Have you ever tried to replicate something with one small variance, and ended up with an identical item instead?

[@khendar]

I never understood how when cutting threads on a lathe you can move the carriage back and forth and yet when you go back for another pass the threads like up perfectly. Do you have to start the next pass at the same point or does the nature of the carriage feed handle it somehow?

[@iggykidd]

Hey, I just noticed that the light adam has on a flexible arm over his table is the same light I use, but rather than a battery it uses the AC Adaptor. I haven't been able to find an AC Adaptor longer than like 2.5', what does Adam do?

[@johnmotzenbecker1268]

ADAM ; Got a question for you . Seeing your " Lathe " there , It's a very tight " FIT " to say the least ! And knowing how messy they can be casting " STUFF " all about , here , and there , how do you work with your " LATHE " , for example in shielding , with " Say " plexiglass , other surfaces , like shelving , and tool's , to help make " CLEAN UP " easer ? Jack

[@_Jester_]

What language is this mess supposed to be?

[@Kirsty_McKay]

The sound from 29:35 and just before would be a good beat in a song.

[@L_C_]

“Fat bottom lathe centers make the world go rooooound” 🎶

[@ryebis]

I would've just drilled / tapped the existing backplate and screwed in a bolt but a brand new one is nice and shiny.

[@Supraman007]

Nice work Adam, you should cold blue it

[@w0nd3rlu573r]

Also I am really curious what is used for heating/cooling at the shop. It's always so quiet during filming.

[@M.L.P]

Do you disengage the feed between each pass? Try not too, just back up and reverse.

[@silverbullet7434]

Great job .I'd have made a ring ,,washer,, and epoxied it to make do. But doing it right is best.

[@wilvaneden3928]

would it be easier to make a 8th inch spacer

[@_Jester_]

No

[@garymurphy5133]

when adam started to cut the thread you could see the cutting bit/tool dip! whats that all about!

[@w0nd3rlu573r]

I see this was a small build, but I know exactly how Adam feels. 😁

[@soldateii]

maybe a dumb question... why not just put a washer/spacer between the bolt and the taper so it doesn't fully thread in? not enough threads on the bolt?

[@Cuzzzo42]

32:17 Good one!

[@HRConsultant_Jeff]

I note you do not wear a breathing mask when cutting or grinding the metal. When I sharpen any metal tool I wear a mask as you can see a lot of fine metal dust. I also place a magnet below the wheels to capture a lot of the fine dust so it does not go into the air. Any reasoning behind this?

[@1pcfred]

Iron is good for you.

[@HRConsultant_Jeff]

@@1pcfred But then people think your name is Rusty.

[@1pcfred]

@@HRConsultant_Jeff I went to school with someone that preferred being called Rusty. He really didn't like his given name. Blood is red because of iron oxide so we're all pretty rusty.

[@neilperry2224]

Adam, I think your phone is an intelligence drunk, cause he can't focus when you want him to. But he will focus when he wants too.

[@motivationindrive8514]

I think Adam needs to do a collaboration with obsessed garage and re outfit adams shop storage systems …😂

[@mcheddadi]

I thought the thumbnail was those weird AI drawn hands with a long pinky coming out of the middle of the hand lol 😆

[@AirHam]

lol 33:29 "lathe, miscellaneous shit"

[@VoidedWarranty]

Is there a metric thread dial on that thing? I can't disengage my half nuts because I have an inch leadscrew, the metric thread will almost line up at 26tpi but not quite, if I disconnect and reconnect the half nuts in a different spot.

[@daveoshea2001]

Adam enters the "danger zone"

[@glytchmeister9856]

“Don’t throw ANYTHING away; it went into Lathe Miscellaneous Shit” Spoken like a true machinist

[@nissan300ztt]

Im a prototype machinist and use a lathe daily. Todays adventure was drilling 18" deep into a piece of Aluminum Bronze hard as rock.

[@joedatuknow]

great video

[@georgeaura]

Wouldn't it have been easier to just make a thread extention? Where it could have inner threads to thread onto the part and outer threads to thread onto the original cap.

[@ektopia]

Pretty sure you just blew your nose and then used the rag to wipe over the lathe! Hahaha

[@JM800]

Could Adam have made a 1/8" thick washer if thread depth allowed it?

[@_Jester_]

No, it wouldn't reach far enough inside to compress/hold the bearings in place.

[@MarkCrouch-is2pd]

Can you do a table saw sled 1 day build?

[@RjWolf3000]

I sorta get that a lathe can make all its key components but there seem to be a lot of square parts on a lathe that seem impossible to make on one.

[@KonradTheWizzard]

You can make dice on a lathe. Look it up - the videos are fascinating.

[@-MrFozzy-]

Latheies and gentlemen…..I assume my preferred solution being to super glue four pennies to the back Is……sub optimal?

[@alonsoquesada1136]

I learned the pen pass from Kurtis at Cutting Edge Engineering

[@_Jester_]

Love that channel! "Shut up train!" 😁