Lapping The Mini Lathe Bed Ways Pt 1 Episode 9

[@stephenmale4492]

Hi Trevor. It’s no way boring. You’ll have a cracking mini lathe at the end of it. Brilliant stuff mate

[@123hurst3]

It strikes me that, as much work as this is, the dramatic improvements in lathe operation (backlash being the enemy) is worth it. If you are a beginner, you will learn a great deal about lathe operation. Good video.

[@TheAussieShed]

Thanks Paul

[@brucewilliams6292]

Well, I finally broke down and applied the method shown in this video to my lathe and the results are spectacular!!! I chucked up a piece for 400 stainless and my little lathe cut it without any problem. The difference is night and day. Thank you so very much for all the work you put into this video and sharing it with the world.

[@TheAussieShed]

G'day Bruce, glad it all worked out for you. Definitely one of the best improvements that can be done on these little buggers imo. Cheers Mate.

[@airgunsfreedom700ssp3]

this is the best full rebuild set of videos on the web. my lathe is more than ten years old. I only just bought it a few months ago, new, but it was a floor model in the store for more than ten years, As such there is a huge difference in quality. My lathe has no where near the faults that yours has. perhaps the machinery is old and worn, or the production has increased to the point where quality control is less stringent, who knows. However my lathe is still not perfect, and your videos have given me the right places to look, and more importantly, ways to correct them. Thank,s.

[@TheAussieShed]

Thanks Mate, much appreciated, I agree totally about the older mini lathes. Cheers.

[@CraigsWorkshop]

Nice work Trevor. Well - gruelling hard work. It's certainly turning into a silk purse!

[@TheAussieShed]

Thanks Craig

[@bhein67]

Although it was somewhat repetitive, I do appreciate the narrative to explain the process and why what your doing is important, these are the type of tasks that get glanced over in many videos. Cheers from Canada

[@tw3378]

See it's coming along nicely, I like how you explain the steps and the order your going in . Keep up the good work.

[@TheAussieShed]

Thanks Tim

[@mikew-vj6yu]

🤣 yea i know the feelion bud, i'm with #3, but this one is a keeper!

[@donknotts6118]

Shed wins...everytime! I don't mind paying the monthly "support" on the shop and the tools

[@ActiveAtom]

Hi nice to be here it is the bed length time here. We are here to learn. Quite a task here. Things take what they take to get done and share correctly. Lance & Patrick.

[@markainsworth1586]

Yet another great video, nice work and tutorial. Cloud you perhaps grind a bit of the taper off with a dremel type tool first?. Can't wait wait to see part two.

[@kcr6282]

Thanks for this. I have a 9x30 with the same troubles

[@craigtate5930]

Great idea. Gives me an idea how I might deal with my worn out mill ways

[@TheAussieShed]

Cheers Craig

[@DavidKutzler]

Looking forward to Part 2.

[@johnshort9490]

I just bought the same lathe with all the problems. Thanks for this series. Question, how did you attach the Emery cloth to the ways? Thank you

[@TheAussieShed]

G'day Mate. Sorry to hear that, Lol. Spray contact Adhesive FTW. Cheers Mate.

[@gavroagogo]

Can I ask, were the underside of the ways already ground, but just poorly done, or were they like mine, and look like the barnacled hull of the QE2? I totally agree with your comment in another video about these lathes being made from reject parts!

[@TheAussieShed]

G'day Gav, Mine looked like it had a roughing pass with a mill & that was it. The top was great, buy yeah, the underside total crap. It did come up pretty good however, but a lot of hard work. Cheers Mate.

[@crazyfeller5704]

Great content

[@imetr8r]

I've a similar problem with my new Chinese Junk. My lathe is thick in the middle of the front underside way. How many hours did this way correction take?

[@TheAussieShed]

G'day Mate, Maybe 2-3 hours from memory. Cheers.

[@robertaugust7425]

What about the top of your new tail stock piece. It would still have any differences imparted by the mill used to flatten it. In a perfect world you'd use the now "ways concentric" bottom of the new tail stock piece and grind the top parallel with that, bringing the parallel of the ways straight through to the tail stock arbor holder. I could be way off here, I don't know... Thanks for the video.👍

[@JB-yn4cs]

Hi, been watching and weighing up giving my lathe the same treatment. How's yours been since lapping, is it giving noticeably better surface finish? Cheers

[@TheAussieShed]

Hi Jamie, for sure, the finish i get now is not even comparable to when i started with it. Massive improvement. Cheers.

[@edrowley1]

...yep. took f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Cheers.

[@swanvalleymachineshop]

The things you have to do to overcome the high precision machining of the cheaper end lathes from china ! I have a small mill , Hong fuk wong that from new the quill was like a cock in a shirt sleeve & i have to sleeve it in a distant project . Cheers .

[@alstonofalltrades3142]

Loving learning how to get things flat without scraping. TY. At least you admitted why your relationships suffered. Do you wives also admit that if they had spent some time out in the shed helping their husbands build and machine things instead of going to watch chick flicks their relationships would have done better 😜

[@TheAussieShed]

Lol, never going to happen. We're the only ones ever in the wrong. Cheers Mate.

[@donlunn792]

Would it not be easier to scrape it ?

[@TheAussieShed]

Hi Don, thanks for the comment. The Material removal part may definitely be easier & faster scraping, however, I think the constant marking, checking & setup would far out weigh the benefits of the scraping process. The Beauty of this method is the Back plates are Constantly defining the Removal area & material required to be removed without the need to re set your points. Definitely a hard slog though. Cheers Mate Thanks again.

[@lazyh-online4839]

I wouldn't say easier but possible higher quality, the question would be is it worth the effort when you get the majority of the benefit with this lapping technique? The lapping won't guarantee that everything is completely lines up and proper but it does make sure everything is sized to slide smoothly as the carriage travels, and that's the biggest part of getting consistent quality cuts. Scraping could give you that if you know exactly what you're doing but it's a lot more difficult and you'd often lap afterwards anyways.