Machining roadside junk metal on a small Chinese lathe

Рет қаралды 1,792

Xynudu

Күн бұрын

Is it any good ?

Пікірлер: 34

@Xynudu 3 ай бұрын

Note: I used this opportunity to check the tailstock alignment of this well used 20 plus year old cheap Chinese lathe. Readings were consistent and within .02 mm for the full length of the bar. Not bad going for a supposedly inferior lathe ;) Cheers Rob

@mftmachining 3 ай бұрын

Rob, those weightlifting bars are mostly an alloy of chrome, nickel, vanadium and molybdenum, means good stuff. Make yourself a little sample and try to harden it. Would be interesting to know, ´cause i could not find anything about the carbon content.

@Xynudu 3 ай бұрын

Thanks for that. It machined like it had some moly (bit gummy) so you are probably correct. I doubt it's got much carbon, but that's just my impression. Worked up well, but a bit cutter sensitive for a good finish. HSS worked best on it, as I could do a light cut. Well worth picking up. Cheers Rob

@cheztaylor8 3 ай бұрын

Scrap is often handy. I reckon that threaded part might make a decent adjustable support for a pedestal drill table. Ages ago I picked up a few redundant traffic signs which are essentially just thick-ish aluminium sheet.

@SeanBZA 3 ай бұрын

Hard steel make a nice fire in the BBQ, and put the steel on it overnight. Should make it hot enough to soften it a lot, to the point it is machinable, plus also will likely strip chrome off the surface as well, or at least weaken it a lot.

@Xynudu 3 ай бұрын

I wondered if the bar would need annealing (to soften it) but not necessary. This bar is obviously not exactly Olympics standard ;) But as scrap steel goes, it's quite useful. Cheers Rob

@SeanBZA 3 ай бұрын

@@Xynudu That is for those big hard steel ones you have, not the cheap free roadside scrap bars.

@nobbysworkshop 3 ай бұрын

Some handy bits of metal there Rob, just looking for a project. Take care. Cheers Nobby

@Xynudu 3 ай бұрын

Hi Nobby. I'm sure it will come in handy some time. Cheers Rob

@RetroSteamTech 3 ай бұрын

Blimey Rob, that's a relief, it would have been really frustrating if it hadn't been of any use after all the money you paid for it 🤣🤣🤣Be interesting to see what it gets used for in the future. Cheers, Alan.

@Xynudu 3 ай бұрын

Hi Alan. It's a handy size. Time will tell ;) Cheers Rob

@onestopfabshop3224 3 ай бұрын

Ya know Rob, I've never had any luck putting a super nice finish on anything with high speed steel. No matter the angles, the grind, it the perfect honing it's just not that good. But if I take a Kennemetal CNMG431 KCU10 inserts it's super nice. The harder the material of course the better the finish. Those inserts on some material leave a ground looking finish.

@Xynudu 3 ай бұрын

Depends on the depth of cut mainly. Carbide "peels" off the metal like your thumb peeling an orange. That's why DOC is so critical. Get it and the feed speed right and the result will be like chrome finish. Too little and carbide won't work properly. HSS cuts like a knife, has much sharper edges and can do very fine DOC. HSS cutters vary a lot and round nose versions generally make for a clean finish. Type of steel being turned also has a huge effect. Poor quality steel will usually feather badly with carbide. Cheers Rob

@carlmcferran9371 3 ай бұрын

Your lathe is a disgrace needs a good cleaning the backsplash is filthy ?

@Xynudu 3 ай бұрын

Ha Ha. It's clean where it counts.

@geoffreyward4743 3 ай бұрын

hi rob,have you used the weights for the bars.are they mild steel or cast material.

@Xynudu 3 ай бұрын

Hi Geoffrey. Yes I have and they were terrible. All the home use weights that I've seen are cast iron and it's really crappy stuff. Lots of sand, grit and slag. Makes lots of sparks and tears carbide to pieces. Also has hard and soft patches. Total waste of time trying to machine anything out of it. I have read in forums where some people have successfully used them, but the general concensus is that they are a waste of time. Cheers Rob

@hinz1 3 ай бұрын

I used such a trashpicked weightlifting bar a while ago, to lift my 3ton surface grinder with my excavator, worked excellent and didn't bend ;-)

@Xynudu 3 ай бұрын

Wow. That's amazing.

@hinz1 3 ай бұрын

@@Xynudu Not much bending force, since the lifting slings were right next to the holes in the machine. Always nice, if manufacturer makes some holes in the casting, so you have it easy with lifting and moving. And that weightlifting bar was a good fit for these holes so I went with it and it worked ;-)