MINI LATHE

[Jim Allen]

One feature that I do not like about the Hardinge Tool Room Lathe is the absence of a back gear. Even though the machine has a 10 HP motor, the spindle can be stopped when making heavy cuts. It is one of several machines that has the seat for 5 - C collets ground in the spindle after the gear head is mounted to the bead. A Schaublin & a Monarch also have this feature.

JA

 

[dwilfong]

Back gear is a must if you plan on making big blue chips................

 

[Brad Christy]

Jim,

The Hardinge HLV lathes were never intended for heavy machining. They actually only have a 1.5 HP motor. I've seen guys take the chuck off an HLV, material clamped in it, and clamp it into a chuck on a larger lathe to rough material off, then reset it back into the Hardinge for finishing. I've got the absolute worst case scenario for horsepower. I'm running it on residential 110v, paired to 220v, through a rotary phase converter, then stepped up to 480v3ph. The only time I've stalled the motor is when I was opening up a 1/2" hole with a 1" drill through Monel 400. I sometimes have to take lighter cuts than one normally would, particularly on larger steel parts, but it certainly gets the job done. I also have a mill with a 3hp spindle motor, same phase converter. I can run both machines simultaneously, starting either one first (this comes into play if you're light on amps). I have no need for "back gear". The Hardinge has two speed ranges (selected by voltage), infinitely variable spindle speed (regulated just like a variable speed head on a knee mill) and infinitely variable feed rate (regulated by voltage to a DC drive motor). I can change spindle speeds or feed rate mid-cut.

Thanks. Brad.

Titan Racing Components

BlackJack Hydros

Model Machine and Precision LLC

 

[stan simpson iv]

Slightly off topic but I worked at Clarage Fan Corp. while going to college, (Western Michigan University) Clarage had the contract to build the induced draft fans for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), we had a lathe that was so large that the operator sat in a chair on the carriage next to the cutting tool and moved along with the feed. Some cuts took a full shift to complete. If I remember the shafts were 22 inches in dia. and 36 ft long on the duel stage fans, I don't the diameter of the fan itself but the operating RPM was something like 400 and the tip velocity was really high. The housings were 43 ft high. Big stuff!!

Thanks, John

My first machine shop job was Ellis propeller in Jax...they turned big ship shafts like you are talking about. Seat on the carriage of the lathe, chuck so big you could stand in it like a ride at the fair. The props they cast and finished were so big you could lay on them (one blade). Learned a lot from that place.

 

[Mark Bullard]

Some like these.

 

[dwilfong]

Will thy trim .0001..........LOL

 

[John Beardslee]

Will thy trim .0001..........LOL

Hi Dave,

I was taught that the operator had to make up for any discrepancies in the machine, so ya maybe one out of a hundred we might nick a tenth.

Thanks, John

 

[John Beardslee]

Great pictures Mark, I think the lathes at Clarage Fan were maybe Bettes and were war surplus from the Navy yards out east, they had 2. They also had huge metal spinning equipment built into the floor that spun the inlet flanges for the fans - material was 1/2" thick hot rolled mild steel - no one was close when they spun those things - massive pieces of steel like a giant Frisbee going around!!

Thanks, John

 

[Mark Bullard]

John, you are right on the holding tolerance. The man on the dial as the control and he must know his machine or machines.

 

[LarryBeals]

Where can you get tailstock quail

 

[LarryBeals]

Login 10inch

 

[John Beardslee]

Login 10inch

Larry is it stripped threads on the screw or the internal on the quil

 

[dwilfong]

Larry .........Ebay...............................there are some on there now screw and spindle

 

[LarryBeals]

Inter quilt spin out