Lathe Hack and old school tool use.

[Fusion_power]

My 40+ year old Craftsman table saw made a lot of noise from vibration. This was unnecessary noise caused by the insert on top of the saw vibrating when the motor was running. The insert is held down by a screw on one end and by a spring steel retainer at the other end. The spring steel retainer cannot be tensioned enough to make the insert stop vibrating. The noise it made was louder than the motor!

I fixed the problem by drilling the end for the spring retainer all the way through the cast iron table, then chamfered and threaded the hole for a 10-32 machine screw. I then slotted the end of the insert so I can push it under the screw and tighten it down. The result is a noise reduction to a level better than when it was new.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

My 40+ year old Craftsman table saw made a lot of noise from vibration. This was unnecessary noise caused by the insert on top of the saw vibrating when the motor was running. The insert is held down by a screw on one end and by a spring steel retainer at the other end. The spring steel retainer cannot be tensioned enough to make the insert stop vibrating. The noise it made was louder than the motor!

I fixed the problem by drilling the end for the spring retainer all the way through the cast iron table, then chamfered and threaded the hole for a 10-32 machine screw. I then slotted the end of the insert so I can push it under the screw and tighten it down. The result is a noise reduction to a level better than when it was new.

Nothing I hate worse that a rattling table saw or one with a ringing blade.
Worth

[dmforcier]

Have you ever worked with a blade dampener? Metal disc that bolts on with the blade. Makes the whole operation run smoother.

[Fusion_power]

Have you ever worked with a blade dampener?

Yes, I have one and use it. I also have a micro kerf blade with built in dampener and alignment disks. This noise was caused by motor vibration which was hitting a harmonic at which the insert vibrated.

My next order of business is to modify one of the inserts - I have extras - so that I can turn it backward and cut a slot barely wider than the blade. The intent is to make a steel zero clearance insert. It won't actually be zero clearance, I want to cut the slot just a tad wider than 1/8 inch so the blade can't contact the steel insert. This is one of the things I never understood about Craftsman inserts. They could easily have cut two slots at the factory and made the insert reversible. Then the user could choose which slot to use.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

Yes, I have one and use it. I also have a micro kerf blade with built in dampener and alignment disks. This noise was caused by motor vibration which was hitting a harmonic at which the insert vibrated.

My next order of business is to modify one of the inserts - I have extras - so that I can turn it backward and cut a slot barely wider than the blade. The intent is to make a steel zero clearance insert. It won't actually be zero clearance, I want to cut the slot just a tad wider than 1/8 inch so the blade can't contact the steel insert. This is one of the things I never understood about Craftsman inserts. They could easily have cut two slots at the factory and made the insert reversible. Then the user could choose which slot to use.

If a thin saw blade gets hot it will crawl all over the place.

[MrSalvage]

Man that's a lot of gear changing and stuff. I don't know jack about Lathe's. I wonder does it have a reversible variable speed motor in it?

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by MrSalvage

Man that's a lot of gear changing and stuff. I don't know jack about Lathe's. I wonder does it have a reversible variable speed motor in it?

No the speeds are through a transmission.
The lathe has three transmissions with levers and another one with change gears you have to do by hand but not all of the time just for metric and other wild things.
The motor is reversible.


Worth

[MrSalvage]

I ran across this conversion while studying up for my 72x2 belt sander build. I have my treadmill all broken down and ready to go. Here is a smithy conversion I found pretty neat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDItLgwDrwo

I want to get an old band saw & drill press. I will convert them over to a variable DC motor. I think I will go get another treadmill today.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by MrSalvage

I ran across this conversion while studying up for my 72x2 belt sander build. I have my treadmill all broken down and ready to go. Here is a smithy conversion I found pretty neat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDItLgwDrwo

I want to get an old band saw & drill press. I will convert them over to a variable DC motor. I think I will go get another treadmill today.

Never could get these guys wearing those rubber gloves working on stuff.
Another thing is you never spin up a lathe with the jaws not tightened down.

Next is the HP ratings of these treadmill motors are a little bogus.
Don't think for a minute you can run one at slow speed and get the full powder out of it.
Nor is that motor the same as the one I have in my lathe that runs 3450 rpm. constantly at 2 HP.
The motor is huge and heavy as all get out.
How would I convert miles per hour to rpm so I could convert that to feet per minute?
I need to do this so I can decide has fast to run the lathe given a diameter of stock.
All this aside the treadmill motor is a good idea if you can find one in the salvage for almost nothing.
Back later on more observations.

Worth

[Fusion_power]

How would I convert miles per hour to rpm so I could convert that to feet per minute?

A couple of formulas would work, but a lookup chart would probably be more helpful.

C = 2 times PI times Radius
5280 / circumference gives Revolutions required to equal a mile.


Correction: did the math wrong.

For a piece of stock 6 inches diameter, radius is 3 inches, pi is 3.14 (close enough for this work), so 2 * 3 * 3.14 gives 18.84 inches. (5280 X 12) divided by 18.84 gives about 3500 Revolutions to equal 1 mile. Your lathe spinning stock 6 inches in diameter at 3250 RPM is doing nearly 1 mile a minute. That's not bad for a cantankerous geriatric junkyard reject.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

A couple of formulas would work, but a lookup chart would probably be more helpful.

C = 2 times PI times Radius
5280 / circumference gives Revolutions required to equal a mile.

For a piece of stock 6 inches diameter, radius is 3 inches, pi is 3.14 (close enough for this work), so 2 * 3 * 3.14 gives 18.84 inches. 5280 divided by 18.84 gives about 280 Revolutions to equal 1 mile. Your lathe spinning stock 6 inches in diameter at 3250 RPM is doing nearly 12 miles a minute. That's not bad for a cantankerous geriatric junkyard reject.

The spindle runs at top speed at 1400 rpm so it is a reduction from the motor by way of the transmission and the big an little pulley on the motor and lathe.
The slowest speed is 70 rpm.
If you look at the old South Bend lathes they dont run for squat and aren't really set up to run carbide tooling they go too slow and the motors are too small and under powered.
Some of the lathes only have like 3/4 hp motors even for the 10 inch and they run at I think 1700 rpm or somewhere around there.
For a calculation of 600 rpm for a high speed tools you double that speed rpm and feed speed to some degree for carbide.
After looking at the older South Bend lathes I am so glad I didn't buy one of the old out dated things, new condition or not.
Even the new South Bend 10 K lathes have that stupid change belt pulley setup on the spindle to change speeds.
If and when something happens to that belt you will have to pull both shafts to fix it or buy a link belt you can take apart.
That isn't going to happen either because they aren't v belts.
sb1002_det7-3fef46e1e3a0badb17a86c1e14c716e1.jpg

[Fusion_power]

I posted earlier that I bought a Craftsman 3hp table saw for $60. As of today, I have it in working order. I had to make a couple of pieces of sheet metal for the stand and then had to purchase $20 of bolts, nuts, and washers to put it together. The belt was $8 at the auto parts store. I still have to put a good rip fence and rails on it and an on/off switch. It is a very good running saw now that it is properly adjusted.

[Worth1]

No you need to get a good fence all saw need a good fence.

[Fusion_power]

I have to confess. I bought a cheap older used fence off Craigslist for my table saw. I'll take my whipping now. I just couldn't make myself pay $500 or more for a new fence of dubious quality. Everything I read about fences commonly available today says that they are varying shades of poor quality or over priced or a pain to use.

In my defense, it does have a few redeeming characteristics. It says Made in USA and Mesa Arizona. Along the top, it says Biesemeyer. All things considered, I think it was worth the $225 I paid for it.

[Worth1]

Darrel like a gun with a good scope a fence is to a table saw I dont know what else to say.
You will pay as much for the fence as you will for a low end table saw and then the price of the saw goes up.

The fence you bought is not a bad fence.
What did you find wrong with it?

Worth