RETIRED
8th January 2012, 06:39 PM
It seems that Murphy is back in residence at the shed again.
In March last year we built Natasha (our lathes all have names) to do a job that would not fit on Big Henry (see, told ya) as we needed to spin 700mm diameter.
We used the VB72 headstock and fitted a 3 metre bed to it capable of turning 900mm over the bed and 2.1metres long. Big enough, you'd reckon.
Nope!! This is where Murphy comes in.
We have a job coming up in February that is going to be turning some Corinthian columns complete with flutes.
I thought after talking with the client on the phone that they could be done on Henry.
Client arrives and produces the drawings. Up to 600mm diameter and 2.7 meters long.:doh:
Only one thing to do, extend Natasha.
So , like Sturdee we fitted a bed extension. Ours is a bit bigger and heavier though.:wink:
The first question was, "Can Natasha be extended that far?". She is bolted to the floor in 8 places and allows just enough room to walk around it.
Yes! We have 900mm between her and Henry.
Next question, "Have I got enough scrap steel to build it?" Yep.
After a pm from a board member we picked up an old home made verandah post lathe that had a steel bed.
We have used the head and tail stock to build another lathe, but that is another story. Its name is Spencer in case you were wondering. :roflmao:
So with steel, cut off saw and welder we set about building it.
It is hard work moving and locating bits of heavy steel by oneself. Thank goodness for overhead gantries.
Any how here are the pics if you got this far.
Some of the "scrap" steel.
193938
The operating theatre.
193939
Primary set up. I am glad that I have a heap of clamps. At one stage there were 10 in use to hold it in line.
193940193941
Fitting "fish plates" to anchor the new bed to Natasha.193942
Aligning the new bed to the existing.
193943
Alignment bar fitted. Our beds on the big lathes are 75 mm apart so that a 75mm RHS bar with a couple of shims can be slipped in to check alignment when we need to. It also allows rests, steadies and head and tailstocks to be swapped around if we need to.
193944
Extension is bolted to Henry and all bits tack welded in place.193945
Ready to lift out.
193946
Lying on the bed of Natasha ready to be welded.193947
All welded together.
193948
We then refitted it to check nothing had pulled during the welding. Man, I hate that. Fitted perfectly.
Now all I have to do is make an indexing head and a giant fluting attachment. Oh well, it is an interesting and different job.
Sorry, I can't say what the job is until I get the clients permission.
In March last year we built Natasha (our lathes all have names) to do a job that would not fit on Big Henry (see, told ya) as we needed to spin 700mm diameter.
We used the VB72 headstock and fitted a 3 metre bed to it capable of turning 900mm over the bed and 2.1metres long. Big enough, you'd reckon.
Nope!! This is where Murphy comes in.
We have a job coming up in February that is going to be turning some Corinthian columns complete with flutes.
I thought after talking with the client on the phone that they could be done on Henry.
Client arrives and produces the drawings. Up to 600mm diameter and 2.7 meters long.:doh:
Only one thing to do, extend Natasha.
So , like Sturdee we fitted a bed extension. Ours is a bit bigger and heavier though.:wink:
The first question was, "Can Natasha be extended that far?". She is bolted to the floor in 8 places and allows just enough room to walk around it.
Yes! We have 900mm between her and Henry.
Next question, "Have I got enough scrap steel to build it?" Yep.
After a pm from a board member we picked up an old home made verandah post lathe that had a steel bed.
We have used the head and tail stock to build another lathe, but that is another story. Its name is Spencer in case you were wondering. :roflmao:
So with steel, cut off saw and welder we set about building it.
It is hard work moving and locating bits of heavy steel by oneself. Thank goodness for overhead gantries.
Any how here are the pics if you got this far.
Some of the "scrap" steel.
193938
The operating theatre.
193939
Primary set up. I am glad that I have a heap of clamps. At one stage there were 10 in use to hold it in line.
193940193941
Fitting "fish plates" to anchor the new bed to Natasha.193942
Aligning the new bed to the existing.
193943
Alignment bar fitted. Our beds on the big lathes are 75 mm apart so that a 75mm RHS bar with a couple of shims can be slipped in to check alignment when we need to. It also allows rests, steadies and head and tailstocks to be swapped around if we need to.
193944
Extension is bolted to Henry and all bits tack welded in place.193945
Ready to lift out.
193946
Lying on the bed of Natasha ready to be welded.193947
All welded together.
193948
We then refitted it to check nothing had pulled during the welding. Man, I hate that. Fitted perfectly.
Now all I have to do is make an indexing head and a giant fluting attachment. Oh well, it is an interesting and different job.
Sorry, I can't say what the job is until I get the clients permission.