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Ed Caffrey's Workshop Talk to Ed Caffrey ... The Montana Bladesmith! Tips, tricks and more from an ABS Mastersmith.

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  #1  
Old 12-20-2012, 06:38 PM
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Ed Caffrey Ed Caffrey is offline
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Here's a new one for you....

Yesterday I was turning damascus pen barrels on my Grizzly "mini" lathe. As the carriage would get to a certain point on the bed....the cutter would "dive" inward into the work piece and essentially "slice" off the damascus barrel diagonally.

I went over the lathe for about 2 hours, checking things, and ensuring everything was tight, and nothing was broken. After wrecking a second pen barrel, I got the shop vac, cleaned all the shavings up, then got the acetone and some rags and started cleaning everything for a closer look......still nothing. Then, while wiping the bed/ways with acetone, I noticed a drip of acetone on the "catch pan" below the bed........after getting a flashlight, and looking underneath, I found that the entire bed of the lathe is cracked....from one side to the other!

After finding it, I put a work piece between the chuck and the tailstock and ran a couple of passes.....as the cutter reach the spot of the crack, I could see the crack open up, the bed flex, and the cutter dive into the work piece. RATS! No fixing that! I suppose I shouldn't rant too much.....I purchased the lathe new in 2000, and the best I can figure, I've produced about 230 damascus pens on it.......so it's earned it's keep.

So, today I ordered a new lathe......hated to drop that money, but figuring how much the Mini lathe has made me, I need it a lathe.....and 12 years for an import lathe isn't a bad service life.

Decided I might as well upgrade a bit so I went with : http://www.grizzly.com/products/9-x-19-Bench-Lathe/G4000 I would have liked to have gone even bigger, but all the tooling I have will work with/on this one, and space is a factor too. So, hopefully I'll be back in the Damascus pen making business in a week or so.


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Old 12-20-2012, 09:41 PM
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Anthony Chaney Anthony Chaney is offline
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I hate you had to spend the money, but that's a nice little rig just in time for Christmas.


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Old 12-20-2012, 11:00 PM
Rick McGee Rick McGee is offline
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Uhh... Ed, maybe I'm missing something here. The ways and all just bolt to the pan/bed. Maybe we just got a misunderstanding as to the names of the parts and I might be the one at fault. Many lathes are called bench lathes because they can be mounted to a good sturdy bench and the factory bed is an option. You might have gotten away with fabing a strong bench with steel top to replace the cracked bed. Perhaps you still can and have 2 lathes or sell the repaired one to recover some of your investment.
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Old 12-20-2012, 11:31 PM
2LBT 2LBT is offline
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Bummer to hear that,...

I don't know if you've already seen it, but yahoo has a 9x20

forum that has just about every mod, fix, upgrade idea, you can think of

lapping the compound seems to be the first mod to do on the minis do
get them tighter and accurate, then add some indicators

Nice little machines though,...
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Old 12-21-2012, 08:14 AM
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Ed Caffrey Ed Caffrey is offline
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Rick.... It's probably me just not using the proper name for the cracked/broken portion. It's the cast iron frame that's cracked/broken.....it's all one piece wich includes the frame/bed/ways....the crack goes all the way from the "foot" on one side, up over/through the ways, and into the opposite side foot/base.

It's right smack dab in the middle......if the carriage is on the chuck side of the crack, it works, but once the carriage reaches the crack, or goes past it, the whole frame flexes. It's like you could almost fold the machine in half lengthwise if I unbolted it from the bench.

It's pretty much shot.

Just got a shipping email from Grizzly, the new one shipped yesterday, and is scheduled to be here on the 27th.

2LBT.... do you happen to have the URL to the 9x20 forum?


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Old 12-21-2012, 10:51 AM
cdent cdent is offline
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Hey Ed,

Doubt if it'll work, but clamp 'er up and run a bead.

I like that new one. The ones I've seen look like a great option compared to the regular mini lathes. Hope it comes early on the 27th. so you get most of the day to set up and play.

Merry Christmas, Craig
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  #7  
Old 12-21-2012, 11:27 AM
2LBT 2LBT is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed Caffrey View Post

2LBT.... do you happen to have the URL to the 9x20 forum?
Here you go,...


You need join with a user name/password like most forums or user groups

There is an incredible amount of info and trick stuff and helpful guys in here

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/9x20Lathe/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/9x20Lathe2/
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Old 12-21-2012, 12:37 PM
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B.Finnigan B.Finnigan is offline
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My JET 9x20 has been working great for over 5 years of constant use. One important tip for the belt driven lathes. Pull off the tension when starting it and then ease into engaging it. Just like a vehicle clutch. Otherwise you will snap a lot of belts just flipping on the switch like you would with the mini's.

The belts are bit too small for the size of the lathe but "clutch" engaging will give you over a year of use out of one. You can also buy Gates replacement belts cheaper then Grizzly sells them.

Have fun with it! It's a workhorse and the size will open up a huge amount of projects for you. (Like mini-canons)
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Old 12-24-2012, 08:14 AM
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Sorry to hear about your Lathe Ed, How something like that happens is just a mystery I guess. Have fun with new one any how:0)

Merry CHRISTMAS!


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