Getting some free old machines.

[Kevin McGovern]

My neighbor is retiring and moving, he tells me he has some stuff for me. A Buffalo drill press, and a machinist lathe. I have no idea what I can use the lathe for. Any machinists on here have an idea what a knife maker could use it for? Here's the press

He is also offering a ton of taps. I don't think I need more than a few, but it seems a waste to not figure out what I can do with them.

Also

 

[Tom Brown]

One day that guy will be us. Very Cool.

 

[Josh Rider]

Think folders...
Custom pins, standoffs, and pivots.

 

[Ken H>]

You will find so many uses for that lathe!!! I tend to do something with my lathe at least 2 or 3 times/wk, and that's not "planned" projects. Trust me - you will LOVE that lathe!

 

[Kevin McGovern]

I got a picture of it. It has many cutters, several holders and chucks. I know nothing about this machine, but it runs fine.

 

[Drew Riley]

The better question is what you CAN'T use a lathe for, which is honestly a pretty short list.

Not sure what all the lathe will come with, but set up properly and with the correct accessories, you can mill with a lathe (slot gaurds, mill liners, etc..), make custom standoffs, pivots, pins, pommels, etc...

Once you start learning what you can do with, you'll come up with all kinds of projects.

 

[Lieblad]

To paraphrase a similar...
If you have to ask what a lathe can be used for, a lathe is not a thing for you...

That collection is fairly old stuff. It was probably retired from industry long ago, then went into some guys hobbyshop.
Southbend lathe, Hugely popular hobby machine.

If its offerer free, JUMP ON IT !!

 

[Kevin McGovern]

I know some of what can be done with it. I figured pins and such. I don't currently make folders, but intend to do so down the road. The price is right, (free) and it comes with a large machinist book. So it sounds like I have a lot of reading to do. I'm assuming that slotting a guard would involve a milling vice setup with it mounted vertically to enable the X Y axis movement against the cutter chucked in the powered side? ( Yeah, I'm sure I butchered that). I was not looking for a machine like this, but for free, I'm always up for doing the learning work to utilize it.

 

[Kevin McGovern]

The former owner ran a small machine shop at his home. His son now owns it and is moving. I guess this thing was last used 50 years ago.

 

[REK Knives]

The better question is what you CAN'T use a lathe for, which is honestly a pretty short list.

Not sure what all the lathe will come with, but set up properly and with the correct accessories, you can mill with a lathe (slot gaurds, mill liners, etc..), make custom standoffs, pivots, pins, pommels, etc...

Once you start learning what you can do with, you'll come up with all kinds of projects.

That's interesting... the impression I've got from people in the machining world is that stop pins are too small for a lathe when you need precision tolerances. I am still on the hunt for someone to turn me some stop pins w/ a step in the middle, sent out probably 10-15 inquiries to machine shops all over the US and no one can help me it seems. So you are saying this wouldn't present a problem for a lathe?

 

[Drew Riley]

That's interesting... the impression I've got from people in the machining world is that stop pins are too small for a lathe when you need precision tolerances. I am still on the hunt for someone to turn me some stop pins w/ a step in the middle, sent out probably 10-15 inquiries to machine shops all over the US and no one can help me it seems. So you are saying this wouldn't present a problem for a lathe?

I'm not sure how else they would do it?
I mean, you're probably not gonna turn a .185" stop pin on a lathe with a 24" chuck, but for most bench top to mid size machines, I don't see the problem. Noe depending on tolerances, manual machining may get a little tricky I suppose, especially for any real quantities.
For a cnc lathe, however, it shouldn't be a big deal to turn any number of pins within .0005" tolerances if an programmer/operator knows his stuff.







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[REK Knives]

I'm not sure how else they would do it?
I mean, you're probably not gonna turn a .185" stop pin on a lathe with a 24" chuck, but for most bench top to mid size machines, I don't see the problem. Noe depending on tolerances, manual machining may get a little tricky I suppose, especially for any real quantities.
For a cnc lathe, however, it shouldn't be a big deal to turn any number of pins within .0005" tolerances if an programmer/operator knows his stuff.







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You my friend, are a wealth of knowledge =) Thanks for the insight!

 

[kuraki]

That's interesting... the impression I've got from people in the machining world is that stop pins are too small for a lathe when you need precision tolerances. I am still on the hunt for someone to turn me some stop pins w/ a step in the middle, sent out probably 10-15 inquiries to machine shops all over the US and no one can help me it seems. So you are saying this wouldn't present a problem for a lathe?

You're likely just asking the wrong shops.

You should drop in to Practical Machinist (forum) and request a quote. (They'll want a drawing if you have one)

 

[Salem Straub]

What kinda hack machinist can't make a stop pin with shoulders? Heck, even I can do that!

I have two metal lathes and a wood lathe- I use them all the time, in fact I used all three today on the same project. Lathes excel, for me, particularly in building and maintaining machines and machine accessories. I do make a lot of finial nuts and the like, as well as the aforementioned stop pin here and there.

 

[JTknives]

I have turned some very small parts with crazy tight tolerances on lathes. One part had a tear drop end with a neck that was about .050 in diamater and about a 1/2" long. In the past these parts where ground on a cnc grinder but took hours to make each one. I told the boss I could turn that on the lathe, he said no way. 1hr later I came back with a finished part for inspection. Passed with flying colors. Asked how long it took to make and I told him 5min run time. Let's just say thy still use my program on the lathe lol. Tolerance was not to tight but still tight enough at +.002 -.000. Another small part I made a bunch of had a tolerance of +.0002 -.0001, just holding the part in your hand long enough would cause it to be out of tolerance. Don't let the nay Sayers tell you it can't be done.

 

[Busto]

A lathe is the foundation for machining skills and if its free. Set it up do a little reading and you will discover its a horizontal milling machine you just have to understand its capabilities. There are way more lathes in home shops than milling machines.

 

[Horsewright]

i too was given an old Buffalo drill press similar to the one you were. It just keeps rockin and rollin.

 

[ron_m80]

Looks like an old South bend 9" change gear lathe. I rebuilt one about a year ago, but it was a little different.

Rebuild kits are on Amazon for about $40, they will get your oil wicks up the par so the machine stays nice and oiled during operation.

$free is a very nice price. Nice machine.


The Buffalo is pretty nice. Someone on the east coast still sells parts for them, but they want a good bit of change for them. $400 for bearings, $300 for a spindle.

 

[ron_m80]

I'm not sure how else they would do it?
I mean, you're probably not gonna turn a .185" stop pin on a lathe with a 24" chuck, but for most bench top to mid size machines, I don't see the problem. Noe depending on tolerances, manual machining may get a little tricky I suppose, especially for any real quantities.
For a cnc lathe, however, it shouldn't be a big deal to turn any number of pins within .0005" tolerances if an programmer/operator knows his stuff.







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CNC in and of itself does not make the machine more accurate. There are other factors like how well the ways were scraped in, how well the Gib's were fit, and how well the machine is mounted.

For tight tolerances you use sharp cutters and something like an 80° angle on the compound rest. Which results in much finer control of the cut depth.

When turning pins you would probably prefer to use the collet and drawbar feature rather than a Chuck. Old machine shops had many collets for each machine, round, square and ocatgon collets. The fastest way to spin on center for small stock.

 

[Drew Riley]

CNC in and of itself does not make the machine more accurate. There are other factors like how well the ways were scraped in, how well the Gib's were fit, and how well the machine is mounted.

For tight tolerances you use sharp cutters and something like an 80° angle on the compound rest. Which results in much finer control of the cut depth.

When turning pins you would probably prefer to use the collet and drawbar feature rather than a Chuck. Old machine shops had many collets for each machine, round, square and ocatgon collets. The fastest way to spin on center for small stock.

I don't disagree. The same can be said for manual machines. Proper maintenance and set up is as important as a proper program or operator, and collets are the only choice as far as I'm concerned.

I think it's certainly possible for a good machinist to manually turn small parts to tight tolerances, but if somebody is looking for 1000 pieces at a reasonable price, any shop that wants to make any money is going to fire up a cnc turning station, IMO. And I'd hazard to guess that most shops that want to stay in business these days are going to have one or two.


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