Radio shack saves the day....

[gixxer]

So I am turning down wheels on the mini lathe, and pop! Chatter and the piece locks up. I do not get to the switch in time, and after I get chucked up again I get nothing. Took me a little, but I eventually looked at the fuse. Advance Auto Parts does not carry metric fuses, so don't make that mistake. The little guy is 5mmx20mm. Went to Radio Shack and they had some. I am really contemplating installing an American variety fuse and holder so I can go to wal mart in a pinch. but then again too, the real way to do it is get a 3/4hp motor and VFD it up.

I was about to flip out if I burned up the board cause I have a 4 day break and a lot to do on the lathe for my grinder. Heh, so how hard is it to cut threads on a lathe anyways?

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

Assuming you have a screw cutting lathe, it is quite simple. 60 deg V bit set square, don't try to take it all off in one pass, set your compound rest to 29.5 deg and feed in with it, leave the crossfeed at 0 and retract at the end of the cut with that, be sure to engage the half nut in the correct part of the screw rotation etc. On an external thread I'll measure the pitch diameter using the three wire method (which is quite simple when you're setup to do it), but you can always just test it with a nut.

I could write detailed instructions, but it is a subject that is well covered out on the net, so I'd suggest you Google it first and then ask questions. The first time chasing threads is always a hoot.

 

[joe-bob]

Lots of European cars use the metric glass fuses. They should be available at any good parts store. In any case, they come in multi-packs, stock up. (They are used in guitar amps, too.)

BTW -- big lathes have a foot brake/off switch. Not sure about the brake, but you could sure rig an on/off foot switch.