New surface plate

After working on scraping for a while, I figured out that I would much prefer a bit larger surface plate. I figured an 18" x 24" would be about perfect. They are not that expensive at Enco, but they cost more to ship than to buy, since they weigh close to 200 pounds. So, I created a search on Ebay for surface plated within a reasonable driving distance and in no time at all a Starrett Crystal Pink 18x24 showed up in a small town just south of here and I picked it up for $88. As far as I can tell, it's in perfect shape and even includes the hard plastic cover. I used the hoist to get it out of the truck, then managed to get it up the few steps and into the kitchen, and that's where it remains, next to the pantry on a furniture platform. Now all I have to do is figure out how to get it downstairs to the basement.

I've had next to no time to work on anything lately. Work has just consumed every minute. I spent a little while last weekend and managed to do some more scraping on the cross slide top, which is close to right. Then I'll move on to the dovetails again. I still can't seem to get the scraper to cut as cleanly as I would like, even though I am used all diamond sharpeners. But, it does get it incredibly flat, just maybe not as pretty as I would like. Actually, the only scraped area that may show is the top of the cross slide and I'll likely paint that, anyway, leaving only the area under the compound unpainted.

On its own four feet

Alas, I've been working so much I've had little time to spend on the lathe project. I did spend some time putting up new shelves and cleaning a bit in the shop and I have been moving more and more of the parts downstairs into the basement, but I've not done much actual work on the machine. So, I took some time today and put the remaining two feet on and leveled the bed.

I really love high quality tools. One of my prize possessions is a Moore and Wright engineer's level I managed to pick up at a local auction a few years ago for $35. The graduations work out to about 0.003 per foot and you can read much less than the graduations, so I figure I can reliably level to less than 0.001 per foot. I did have to spend some time aligning it. There are adjustments and you get it so it is level whichever way to point it. I was then able to get the aligned to a good deal of accuracy. Small changes in the leveling adjustments were clearly visible on the level.

I'm a long way from a real assessment of the status of the bed, but moving the level around I could not see any deviation from level when end to end and cross ways there was only about 0.001" that I found in the heavily used area near the headstock. Otherwise, it's all on the mark. I'm pretty confident that it's in good shape. Now, I was basing this on the flats. I'll try it with the apron sometime soon, though I think I need to do an undercut on the apron first.

No time lately...

I've been positively swamped with work lately, so there's been no time for the lathe project. I did finally break down and order the Conelly book "Machine Tool Reconditioning". I keep hearing people talk about how hard this book is to get, but I just ordered it from Amazon.com marketplace and it came right in.

To the left is a real "made in England" hand scraper. It's a small one that I picked up very cheaply on eBay. There have been more of them since as well. I wanted to compare high-speed steel scraping to the carbide I have been doing. Just playing with it, it needs to be reshaped, since the curve it came with and the angle of the tip and very aggressive. I did some sharpening and it's looking like it does a nice job. It does get dull pretty quickly, though, as expected.

Below is my 18x24 surface place. Actually, it the new plate on the right and the one that arrived broken on the left. I put them both on a perfectly sized stand I picked up at a school auction for $1. I use the broken one for spotting and the good one for measuring. That way I'll never get any blue on the good one. That stuff does not come off very easily. I don't think it really matters to the function of the plate, though. I really want a single 18x24 surface plate. They are pretty cheap to buy, but the shipping costs more than the plate. I figure I'll keep an eye out for someone selling one here in Michigan, where machine tools are somewhat of a glut and I can just pick it up. Then I have to get it to the basement (it's close to 200 pounds).