# Help with lathe settings



## las3r (Apr 11, 2013)

Hey guys I got my lathe hooked up and need little help since I don't have a manual  

I'd like to no how should I have it set to just cut aluminum ? Right now its set to cut threads I believe 

and I'd like to know the setting to cut threads like a maglite flashlight 

if anyone has a idea please help


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## las3r (Apr 11, 2013)

http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/...A382C5C-1436-0000029A51CCCBF0_zpsb8bdb234.jpg

http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/...37DB2E1-1436-0000029A734EC095_zps384183e9.jpg

http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/...80EF58D-1436-0000029A6A1BCFA5_zpsce644fb1.jpg

http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/...095F9FE-1436-0000029A4D1F04F3_zpsf43f58ce.jpg

http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/...50CDB09-1436-0000029A60D812A3_zpsbf0ee3ad.jpg


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## gadget_lover (Apr 11, 2013)

One of the things I like about Grizzly is that the manuals are online. Yours is at http://cdn0.grizzly.com/manuals/g4016_m.pdf


Once you've read it we can answer the more specific questions that will remain.

Settings for cutting aluminum are basically the RPM. There is a formula to determine the correct RPM based on surface speed and diameter. Aluminum is turned at a faster RPM than steel. 

The speed at which you move the carriage is determined by the type of cutting tool, the DOC (depth of the cut) and whether it's a roughing pass or a finishing pass. 

There are optimum RPMs, DOC and feeds but in many cases you can be way off and still get a decent result.

Daniel


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## las3r (Apr 11, 2013)

Once i get home ill read that manual, I did a test cut with the bit that came with the lathe and it was cutting like it was threading, I have some better toolholder with aluminum inserts coming from few online websites


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## precisionworks (Apr 11, 2013)

Tool point for OD work (facing or turning) must be dead nuts on center.

Tool point for ID work (boring) should be 0.010" above center. 

SFPM for difficult materials (ti-6-4, 4140HT, any tool steels like W1, O1, D2, etc. ) 100 sfpm more of less. Less is usually better.

SFPM for mild steel at 200.

SFPM for aluminum 1000 more or less. Many machines can run aluminum at the fastest spindle speed. You may not want to go there just yet. 

Fine feed = fine finish.



> I'd like to know how should I have it set to just cut aluminum ? Right now its set to cut threads I believe
> 
> and I'd like to know the setting to cut threads like a maglite flashlight



Please read Machinery's Handbook, pages 1-2693, skipping the sections that don't seem relevant. Study MH for no more than one hour per day to avoid burnout. Do this for only 30 days & you'll have a good idea what to do.


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## las3r (Apr 11, 2013)

thanks ill try to find the book


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## gadget_lover (Apr 11, 2013)

If it is cutting like it is threading then that means you have the gearbox engaged and the gear combination is for rapid movement. 


If you move the lower left lever ( A - E ) so that it is not in any hole, the leadscrew should not turn and the carriage should be free to move manually using the hand wheel.

If you set the left transmission lever to E and the right one to 8 you should get either 112 tpi or .0012 inches per rev, depending on the gears you have installed on the left side. 

Dan


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## gadget_lover (Apr 11, 2013)

I think that Precisionworks was kidding about Machinerys Handbook. It's a huge book that covers just about every aspect of machining. It took me several months to read the thousands of pages. There are sections that will tell you the formula for determining the right RPM. Page 34 of your manual has that information. 

After you have read through the lathe's manual, you will have a good idea of what to do but will still have questions and points that will need clarification. Post them here and I (or others) should be able to give you some help. Most lathes work the same way, but the levers and settings change from one model to the next.

Daniel


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## precisionworks (Apr 12, 2013)

gadget_lover said:


> I think that Precisionworks was kidding about Machinerys Handbook.


Actually not ... that's what I did way back when because my boss insisted on it. He'd grill me five days a week (or six if we worked Saturday) about the chapter being read. I truly believe he had the whole thing memorized.

On rare occasion I'd dig up something he didn't know - twice in the first year IIRC. Best machinist I've ever worked with & he taught me a metric ton. The rest was learned by reading MH every day. Bad habit as I still keep MH in "the reading room" & read a page or three each day. 

YMMV but the answer is somewhere in MH most of the time, like 99.99%


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## CMAG (Apr 12, 2013)

+1 Machinerys Handbook, don't let it scare you if you understand 10% of it the first read your doing okay


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## las3r (Apr 12, 2013)

gadget_lover said:


> If it is cutting like it is threading then that means you have the gearbox engaged and the gear combination is for rapid movement.
> 
> 
> If you move the lower left lever ( A - E ) so that it is not in any hole, the leadscrew should not turn and the carriage should be free to move manually using the hand wheel.
> ...



that setting works way better, I recieved my latheinserts tool holder and insert today and it cuts like a charm, after I get my other tooling ill probley post more questions


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## gadget_lover (Apr 12, 2013)

Glad to hear that helps.

One of the key things to keep in mind is that all lathes work in similar ways, so what you learn to do on one lathe will work on most other lathes. General questions are easy to answer since the answer applies to all lathes. Unfortunately, different lathes often use controls that are placed in different places or have different labels. 

In order for any of us to help with machine specific instructions we have to read your manual too. That's why it helps if you have read it first so that we are using the same terms and referring to the same controls, units and parts.

Daniel


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## las3r (Apr 12, 2013)

Here is a 5inch aluminum pipe I machined 







http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/...0B8656F-1919-0000033069BC1DD5_zpsb8c3e28c.jpg

http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/...02051CF-1919-00000332019313B4_zpsc2a3f74d.jpg


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## calipsoii (Apr 12, 2013)

Wow, nice work las3r. I've been watching this thread with interest: a lot of people seemed to think you were brand new to machining, but I kind of figured you've been around a lathe before just by the way you phrased your questions.

That surface finish is gorgeous (in my opinion)!


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## las3r (Apr 13, 2013)

Thanks I did own a grizzly 9x19 but it was nothing compared to this lathe, I'm still new at all the settings and threading but that's on the To Learn List


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## las3r (Apr 13, 2013)

Here are few pics of the bore job, sorry for it looks its my first one 







http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/...9CBD04E-2483-0000043A7417D38B_zps966f259d.jpg

here u can see the close fit 

http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/...05FCF9F-2483-0000043A66A090BB_zps405fa52f.jpg

another view 

http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/...54EABC9-2483-0000043A62E20BFC_zps7050e44e.jpg

all the way in 

http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/...A1C0B2F-2483-0000043A5F002683_zpsc78f557a.jpg

2nd lens at bottom

http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/...2808806-2483-0000043A573EF709_zps883aab3a.jpg

top lens on top of the bottom lens 

http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/...25F6ABB-2483-0000043A4EBDAFA6_zpsbcd4d806.jpg

more to come  

http://i553.photobucket.com/albums/...13F959F-2483-0000043A3D6E1642_zps9c376df1.jpg


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## gadget_lover (Apr 14, 2013)

That looks good. The boring and turning both look nice and smooth. 

What is it going to be?

Daniel


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## las3r (Apr 14, 2013)

A very large thrower, when i first got the lenses I grabbed a XML on a copper slug and it threw good at a distance of a 1/2 mile >)


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## precisionworks (Apr 15, 2013)

CMAG said:


> +1 Machinerys Handbook, don't let it scare you if you understand 10% of it the first read your doing okay


Absolutely. Every read through will find more info that means something. It's not called "the machine shop bible" just because some of the info was relevant in the 1850's ... & will continue to be so into the future


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## gadget_lover (Apr 15, 2013)

-1 Machinerys Handbook ... for beginners.

It's a great resource and I recommend it to anyone who is serious about machining, or even just in depth learning about the subject. It's way too much information if you just want to learn to turn a few flashlights. It took me several months to read, and I've taken speed reading courses. Ok, I read it mainly in the 'small library' but still, it's a huge tome covering hundreds of subjects. 

The Southbend book on using a lathe is more appropriate for a newbie. It's on topic and reasonably short.

But that's off topic. 

Las3r and I exchanged a few messages and we were able to determine what his controls do and how to set them. All the info he needed was in the on line manual.

In order to safely operate a specific lathe, you HAVE to refer to the manual for that lathe. Machinerys Handbook does not have that information. You can make educated guesses about unknown knobs and levers, but that's often followed by 'Oh-Crap!' moments. In the case of Las3r's lathe, the levers are identified by pictures. I was not able to look at them and tell what they did with any certainty. The manual described their use, even though the terms were sometimes odd. 


Daniel


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## precisionworks (Apr 16, 2013)

> In order to safely operate a specific lathe, you HAVE to refer to the manual for that lathe.


-1 
Sorry Daniel, couldn't resist :nana:

Every screw cutting manually operated metal cutting lathe made since the dawn of time has nearly identical controls. A manual does help with machine-specific questions (like the correct amount of backlash in the threading gear train) but many are written in English that's been translated from Mandarin by software meant only for Mongolian ... the results are either funny or sad depending on the situation. 

If a person must have a manual for safe operation that person must not look at machinery made during an earlier time. There are still uncounted thousands of LeBlond, South Bend, Step Toe, Cincinnati, Clausing, Delta-Rockwell, etc. for which a manual may be difficult or impossible to obtain. A lathe is a lathe & (with the exception of NC machines) most every control is similar on every manual lathe. Automobiles are not much different & 98.6% of the population of the USA has yet to read the owners manual ... and those same people manage to get themselves & their car to work every day & back home at the end of the day.

Of course without a manual a new machinist would have to sit down for an hour or two to figure all this out. When a person can't find anything on a Google search & nothing on YouTube they revert to that most basic of learning techniques ... run the machine & see what each control does :devil:


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## gadget_lover (Apr 16, 2013)

I think that my point of view is different from Barry's. I'm thinking of a person who needs to ask questions and who has limited prior knowledge. Barry is thinking of an old hand who has used a lot of machines in the past.

I find that almost no lathes have "identical controls", but rather all of them have controls that do the same thing. Take the threading controls, for instance. I have seen many different ways to implement it, ranging from changing gears to sliding selectors to turning knobs. They all accomplish the same thing, but the controls change. 

On a well designed machine you have interlocks that keep you from breaking things. The infeed and threading selector come to mine. On others there are hidden 'gotchas' where the wrong combination will break a gear or snap a shear pin. 

Yeah, I can probably operate most machines without a manual, but when I go back to read it I always pick up a thing or two. 

Dan
P.S. I have an early model Prius. For the first few years I had to train car wash and valet attendants to start and drive it. The controls did what all cars do, but the configuration was different. I did NOT want them to learn by messing around.


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