I am going to ignore the Media tonight and do a post that is completely NON POLITICAL. Just this once mind you.

Recently I purchased a 3-1 lathe/mill from a pretty cool person on Craigslist. I have to say, I think I made out like a bandit on the deal and I would extend an appreciation to him if he reads this. But without further ado here is the Chinese darling.


Now I know that many would give me crap about this machine for several reasons. One; its Chinese. Yah, but I purchased it from an American and I am not a rich man so couldn't afford a similar machine for 5 times that amount.
Two; They aren't accurate. Yaknow, I have heard that SKS's aren't accurate and I could hold a 2 inch pattern at 100yards with mine. Sometimes(more often than not) the machine is much better than the person using it. Whether that machine is the simplest form of Internal combustion engine(rifle) or a Highly calibrated machine to make other machines. The limitations in a machine, no matter what it is, is the operator. In the computer industry we had a saying about that. PICNIC. Problem in chair not in computer. LOL It really doesn't matter what industry you are in, there is always some 'loose nut' to make things interesting.

I have done a couple of projects with it so far and I have found, with a little tweaking of the Gibs, I am able to get .001" accuracy. That is nothing to shake a stick at. It does take a little meticulous measuring and double checking but a good machinist should be doing that anyway. Taper measured out at .0003" at full spread on chuck and tail stock. According to the manual, .005" is acceptable. I would say its right in there.

First project was to make a live center for it. I could easily go out and purchase one but I figured, what the heck, make it.

MT2 taper,used a rollerblade bearing I had sitting in box, everything was set up for press fit. Perfect. I should have hardened the cone for it but I would rather a softer face to keep from damaging the material its holding.



Again, I need a new camera. Mine really sucks for close up work. This was before I had finished the taper and parts were just laid up for check. No bearing in place.

This is also what I used for milling the Aperture sight on the PSL. I cast the rough and used the mill to finish it. The lathe to turn the thumb-wheel and of course the press to do all of the drilling necessary.

Just as a side note, I am not a machinist by trade. Everything I am doing I have either taught myself or am in the process of learning. I did some minor machining work in the shops if you want to call turning brake disc's and Drums machining. This is quite a bit different. (LOL just a bit.)

One GREAT source of information if you are interested is Here. The old guys didn't have all of the bells and whistles we have available to us now, but they were turning out incredible work then. Lindsey Publishing is a great portal to all of that information. I have the Gingery books and have several projects that I want to do out of them.

The biggest thing for me with this machine is the freedom it allows me when it comes to tools. Between metal casting and the machining capabilities of this mill, there isn't much out of reach. I have my welder to. 20 years of knowledge to fall back on, a creative mind that hates to shut down.(can drive people nuts too.) and willingness to learn new things. Not much that can hold a guy like that back when something needs done.


SO enough on this NON POLITICAL POST. I will be back tomorrow just as cynical as ever.

C-ya

PS: This particular machine doesn't "bug out" well. It weighs in at 480 lbs without all of its little accessories. Guess I need to figure that in to future plans as needed.