AL54b (lathe) project from New Zealand

[Dan13]

Katoh,

If you ask me, 20mm is definitely overkill for this machine. Keep in mind that the ball nut will be huge - the mounting flange being some 50mm in diameter. A 16mm diameter will have plenty strength for this machine. Even a 10mm one will cope well with those loads, but a 16mm one will not even "feel" the them

Dan

[jrslick22]

Hey guys i need to buy 2x 7204 angular contact bearings from the US (they want $50 US each here wow!) my friend lives in Carolina and will send them to me with a few other things i need. does anyone have any recommendations on a on line supplier?

[Katoh]

Last time I bought Double row angular bearings cost me a fortune well $270 for 4 but they were 3202 2r/s. I got those through M&G in Fyswick ACT. Have you tried CTC bearings, Personally I would just keep looking on Ebay.
You could try http://www.surpluscenter.com or even Try Mcmaster-Carr in the US, If there pricing is OK contact me and Ill show you how to get it shipped as they dont do international, surpluscenter will do international and there shipping is very cheap.
Good luck

[Dan13]

Super precision angular bearings are very expensive. If you say $50 each that doesn't sound like a super precision bearing. So here you go:

http://bearingsdirect.com/

http://www.vxb.com/

http://arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Bearings/Angular-Contact-Ball-Bearings   (in the UK and doesn't have your size, but otherwise good pricing)

Dan

[Katoh]

Hi jrslick22
Its being quite a while, how's your lathe going?
I have mine nearly there, I would say around 90% done. But I'm really interested in how yours has turned out and how well it works.
Let us Know.
Cheers
Katoh

[jrslick22]

Its basically were i left off in the blog, I got the parts cut with it in the state it was so the pressure is off. I also ended up buying a Taiwanese tool room lathe as I always figured I would so that has again taken a lot of pressure off, then i built a new work shop, had to move, had to rebuild the mill and the list goes on.
I'm about 3/4 through the mill rebuild so imagine ill be getting to the lathe by about May/June.

[Katoh]

Good to see your still going with it, time is my biggest killer at the moment, too many projects at once. I ended up buying a Bridgport Mill also, its just sitting at present. Have to finish all the others before I convert that one.
Keep in touch with progress on the lathe, I may have mine running by the end of May/June also.
Love to see also what your turning out with the lathe.
Cheers
Katoh

[jrslick22]

I'm way more excited about my mill than i am my lathe, the manual is real nice and i have all the nice bits an bobs to make it easy to use. I just find the mills more fun to program etc, lathes tend to turn parts out quickly but the parts are pretty simple, the mill will take a massive lump of material and turn it into some fantastic part.

Ether way ill get there, ill start a mill blog once i have it pretty much done anyway, its the same look and color as the lathe, i'm pretty happy with how its all going so far.

[Katoh]

Good luck with your mill! They are good fun, Once I get some pics of my lathe, not that I want to take any now as its a bit of a mess, but once tidied up, Ill post them too, If you don't mind Ill post them on the same thread, it will be a nice comparison what you can do with the same lathe base.
What mill did you buy? After the mill all you need is a router, I'm working the other way, built the router now the lathe, and then the mill. If I had any brains would of done it in reverse.
Cheers
Katoh

[jrslick22]

RF45, to many machines not enough space!