Nice! Me a dummy but I never thought of the square. Used the jaws that way but it was a blind spot. Sometimes I hit a machined round part twice at any particular diameter and split the difference for center line and can measure from there. Is that a decent way to do the same? Thanks Randy!
Sorry, Randy, I have been watching everyone on fast speed for years. Most people don't realize it but the majority of television shows are played at fast speed when they go into syndication/re-runs so they can fit more commercials into the show; so, I therefore blame them. But I am also a man of limited time and there are so many of you who do interesting things that I wish to catch up and see them all before I must go again; so I blame a hectic life for the fast speed. I manage to retain most of what is going on in the videos but please don't test me at the end ;) Thanks for the videos.
When you cut a perfect circle in half you have created an ellipse and it will NOT grip evenly around the shaft. The correct way is to bolt 2 halves together with a shim in the middle. Then drill or bore to final diameter. When installed the halves will clamp perfectly, spaced apart the thickness of the removed shim. Randy you said is was "good enough" for the job so I am not criticizing you since you know the tolerance for the job. This note is for others that may not know the difference and need a tighter grip.
Looks nice Randy. That SS was easy to machine. The stuff I have isn't so easy to work with. I was painting the whole time I watched. I'm glad i wasn't a painter because I thow out the odd four letter word even when i don't break a tap.
Your drilling is bad sir. I dont know everything but I've dressed grinding wheels, freehand split point sharpened taper drills, and punched enough 2.5" holes without a pilot hole in 4340 and 316L to have an opinion on the internet. If the lathe motor has the power and you can comfortably crank the tailstock without a cheater pipe longer than the machine's swing you should drill the hole in one shot with no pilot. It saves on drills, saves time or money on resharpening, and wastes less effort and makes no noise. Taper drills need that axial pressure so the cutting edges last and the taper doesn't slip in the quill. I'm some know it all on the internet but trust me when I say its going to feel like witchcraft when you are quietly drilling massive holes in stainless in hardly any time at all without needing a bunch of drills resharpened. I was forced to self-learn how to do this making propeller nuts for ships on a manual lathe in order to keep my job and sanity.
