Projects In Metal, LLC Free Metalworking Projects, Plans, Tips, and Tricks for the Amateur Machinist

In this metalworking project Jim walks us through the steps required to build a handy cross slide retractor for the lathe. This modification simplifies the threading process by allowing the user to quickly retract the threading tool away from the part with a lever rather than by using the cross feed dial. It's also useful when making finish passes as the tool can be retracted prior to moving the carriage (thus your tool doesn't drag across the finished surface). The dimensions in the free drawings for this modification are for the popular G0602 10x22 lathe by Grizzly, but the drawings can be easily modified to fit the dimensions of other lathes. Read More »

Reviewed by Dale Annis Skill Level:Amature Type: Text Book Projects: None which are machine specific Units: Inches Pages:192 At the twilight of the American Industrial Revolution, on the eve of the United States transcendence to world super-power, Robert H. Smith of Massachusetts Institute of Technology wrote three text books on the art and science of tool and machine use. The men and ... Read More »

It turns out that making a cyclone dust separator is a fairly simple process, and the DIY version seems to work as well as a commercial separator. Small scale (shop size) cyclone dust separators typically attach to an intermediate tank (like a trash can or 5-gallon bucked) and separate the dust and large chunks of debris from the air being ... Read More »

This article will show you an easy method of reducing backlash to a relatively small amount (.001 to .002") and at the same time correct the lead screw error that is inherent in the G0602. Much of this is equally applicable to other lathes, mills and devices that use the lead screws to position things. Read More »

A few weeks ago Jim Schroeder started a forum post called “Everything You Need To Know About G0602 Gear Ratios“, where he posted some charts that he had made that listed all the possible gear combinations and the threads they produce. Jims charts prompted to Bucksguy16 to color-code and refine them a bit. Which in turn gave Robert (RWey50) the ... Read More »