series

machine#construction: series
machine#designs: series
editorials: authors: Dave_Gingery: series

Dave_Gingery's Book Series

The "series" refers to the books charcoal foundry, lathe, shaper, milling machine, drill press, change gears and other deluxe accessories, and the sheet metal brake. The book series was intended to be a logical progression that builds upon itself. You use the foundry to cast parts for a self-assembling rudimentary lathe, which makes a well made shaper, which then cuts the slides for a milling machine, and you use all of these machines to make a drill press, and other "fancy" items.

greg123452003 suggested starting with the shaper instead of the lathe. This really makes sense. The shaper can easily make more slides to duplicate itself or create other machine tool slides, unlike the lathe, which can hardly make a decent slide at all. In the shaper book you only really use the lathe to square up the front face of the ram and to make things prettier than they would have been without a lathe. When you start off with a shaper you can then do neat things on the lathe like dovetail slides and T-slots, and it will be much more fun to make the lathe when you do make it.

• Q: If you do that how do you deal with the facing and boring of the bearing carrier for the main drive ?
  • A: Cast with a steel core or right onto the bronze bushings. Then add shims underneath the carrier when bolting on to the column until it's parallel with the ram ways. It doesn't really matter if it's faced off since you're bolting it to an as-cast surface anyway.