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[eddy-r3]

"Its harder than you think" said my Dad, 40 years of engineering experience.....

"Dad, seriously, it cant be that hard" - famous last words.

I've wanted a lathe for a while, for various things from making watch cases to ecigs, so it arrived and ive managed to make a tube. It took 3 hours and a lot of sweat. Yep, thats right 3 hours to get it right.

So now i have my tube, thats all i have so far, a tube. Wow i cant get over how hard it is to get things so right, and i mean right, im a bit of a perfectionist dont get me wrong, but really?! lol So for any budding "machine operator wanna-be" by all means have a go, but get ready to travel up a VERY LONG learning curve.

Anyway, onwards and upwards! Ill post progress as i go and see what comes out at the end, my intention is to make a simple, bottom button tube mod out of ally (for now) i will make it out of SS once i have some more knowledge and experience, but for the time being Aluminium is fine....its easier by all accounts than SS LOL

[squid]

"Its harder than you think" said my Dad, 40 years of engineering experience.....

"Dad, seriously, it cant be that hard" - famous last words.

I've wanted a lathe for a while, for various things from making watch cases to ecigs, so it arrived and ive managed to make a tube. It took 3 hours and a lot of sweat. Yep, thats right 3 hours to get it right.

So now i have my tube, thats all i have so far, a tube. Wow i cant get over how hard it is to get things so right, and i mean right, im a bit of a perfectionist dont get me wrong, but really?! lol So for any budding "machine operator wanna-be" by all means have a go, but get ready to travel up a VERY LONG learning curve.

Anyway, onwards and upwards! Ill post progress as i go and see what comes out at the end, my intention is to make a simple, bottom button tube mod out of ally (for now) i will make it out of SS once i have some more knowledge and experience, but for the time being Aluminium is fine....its easier by all accounts than SS LOL

you will find out 90% of mods are produced on cnc lathes rather than hand turned, cnc is computer operated which takes the human errors out of the situation and in a double quick time

[Capt12B]

Look forward to seeing your progress

[Mev]

 I look forward to hearing your views when you move onto SS.. lol

 When you say you've made a tube, what did you start with ?  solid bar or tube to begin with ?

 It's relatively easy to start with a tube thicker than what you need and turn it to your needs is the reason i am asking. Everything takes a lot of time though on the lathe I agree.

[eddy-r3]

Started with a solid bar, i couldnt find anything local that would suit an 18350 so turned my own, which turned out really well, then discovered that the jaws in the chuck will mark aluminium very easily, lesson learnt there (learnt a lot of lessons over the last 2 days!) lol

Oh and before anything else, i have to reiterate a few things to anyone with the same idea :

1) A lathe, no matter how small is not a toy
2) NEVER EVER LEAVE CHUCK KEY IN CHUCK
3) Always wear goggles
4) Dont wear baggy clothes or gloves
and finally...
5) NEVER EVER LEAVE CHUCK KEY IN CHUCK

I like the idea of mass produced stuff, that works, but i want something totally unique with my stamp on it lol

The problem you have in making it unique, is that its still a tube....lol Ill take some snaps later on once ive done a bit more, and yeah ive been warned about SS lol my dad said "its f*****g awful to work with" in the sense of its very difficult to cut. Anyways, like i said, onward and upward! Nothing like a good challenge to keep you on ya toes!

Ive never been a hands on guy and kind of jumped in head first, im creative and have enjoyed myself so far (which is what this is about more than anything) wether or not it turns out a thing of beauty or not is a different matter!

[SC_Sammy]

Great post! Keep us informed.  I too, would like to make my own mod. and your experiences will be extremely helpful.
What's that about the Chuck Key again? 

[eddy-r3]

Bit of WIP (dont laugh) Its hard work you know!

[eddy-r3]

And a few more (just an idea btw)

[stevemontuno]

Started with a solid bar, i couldnt find anything local that would suit an 18350 so turned my own, which turned out really well, then discovered that the jaws in the chuck will mark aluminium very easily, lesson learnt there (learnt a lot of lessons over the last 2 days!) lol

collet chuck 

[eddy-r3]

Oh its on the list with a handful of other bits and pieces, think it'll be the most expensive mod ive owned!

[Mev]

a piece of paper works well wrapped around the bar in the chuck I have found, better than tape or anything else.

[eddy-r3]

Thanks Mev ill be sure to give it a go!

[Rocc]

here a link to Mr Pete his videos will help you alot.
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKLIIdKEpjAnn8E76KP7sQg

It took 3 hours and a lot of sweat. Yep, thats right 3 hours to get it right.

if your new to the lathe its good to go slow my friend.

[Mev]

 I've been subscribed to MrPete for a while now and picked up some handy tips along the way and just watching someone else work gives you a feel for it..

[Rocc]

indeed his videos are Grrrr8 in my book