Posted: 3/25/2007 6:42:03 PM EDT
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I bought an old Craftsman / Atlas 6" lathe from the estate of my wife's late grandfather. It was made in the 50's and was missing a few parts and had some parts that were worn out. I tracked down most of the parts it needed. I replaced the worn half-nuts so I was ready to try threading. First I got some advice from several of the toolmakers that I work with, and then read a little bit about threading and general lathe operation. I was then ready to jump in. It took me close to two hours to figure out how to set up the gears in the lathe to get 28 tpi. The lathe came with a big pile of gears and not much documentation. I practiced on some scrap metal first. I used an old 16" h-bar for my guinea pig. I found out right away that a steady rest or follower rest would have been a great help. I turned the end down to .500 for the major diameter cut to about .452 for the minor. I stopped and checked the fit with a flash hider after every couple passes towards the end. I'm happy with the results. The lathe  The pile of gears  What I thought was the final setup, I had to change around two gears.  The before pic  After  Finished 
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I didnt care about this one. I couldnt see any obvious damage though. Brownells sells brass cones that fit between the live center and the barrel. I'm going to order some before the next one. |
I'll need a steadyrest before I can try re-crowning. That or a lathe wiht a bigger headstock that would allow the barrel to pass through it. |