View Full Version : "How To" Guide To Recondition Your Bench and Way Tubes
mickyd
11-26-2010, 02:38 PM
Just had to post this photo of yet another drill set up for turning the tubes. Came from Doug at the ER10 yahoo group. Aren't we a creative species? :D
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JPG40504
11-26-2010, 03:13 PM
Just had to post this photo of yet another drill set up for turning the tubes. Came from Doug at the ER10 yahoo group. Aren't we a creative species? :D
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What did he use for a bearing on the far end?
Creative-yes Cautious-no Foolhardy-absolutely!
mickyd
11-26-2010, 03:33 PM
What did he use for a bearing on the far end?
Creative-yes Cautious-no Foolhardy-absolutely!
No idea how the far end is secured. I didn't read any posts on his efforts, just saw the pic. I would have used another freeze plug mounted with its shaft in a bearing.
I don't see anything too crazy about that setup. Foolhardy is a bit magnified. It ain't turing a jet turbine speed.;)
JPG40504
11-26-2010, 03:36 PM
No idea how the far end is secured. I didn't read any posts on his efforts, just saw the pic. I would have used another freeze plug mounted with its shaft in a bearing.
I don't see anything too crazy about that setup. Foolhardy is a bit magnified. It ain't turing a jet turbine speed.;)
It ain't terribly secure either!:eek:
mickyd
11-26-2010, 03:44 PM
It ain't terribly secure either!:eek:
Hey, living on the edge every now and then is one of things that keeps life exciting. :D
JPG40504
12-30-2011, 09:03 PM
I followed the homemade lathe last weekend, worked great on polishing up those tubes. I started with 150 grit, then 220, then 400 wet-sand. Based on comments here, stopped there as opposed to further polishing to allow the headstock wedges some "gripping."
Picked up the expansion plugs at the local Home Depot in the plumbing section. All they had were 1 1/2" plugs, so bought a couple and crossed my fingers they'd work. Turns out they were the absolute perfect size, after a little grinding to remove flashing on the inside of the way tubes. Different size than what Mike mentions in his post, who is also doing an old unit.
I bought longer (2" I think) 5/16" cap screws to give me enough room inside the drill chuck and swapped the wing nut for a regular nut. Another tip I found after the first one - use some bearing grease on bolt for the plug that is spinning in the hunk of wood. Without it, that little sucker gets REALLY hot!
Regardless, if you're looking for a good way to kill about an hour on a cold Saturday morning, get some plugs, hook up the drill and start having fun!
Was looking this thread over and noticed this unanswered(here) question.
The current bench and way tubes are 1 3/4 od x 1 1/2 id.
The gilmer models also have 1 3/4 x 1 1/2 WAY tubes, but the bench tubes are 1/8" larger.
The 10E/ER way tubes are 1 3/4 od x 1 3/8 id.
Plug sizes needed are 1 5/8 or 1 1/2 or 1 3/8.
FWIW all way tubes are 52" long and all bench tubes are 52 3/4" long.
And the end castings made for the larger bench tubes(1 7/8") are slightly different from those used with 1 3/4" bench tubes.