What lathe do I need?

[RSalles]

Gentlemen,

Coming in a hurry from another thread: does anybody have an idea of what size or type of lathe do I need to make myself any size of flange and retaining rings for lenses in barrel and shutters?
I have zero experience with mechanical lathes but have worked a bit with wood lathes, and maybe I can talk with some people in my town to have a crash-course, just to get started and go ahead by myself from there,


Thank you,

Renato

[jp]

You will want a lathe with a big enough 3-jaw chuck to hold the piece of round metal you are making a flange/ring from. Most of them are reversible for extra room. It will also be important for the lathe to be able to cut the threads you'll want. Most of them have spec sheets telling which thread pitches they are built to provide. The lathe will move the tool at a speed necessary to cut a thread pitch via a separate but connected shaft and gears for that purpose. They are not tough to learn, do get a couple hours of help from someone. Safety concerns should be similar to the wood lathe.

[R.K]

And the lathe must be able to cut metric treads, because most of those treads are metric.

[Jac@stafford.net]

This does not answer your question, but have you considered a universal mount?

From a Finish member - link (http://www.kolumbus.fi/uusilehto/img/irisclamp.jpg).

New versions are being made again.

[Jim C.]

Metal Lathe choice is a matter of what you can afford and space, and the largest size flange you anticipate in making.
Threaded flanges for barrel lenses can vary from 2 inch to 5 inches or more.
Google for threading on a lathe, lots of info out there.

You should also consider a four jaw lathe chuck instead of a three jaw, the four jaw will grip round and square material
I use mine to bore out lens boards.

[imagedowser]

Jim's right.... but get both for your machine, it doesn't have to be three jaw or four..... try to find a good used lathe with everything your likely to need, like tool rests, etc,etc. or it will nickle and dime you to death.

[Jim Jones]

My old 6" lathe is big enough for most camera work, and can cut both metric and English threads. A three-jaw chuck is a convenience: the common four-jaw chuck will suffice.

[Jim C.]

Jim's right.... but get both for your machine, it doesn't have to be three jaw or four..... try to find a good used lathe with everything your likely to need, like tool rests, etc,etc. or it will nickle and dime you to death.

Or drive you crazy trying to find factory only specific parts.
imagedowser has a good point, my lathe is a Maximat7 rarest of the rare for OEM parts, the price for it was
get out or it goes in the trash kind, grabbed what I could that was listed in the manual,
it took me years to get a thread dial and a spare set of half nuts.
But I digress........

Considering you're in Brazil, you look into what's common in your area for lathes, you ay be able to get a complete used setup
for not much money and finding parts would be a lot easier.

[Peter Yeti]

Renato,

having a lathe - or rather a complete metal workshop - is a great asset for those of us who restore, repair, re-shutter, or mount vintage lenses. But it may not be economical to buy one unless you need it quite frequently. I inherited mine, coming from my grandfather's little tool shop, otherwise I wouldn't have one. Here is a link to it with details and pictures: http://www.lathes.co.uk/eisfeld/ There is hardly a thing one couldn't do with it, given you are a skilled craftsman.

The key feature for cutting threads is a spindle to drive the carriage and a sufficient set of change wheels (gears) to achieve the correct pitch. The pitches you come across in lenses are usually between 0.5 and 1.0 mm or the equivalent in tpi. Quite common ones are 0.5, 0.75, and 0.9mm but especially 19th century lenses can have very odd threads. A thread gauge is absolutely indispensable. It's also important that one can reduce the turning speed far enough or it will be a real challenge.

And there's one more thing you will need: a lot of time.

Peter

[Tracy Storer]

I have a Sieg C4, paid about $1300 for it 5 years ago, but additional tooling took it up another $500-$1000. It lives on its own bench, about 2'x4', the machine weighs around 250lbs.
This particular machine has a metric lead screw, but with the proper change gears, it is possible to cut metric and imperial / english threads. I have cut a lot of threads not listed on the threading chart, but it took awhile to wrap my head around calculating the gear trains.

[RSalles]

Well, I want to thank everyone who gave an advice, and,

Jim C.- Yes, a lathe with 4 jaws chuck will also be useful for boring lens boards, very well noted,

Peter Yeti - That's the size of lathe I had in mind, thanks for the link.

I think I can't afford a new one, or don't want to for just an eventual work.
Not knowing the ins & outs of a complete lathe it would be great to get some advice from a friend who has a metal workshop, just to bypass the headache of acquiring a missing parts lathe or in miserable working state, etc. and after that taking years to have all the stuff needed.

That's what I'll do, and it can take a long time to find the right one for the work I want, doesn't matter, I'm not in a hurry.

The problem I want to avoid is to stop those guys from working on a metal workshop just for boring something or making a thread for me and spending their time for little money. I would like to stop to "ask for a favor" for those people, understanding that the type of metal work I need in general, even being a simple task, needs those people to stop doing what they were doing, and I don't want to annoy anyone.

The metal workshops around here are making heavy metal work, and I can see the annoyance to stop their work and setup the lathe only for my needs, finding a metal scrap to cut a small flange, etc.

Thanks for your advice and help,

Renato

[Tin Can]

Sometimes people doing heavy and boring work, welcome a change of pace, meeting a new person and performing a different task.

Operating a lathe or any machine, is fatiguing and pleasant company for a special job can be welcome.

Don't worry much about interrupting workers from their toils.

I was that worker. :)

[David Karp]

Randy,

Your post made me chuckle. You are so right. My mother in law comes up with projects from time to time. Things like fixing a lamp with a broken part, making a new lever to replace one that broke, or just something made from metal that broke and needs to be fixed somehow. She found a guy who has a machining company not far from her home. Turns out he makes precision parts for the aircraft industry. He always treats her nicely and always machines a fix for her. Sometimes he has to wait until he has the time. Other times he puts down what he is doing and heads into the shop to whip up a part. From time to time he has to puzzle over how to accomplish what she needs and he just holds on to the broken item until he can dream up a solution. I think he gets a kick out of this senior citizen and her home projects.

[Jody_S]

All of my lathes have been chosen because they were advertised locally for very little money. I'm now on lathe #5, I think, though I still own #4. I have always re-sold them at a profit, so I have never been all that concerned with whether a lathe is 100% compatible with my needs. If I were an expert machinist, I would not have taken this circuitous route, because I would have known what to buy the 1st time.

That doesn't mean the previous purchases were mistakes, because over the years I have learned a lot from them.

My advice: look locally, be patient, and when you see a deal, jump on it. Finding a lathe with a full complement of accessories is paramount; the lathe will likely be in better condition, and you will save a lot of money if you don't have to shop around for various things as the need comes up. In my opinion, a lathe with all it's original accessories is worth at least twice as much as the same machine with only the bare minimum.

[Tin Can]

There is this thread. (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?68662-Drilling-Graphic-lens-boards-on-a-micro-lathe&p=647878&viewfull=1#post647878) But it does not address thread cutting.

I use a UniMat (https://youtu.be/LZe3E3rpRTk)for small things, not thread cutting flanges, but I bet somebody could do it. I also use a Boley (http://www.lathes.co.uk/boley/page4.html).

Join a Lathe forum, I joined a router forum for routing wood tips.

[Jim Noel]

Sometimes people doing heavy and boring work, welcome a change of pace, meeting a new person and performing a different task.

Operating a lathe or any machine, is fatiguing and pleasant company for a special job can be welcome.

Don't worry much about interrupting workers from their toils.

I was that worker. :)

My experience is that Randy is absolutely correct. The challenge of a small, somewhat different job, intrigues them and they don't mind the "interruption.
JIm

[RSalles]

My experience is that Randy is absolutely correct. The challenge of a small, somewhat different job, intrigues them and they don't mind the "interruption.
JIm

I can agree for the first and the second times, but more then this could be a joy, or a peine. Actually I'm talking by phone with a friend and trying to make an appointment for the days he's not overcharged with tasks.

Randy, the first think I came across with this lathe story is the different brands, years of fabrication and models available here and in the rest of the world. I know nothing about interchangeability of lathe parts from a certain model/brand and another, found here and elsewhere. I'm very comfy with wood routing and lathe works - I had worked as a woodworker in a shop in Swiss for 2 years restoring furniture with 200 years or more, long time ago and 5/6 years here in Brazil - that's why I'm trying to follow a way to learn which fits the way I work with other type of works I already learned to do. I'm a sort of "hands on" and DIY person, I love the hand work and specially hands on in precision works.It's not only the utility which attracts me with this tool, it's also the challenge to create solutions for certain works which attracts me the most. One think that I had good results ultimately is fixing 35mm manual lens, or adapting one lens mount to another. I had acquired a dozen of Zeiss lens last year, with poor mechanics and perfect glass, and arrived to restore the damn think with success. A tool as a lathe and photography are 2 thinks which makes sense together: if it's not broken, don't fix it - says the "addagio", but if it's broken, go there and get the opportunity to learn something. Coming back to the story, I'll have to work with what's available here - not even dreaming to bring anything that heavy - the fright will cost 2/3 times the tool. And at first glance, what's available here in the size small I want is Made in Brazil, so you can imagine the rest of the tail,

Cheers,

Renato

[Jim Andrada]

Take a look at www.hobby-machinist.com

Lots of info about various lathes and milling machines as well as advice for beginners. It's an excellent forum and the members are happy to help.

[RSalles]

Take a look at www.hobby-machinist.com

Lots of info about various lathes and milling machines as well as advice for beginners. It's an excellent forum and the members are happy to help.

Thanks, Jim, I will,