Lathe Center

[Ted in NE-OH]

I believe lathe centers are hardened Right? If so how do I soften one so I can drill a hole in for a special tool and then reharden it,? Then do I need to temper it?

 

[Steve@Advance]

Should be able to drill it with carbide unless it's a carbide center.

Even those are just a carbide tip, could you drill behind it?

 

[TimV]

Ted: can you give us a little more idea what you're trying to do? Just trying to see if there's an easier way around it (like holding your tool in a collet, a tailstock chuck or something similar) instead of trying to soften (the technical term is anneal) your existing center. Simple annealing is done by heating to red-hot and then slowly cooling--typically by submerging the part in something like pearlite, wood ashes, or some other insulating medium until cool--often overnight. However, that's for simple hardenable steel--O1, for instance, not for tool steel, which id quite likely what your center is made of. Those typically require a much more involved annealing process and not one the average homeowner is going to easily replicate--you'd need a furnace with a good heat control and quite possibly other specialized equipment, and you'd need to know what steel you're working with so you'd be able to research the correct procedure--all in all, not an easy task.

 

[teddy52food]

Heat it red hot , then bury it in wood ashes until it is cold. It will take a while. So let it in there overnight. Drill the hole, heat it red hot again & dunk it in old oil.

 

[Butch(OH)]

There is a reason that such things are ground true after hardening and if precession is needed I suspect it will be junk in that respect if you aneal it and reharden. Personally I wouldnt install one in my tailstock that had been treated that way but it probably won't hurt a clapped out MT bore any worse than it already is. Hit it with a file somewhere where it isn't going to hurt anything and if it resists then you cannot drill it with standard bits. I assume this is a small dianter hole? Carbide bits in hard steel are an option IF you have a ridged set up and and good spindle in your mill, if not then you break them as fast as you can chuck them.

 

[Jim PA]

Take it to a shop with EDM capabilities and let the put the hole in it. No annealing and re-hardening required so no loss of integrity of the center.

 

[timcasbolt]

(quoted from post at 08:03:18 04/30/20) Take it to a shop with EDM capabilities and let the put the hole in it. No annealing and re-hardening required so no loss of integrity of the center.

t's been a long time since I was near that business, but I'll bet the set up charge would be at least $150.

 

[timcasbolt]

(quoted from post at 19:55:11 04/29/20) I believe lathe centers are hardened Right? If so how do I soften one so I can drill a hole in for a special tool and then reharden it,? Then do I need to temper it?

think if it were me I'd try to make one out of O1 and harden and polish it.

 

[dr sportster]

You can order one unhardened . Like a machinable collet only a center.

 

[Ted in NE-OH]

I want to make a spring-loaded tap follower and gain a little machining experience. I know I can buy one but I don't get any experience that way.

 

[TimV]

Gotcha. Assuming this is going in a tailstock, you might want to think about buying an adapter in whatever taper your tailstock is (MT2, MT3, etc.--if you don't know, it's usually pretty simple to measure and figure it out unless it's an oddball or something proprietary--let us know and we can direct you to what you'll need to measure) and then machine an end to fit it that incorporates your tool. It would be considerably simpler than trying to machine a center while still giving you some useful practice.

 

[Ted in NE-OH]

I want to make a spring-loaded tap follower and gain a little machining experience. I know I can buy one but I don't get any experience that way.

 

[NC Wayne]

Simply do a search for spring loaded tap guide. They can be bought, ready made, for as little as $5.

 

[1948CaseVAI]

(quoted from post at 14:40:30 04/30/20) I want to make a spring-loaded tap follower and gain a little machining experience. I know I can buy one but I don't get any experience that way.

Not sure that experience tearing something up really counts. Just buy a tap follower and make something fun for experience.

 

[K Effective]

I'm not a machinist, I don't even play one on YouTube. But, if you are going to convert a center into a spring follower, would you really need to re-harden it? Or, are you looking to drill it, convert it to spring, then convert it back to a hardened center?

 

[timcasbolt]

(quoted from post at 08:45:09 05/01/20)

(quoted from post at 14:40:30 04/30/20) I want to make a spring-loaded tap follower and gain a little machining experience. I know I can buy one but I don't get any experience that way.

Not sure that experience tearing something up really counts. Just buy a tap follower and make something fun for experience.

I've learned a lot more from my mistakes in life than from my successes.

 

[PJH]

How about making a tap follower that will fit in a tailstock chuck?

 

[Stephen Newell]

Wood or metal lathe? Could you explain a little further what you are trying to invent.

 

[mfitzpatrick2]

I enjoy making my own tools

There is a sense of pride in saying I made it and learned something along the way

You can always buy a cheap tool from china

I have many homemade tools in my machine shop that cant be purchased because no one made what I needed at the time or the quality is junk

 

[timcasbolt]

(quoted from post at 21:18:52 05/01/20) I enjoy making my own tools

There is a sense of pride in saying I made it and learned something along the way

You can always buy a cheap tool from china

I have many homemade tools in my machine shop that cant be purchased because no one made what I needed at the time or the quality is junk

'm right there with you. I've always preferred the Walter Chrysler philosophy of making your own tools because it's the only way you can be sure of the quality.