Nice idea! I just checked, and the vice back jaw already has an M8 threaded hole in it that I'd somehow never managed to notice before. I'll get '80s Lego Space Guy and the team on that right away. ;)

Thanks Sam! I am pleased with it. I think it's the project with the highest standard of machine work I've made so far. Still lots of room for improvement though.

Thanks Brandon, glad you enjoyed the video!

One drawback of the Proxxon FF 230 is that it doesn't allow a draw bar. I have to depend on making straight shank tooling to fit into a collet. I did consider adapting the machine to fit a custom made draw bar, but couldn't work out a way to fit it into the design.

I think bigger is better for this tool. The clamping surfaces for this version are a bit too small. They work, but I think the cutter would be more stable if I started with larger stock.

I'm cautious about posting howto videos about machining, because I'm an amateur, and a beginner still, and I don't want to lead people the wrong way. I'm glad to hear there is interest on going into more detail about applying the techniques I've learned to small hobby machines.

Alistair, I fully understand your caution & given there's precious little available for us as Proxxon users, anything is better than nothing. As I'm the only person I know with a lathe, be that Proxxon or other, everytime I watch I'm able to verify similar issues or emulate your approach. Currently I've not undertaken any threading on my lathe so you're already well ahead of me. Whatever you're prepared to provide will be of value. regards Colin

Adventures with a Very Small Lathe Trust me when I say that there are plenty of folks out there that are more of an “amateur “ than you are and have much to learn from someone who has already acquired your skill set on these small machines. I just bought mine a couple of weeks ago! ;)

That's a really good point! Next time I'm making this style of arbor (which I definitely will), I'll remember that technique.

@@AdventureswithaVerySmallLathe Another advantage of putting a left-hand thread on it, is you will be threading away from the chuck, which means no more panicking, trying to stop the carriage before the tool crashes into the shoulder of the job.

I assume you mean the internal thread? That's the advantage of threading away from the chuck with carbide. Carbide cuts better at faster speeds, and cutting away from the chuck means there is no requirement to stop dead at exactly the correct point, so higher speeds are possible.

@@AdventureswithaVerySmallLathe I should try a carbide thread cutter. Been making do with a couple of HSS ones; not sure my sharpening fixtures will be up to keeping them going in the longer term. The Cowells has a nice classic changegear setup (of course a Norden would be nicer, but it's so small I can't complain much), but the real killer feature is the backgear arrangement. Makes threadcutting slow and easy and lots of torque for turning bigger chunky bits like a flywheel.

Thanks! The cutter itself is a commercially made one I ordered from eBay, almost certainly made in China.

Thanks Emma! The little GoPro is a joy to use while machining. Way faster to set up than a full size camera, and sometimes I forgot it was there at all, and just left it running. The only downside was that I ended up with way more footage than usual, which made editing a bunch more work.

Thanks Steve! I hope I've done the prize justice.

Thanks for the tip. The diameter I put into the Sandvik app was the maximum diameter of the stock, which should give me an idea of the safe limit. As the part gets smaller, the optimal rpm will get higher I think, or is there something wrong with my approach?

The app is TurnCalc published by Sandvik Coromant. Thanks for watching!

@@AdventureswithaVerySmallLathe That's great, thanks for the answer! Is there an equivalent app for milling that you can recommend? cheers!

@@skoulatos Sandvik also publish a MillCalc application, though the basic cutting speed calculation is the same. Most of the features of the app are targeted at big machine users, who need to work out feed rates, so not that useful for purely manual tiny machines.

@@AdventureswithaVerySmallLathe Ok thanks a lot again! I will give them a try anyway :)

The compound needs to be set at exactly the same angle as the thread surface. The reason for doing this is to ensure the tool only needs to cut on one surface.

@@AdventureswithaVerySmallLathe Thank you! I didn't know that, I thought it could cut on both.

The tool _can_ cut on both faces, but it is more stable if it only has to cut on one. I find that my little lathe works much better if I set up the compound to cut on only one face.

I agree! :)

It is a PD 250/e, and I've just finished writing a comment answering a similar question, so I'll copy and paste my answer from there: I would recommend it. The build quality is very high, and it arrived ready for immediate use. I've never had to do any maintenance work in around 4 years. Just keep it clean, and well lubricated. However, I would add two warnings: 1. This lathe is small. If you want to do a lot of work on material over 20mm, the lathe is going to struggle, and probably suffer wear and tear. Make sure the work you have in mind fits a lathe this size. 2. It is a lot more expensive than easily avalable lathes. If you have a limited budget, and can follow all the videos on improving cheap chineses lathes, you can get a decent lathe for much less, but you will have done a lot of the work yourself.

Adventures with a Very Small Lathe thanks, that’s most helpful. I got a 150 but the chuck wouldn’t even open with the ridiculous little screws supplied for the job, so I sent it back. The 250 looks to have a proper chuck key, so I’ll try and buy a 250 next! I don’t need a big lathe, but the 150 is for a child or someone who loves microscopic equipment.

That's a cool suggestion, but it seems likely that the alignment would only be as good as the run-out in the mill spindle collet? It would be perfectly accurate the first time, but if I removed the tool, then put it back in the spindle, it would be slighly off within the range of the runout of the mill spindle.

@@AdventureswithaVerySmallLathe If I may comment, CMAenergy offers a good solution, but you are correct in stating that the repeatability of milling spindle collet is less than satisfactory. However, truing by machining in the mill ( or other machine where applicable) is a regonised technique, when high accuracy is required, and high precision equipment is not available, then truing up the datum clamp face is a necessary evil, usually can be performed several times, but truing up the cutter diameter can be omitted. My first experience of this technique, was during my apprenticeship in late 1970s when I had to machine a 900 mm long thin bronze wear strip (circa 38 X 6 mm section) parallel on the 6.00 mm dimension to 0.03 mm. This was on a shaper, and a thick pre-drilled steel beam was clamped in the vice, then indicated/ set parallel to the shaper stroke, then a light cut was taken to create a perfect flat plane ( even if the shaper does not develop a true geometric plane). Using the pre-drilled counter sink holes in the bronze, it is screwed to the beam, then machine down to required thickness. Hope this helps, and many thanks for sharing.

TurnCalc or MillCalc from Sandvik Coromant.

Adventures with a Very Small Lathe never expected to hear from the man himself! Thanks for getting back to me. I really love every aspect of your videos. Thank you.