Lathe tube notcher

[Azzy2000]

I just picked up a 13x60 south bend lathe recently , so im still learning..

Can you chuck an endmill into the headstock and use a special jig mounted to the carraige to notch tubing... seems like it would be the same as doing it in a mill.It would be easy to setup for offset , offcenter notches and almost any angle..

What do you guys think? Will this put too much pressure on the headstock.. i know they werent really designed to get much in the way of sideloads.. It probably is a bad idea , but i thought id ask :D

*edit sp.

[Wicked_S10]

You would probably be able to make it work, but why not shop for a old H-mill and make it simple. Ther eisn't near as much demand for an old H-mill as a V-mill, so I woud think you could pick one up real cheap.

Later,
Jason

[Azzy2000]

I will be getting a mill eventually... but i dont have room for it now and cant cough up the money right now either.

I will probably never do it... but im curious if anyone else has done it , or if anyone knows why it would be a bad idea.

thanks

[bggrnchvy]

Ive been thinking about doing the same. Ive got an old 12x48 Atlas that works great, I figure a 1-3/4" roughing endmill and a relatively easy to build fixturing device would make notches fast and easily repeatable. The current chop saw and grinder method works, but isn't as accurate with my skill level nor as fast.

[pepe]

What your looking for is refered to as a "milling attachment" for your lathe. It is essentially a vice that attaches where your tool holder normaly dose. You would chuck up a roughing endmill of the right size in the headstock and clamp the tube in the milling attachment. And let the fun begin.

[Azzy2000]

Thanks for the info...

So , Is it ok to be putting a side load like this on the headstock of the lathe to notch the tubing?? Seems like this would be pushing harder than any other lathe operation..


I would just be worried about f'ing up my "new" lathe since its in good shape for being 50 or so years old.. :D

[Astro_al]

Hi, I have though of doing this - got as far as buying a couple of 2" roughing cutters from ebay (50 bucks shipped to the UK! - new). I haven't tried it yet - I'm still waiting to be connected to 3 phase electricity before I can run my new lathe.

In the meantime I have been using a pipe-master from Van-sant tools to get the profile, mark it on the tube then just cut the line with a plasma. A few seconds cleanup with the grinder and I'm all done - it's been amazingly easy and I've had nothing but perfect notch profiles so far, so I doubt I'll bother with the lathe now (might give it a whirl for entertainment value).

I don't think the side loads will be excessive for a nice big lathe like that, the roughing cutter should get through the tube pretty quickly, I'd imagine the sideloads would be far lower than something like knurling operations.

I can't imagine the bearings on those dedicated tube notchers are any bigger than on your lathe?

Cheers, Al.

[racing_dave]

here are a couple of links to get you started:

http://www.torchmate.com/tubenoch.html

http://www.stagesmith.com/gallery/shop_projects/lathe_tube_notcher/index.html

Have fun!
-dave

[SHERPA]

you can make a simple "V" notch clamping fixture for the toolpost, and just
chuck a hole-saw on an arbor and clamp it in the lathe chuck.

--cheap enough.....

--Sherpa

[Azzy2000]

Thanks for the info guys.. The Torchmate unit looks very nice , but i dont think it will work for me , my south bend is 13" swing.. and their tool is only for 8 - 12" swings.

As far as the pipemaster... I have one of them , and it works OK sometimes , but it is kind of a pain in the ass , and the stainless pins will loosen up and start to fall out after a bit of use. I have a regular protools holesaw setup for the simpler notches , and i do the tricky ones with a torch and bench grinder... works good , but its very labor intensive..

I really like the idea of a lathe/mill notcher to be able to do offcenter notches.

Thanks.:beer: