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Thread: Lathe drive center and soldering pick

  1. #1
    Supporting Member Dimitris Polychronis's Avatar
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    Lathe drive center and soldering pick

    Hi again

    A while back I've made this drive center for turning wood blanks on my mini lathe.

    Lathe drive center and soldering pick-1-large-.jpg

    The idea of making this tool was taken from the following picture I found on the web while I was searching for buying an MT3 drive center.

    Lathe drive center and soldering pick-2.jpg
    This drive center threads into the spindle of the Unimat DB/SL lathe.

    I've made three videos showing the built and use. You will find each video after a series of photos.


    I used three different steels, Calmax® and Sverker® 21 tool steels for the body and the prongs and free cutting steel for the threaded adapters’
    Lathe drive center and soldering pick-3-large-.jpg

    Lathe drive center and soldering pick-4-large-.jpg
    Total length 71.5mm, shaft diameter 14mm

    The diameter of the adapters are 34.8mm and 18.8mm
    Lathe drive center and soldering pick-5-large-.jpg Lathe drive center and soldering pick-6-large-.jpg Lathe drive center and soldering pick-7-large-.jpg Lathe drive center and soldering pick-8-large-.jpg

    Lathe drive center and soldering pick-9-large-.jpg
    Total hardening to 58 HRC for the body and the prongs, surface hardening by nitriding for the adapters

    Lathe drive center and soldering pick-10-large-.jpg Lathe drive center and soldering pick-11-large-.jpg
    400G sandpaper for finishing

    Lathe drive center and soldering pick-11a-large-.jpg
    The distances between the points are 26.50mm for the large adapter and 12.50mm for the small

    Lathe drive center and soldering pick-12-large-.jpg Lathe drive center and soldering pick-13-large-.jpg Lathe drive center and soldering pick-14-large-.jpg Lathe drive center and soldering pick-15-large-.jpg




    I tested the drive center by making a soldering pick. For those of you that don't know, this tool is useful while soldering semi precious or precious metals. It helps in positioning solder pieces as well as it guides the melted solder to the metal surfaces.

    This is my old soldering pick (I use it occasionally now)
    Lathe drive center and soldering pick-16-large-.jpg Lathe drive center and soldering pick-17.jpg

    For making the new one, I used a 3/4 x 3/4 x 4.4” piece of African Blackwood, a piece of brass 18mm x 38mm and a 3/32 x 7” tungsten rod
    Lathe drive center and soldering pick-18-large-.jpg

    The ‘nose’ of the tool was made first
    Lathe drive center and soldering pick-19-large-.jpg Lathe drive center and soldering pick-20.png

    Then, was the time to test my drive center
    Lathe drive center and soldering pick-21.png Lathe drive center and soldering pick-22.png Lathe drive center and soldering pick-23.png Lathe drive center and soldering pick-24-large-.jpg

    I made a thumb screw using a 6mm brass rod and a 3mm set screw
    Lathe drive center and soldering pick-25-large-.jpg Lathe drive center and soldering pick-26-large-.jpg Lathe drive center and soldering pick-27-large-.jpg




    For expanding the abilities of the tool, I made two more adapters
    Lathe drive center and soldering pick-28-large-.jpg
    The diameters are 34.8mm and 24mm

    However I came across a problem that I should have thought of in the first place. The problem was that the driving adapter was over-tightened from the cutting force while turning and it was very difficult to un-tighten it from the threaded shaft; I fixed the problem by copying an easy to make wrench I found on the web.

    First I made a hole at the side of each adapter
    Lathe drive center and soldering pick-29-large-.jpg Lathe drive center and soldering pick-30-large-.jpg Lathe drive center and soldering pick-31-large-.jpg

    Now, both small and larger adapters have the same body diameter with each other, so with two wrenches the job was done
    Lathe drive center and soldering pick-32-large-.jpg

    For making the prongs for the new adapters I used the shanks from two 4.0mm HSS drills
    Lathe drive center and soldering pick-33-large-.jpg

    Both adapters were heat treated
    Lathe drive center and soldering pick-34-large-.jpg
    The distances between the points are 16.50mm for the small adapter and 20mm for the large

    Lathe drive center and soldering pick-35-large-.jpg Lathe drive center and soldering pick-36-large-.jpg

    Now to be able to turn wood between centers, I bought an MT3 soft blank arbor and converted it to drive center
    Lathe drive center and soldering pick-37-large-.jpg Lathe drive center and soldering pick-38.png Lathe drive center and soldering pick-39.png

    The center prong was made using the remaining piece of the 4mm drill shank
    Lathe drive center and soldering pick-40-large-.jpg

    Lathe drive center and soldering pick-41-large-.jpg Lathe drive center and soldering pick-42-large-.jpg Lathe drive center and soldering pick-43-large-.jpg Lathe drive center and soldering pick-44-large-.jpg

    The optimal turning length with the live center in the tailstock is 270mm, but it can be increased to 290mm if I use a dead center
    Lathe drive center and soldering pick-45-large-.jpg



    All the best
    Dimitris

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    Last edited by Dimitris Polychronis; Dec 10, 2018 at 12:45 PM.

  2. The Following 14 Users Say Thank You to Dimitris Polychronis For This Useful Post:

    baja (Dec 11, 2018), David Johnson (Apr 19, 2019), high-side (Dec 11, 2018), HobieDave (Mar 16, 2020), Home-PC (Mar 19, 2021), Jon (Dec 10, 2018), kess (Dec 15, 2018), Paul Jones (Dec 15, 2018), PJs (Dec 10, 2018), Scotsman Hosie (Mar 9, 2019), Seedtick (Dec 10, 2018), Stevohdee (Dec 13, 2018), Tonyg (Mar 8, 2019), volodar (Dec 11, 2018)

  3. #2
    PJs
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    Beautiful work Dimitris!! Well documented and another demonstration of your precision and detailed artisanship. All the parts a perfect fit including the spanners as well as the designs themselves...Wow!

    Thanks for Sharing your Fine work here!!

    PJ

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  4. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to PJs For This Useful Post:

    Dimitris Polychronis (Dec 11, 2018), Paul Jones (Dec 15, 2018), Scotsman Hosie (Mar 9, 2019)

  5. #3
    Supporting Member Dimitris Polychronis's Avatar
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    Thank you very much PJ! I'm trying to do the best I can; there aren't always perfect, but the knowledge gained is what really matters. Glad to share my projects with all of you!

    Cheers
    Dimitris

  6. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Dimitris Polychronis For This Useful Post:

    Paul Jones (Mar 10, 2019), PJs (Dec 12, 2018)

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    Thanks Dimitris Polychronis! We've added your Lathe Drive Center to our Lathe Accessories category,
    as well as to your builder page: Dimitris Polychronis's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:




  8. The Following User Says Thank You to DIYer For This Useful Post:

    Dimitris Polychronis (Dec 13, 2018)

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    Thanks Dimitris Polychronis! We've added your Adjustable Soldering Pick to our Miscellaneous category,
    as well as to your builder page: Dimitris Polychronis's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:




  10. The Following User Says Thank You to DIYer For This Useful Post:

    Dimitris Polychronis (Dec 13, 2018)

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    Thanks Dimitris Polychronis! We've added your Adaptor Wrench to our Lathe Accessories category,
    as well as to your builder page: Dimitris Polychronis's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:




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    Dimitris Polychronis (Dec 13, 2018)

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    Stevohdee's Tools
    Nice work and presentation

  14. The Following User Says Thank You to Stevohdee For This Useful Post:

    Dimitris Polychronis (Dec 13, 2018)

  15. #8
    Supporting Member Dimitris Polychronis's Avatar
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    Thank you very much Stevoh!

    Cheers
    Dimitris

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    I am super impressed with both your metal work, as well as your presentation of it.

    Thank you.

  17. The Following User Says Thank You to Ricklesss For This Useful Post:

    Dimitris Polychronis (Mar 9, 2019)

  18. #10
    Supporting Member Dimitris Polychronis's Avatar
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    Thank you Ricklesss, I appreciate that you like it!

    All the best
    Dimitris



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