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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    16

    Default Advise on grinding metal & tools

    Hello,

    I used to convert old camera lenses for fun every now and then. I stopped doing so over a year ago as i wanted to concentrate on actual 'photography' instead. However, the last 3-4 months a lot of people have approached me to convert their lenses to different mounts. It isn't very high demand at all, but I do it for the occational spare change.

    I'm thinking of making a kit for specific lenses, but have a small issue. If I want to make a kit of sorts it requires a much thicker piece of metal to work from, which would be completely impractical and very time consuming to do by hand. See here:



    It requires about 4-6mm to be removed, flat.

    I've been looking at horizontal bench grinders. Something like this. However, I'd like to keep it under £100 as I really don't make much money from this. Also, the vertical grinding part is not really needed, just the horizontal... I found one that was a stand alone horizontal grinder before, for around £70, but can't find it anymore. But anyway, would this be appropriate/work? My dad mentioned a metal lathe, but they seem very expensive and I'm not sure i could attach the parts securely w/o marking them.

    Thanks for your time!

    p.s. goes w/o saying I know nothing about metal work.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Canberra
    Posts
    490

    Default

    That sort of grinder is for sharpening tools - the 'wet' part is to stop the tool steel overheating and loosing temper.

    If the mount you are machining is aluminium or brass or other soft metal, you'll clog the grinding wheel on any sort of grinder in pretty short order.

    Your best bet would be to find a local hobbiest with either a mill or a lathe and see if they will do that sort of job for a few beers or similar compensation.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Katherine ,Northern Territory
    Age
    69
    Posts
    736

    Default

    Splinter is correct the wheel will clog up in no time.
    For what you are trying to do a small metal lathe would be the correct choice .

    Kev.
    "Outside of a dog a book is man's best friend ,inside a dog it's too dark to read"
    Groucho Marx

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    16

    Default

    Thank you both for your input, very useful. See I just wouldn't have known that it would clog up, so glad I asked. Sadly, I don't know anyone with such tools, but even if I did I would really want to be able to do it all myself because fo turn around times and control.

    So, can anyone give me advise on a metal lathe? The problem of course is money, I just don't have that much to spend on this. Are there any brands i should look out for second hand? Or a very basic model that would be affordable new?

    Thanks again for your time.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Canberra
    Posts
    490

    Default

    Hit ebay - there are some small lathes there that are pretty well perfect for your needs.

    There's usually half a dozen people selling a lathe like the ones talked about on this site - mini-lathe.com home page

    Such as this UK listing...
    SPG/CJ0618 MINI BENCH LATHE with 100mm CHUCK ( 7x14) on eBay (end time 05-Apr-10 10:47:02 BST)

    Or you could always see what the cost would be through a service like this:
    http://www.emachineshop.com/

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    16

    Default

    Hi Splinter,

    Thanks for the advise! That lathe on ebay is too expensive for me at the moment. However, I see there are a lot of older second hand lathes on there.

    Never thought of using a service like that one you suggested though, it may just be ideal! A quick search finds this place, not too far from me: About Us - Burcas Engineering

    Not sure if they'd do what i want or even if they do this sort of stuff.. or whether they're in my budget.. but again, worth a try. I think if I can find a place that can do it for me, then send them a couple to do as a test it would be good. Ideally, I would like to do things in batches of 10-20. If the place could also do the drilling/counter sinking it would be good, but not that important.

    Thanks again!

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    16

    Default

    What about something like this?

    I read a lot of people use wood lathes for metal work, but that the only issue is that wood lathes often spin too quickly for some metal work. Will the above one be too fast?

    Also, what sort of adapter/chuck would I need to be able to secure the parts I need to grind?

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