Well the weather outside is gorgeous. I just wish it could stay like this all summer. Not too hot and beautiful weather to work in the shop. It was a pretty productive week for me all things considered.

I started off with removing the headstock for the #39 lathe so that I could readjust the bearings. While running it previously I thought the front bearing was getting just a little warm. Once that was done we were back in business. Now previously I had bought an Aloris AXA tool post set and although they will machine the tool post nut, I did not have the correct dimensions when the order was placed so I just asked for the plain blank and I would mill it myself. Well still haven't bought a mill so we had to machine the nut the old fashioned way, hacksaw and file. After maybe an hours worth of work the nut fit nice and snug on the compound vise. This setup is way better than the lantern post setup I had before which was missing the little half moon piece so it was never a really secure setup. Now we could do some work.

First thing we did was to make the 5 wheels I needed for the collet tray. I needed one for the #86 lathe and I promised Bruce in Toronto that while I made the one I needed I would make 4 more for him as well. I had bought some cold rolled 1.5" steel rod that I turned down to 1.25". Then I proceeded to use the cutoff tool to part off the 5 wheels. I'll include a picture showing this(I did not have a cut off blade for the Aloris so needed to used the old lantern post setup for this operation). Once this was done I chamfered one side of the wheel and then used a bastard file to get it the roundover required. Once this was done I drilled out the 3/8" hole required and finished parting off the pieces.  When they were all off I finish sanded the marks down with a dremel tool and a sanding wheel. Once all was done they looked pretty close to the original. I'll attach a second picture showing the 5 new wheels alongside an original wheel.

 Once this was done almost all  the parts needed to finish the collet tray for the #86 and for Bruce were done. Bruce will get his pieces later this month when I drive through Toronto. The only item still left is the bolt securing the tray to the spindle and I'll need to purchase some 3/4" hex bar for this in the future.

With these parts done I could go back to the pattern for the tray supports. I carefully drilled some 1/8" in holes in one side of the centre split point of the pattern and halfway into the other side. Then glued small dowels in these holes to be used as locating pins for the foundry when place both sides together and they tamp the sand around the pattern. I then started the first of at least 6 coats of shellac to coat the pattern. After the 2nd and 4th coats i'll give it a light sanding and hopefully when the 6th coat is dry we have a totally smooth slick surface that the casting sand will not stick to. Here is a couple pictures of the pattern before and after the first coat of shellac. In the first photo you can see two clamps holding the two halves together, along this seam is where those small locating pins are inserted. The pattern is not 100% accurate however I think i'm at least 95% accurate. There are two stubs at the ends of the shelf arms that were most likely from the casting process and not needed for the pattern. Whether the foundry includes these or not will depend on how they pour the casting and how they set up the vent and pouring holes.

Since I'm back to work this week most likely will not be posting next weekend as I don't expect I'll have much done. At this time I think the first thing I want to do is get the major pieces sand blasted from the #86 lathe and give them a coat of primer and possibly bondo. Haven't decided whether I want the casting to have the rough look or the extremely smooth look that bondo can give. I guess I'll wait to see how they come back from the sandblaster. I also need to still decide what colour I'm going to paint this lathe, at this time I'm leaning to black with possibly red or silver lettering however still not sure. I have decided that whatever colour I use I'm going to try and use a waterborne spray to be as environmentally friendly as possible.

Well that's all for this weeks installment see you next time
Harold