Well even with a weeks worth of lousy weather, especially over the last two days, we have success. Having said that my electricity bill will be a bit higher after having to use my 4800watt Construction heater to bring the garage up to a usable temperature for working. When I had the house built I had the garage insulated however forgot to specify 2 by 6 construction for the garage so it only has 4in walls as well the bottom foot or so is exposed concrete. (Note to self, next house needs a better shop for working in). Even so does not take too much to warm it up a few degrees. Only when painting do you need to leave the heater going for some time. However this week with it's minus 25-30C temps occasionally strains the heater.

Ok on to the work that was done. Well at the beginning of the week I picked up some new metal pieces for the plates as well as some 9/16" rod for the studs I was going to make. Essentially most of the work was the same as last week, make the two plates to size, drill out the mounting holes, countersink these holes and ensure it fits on the lathe. At least this time I had the plates I already made to use as templates. This allowed me to drill the holes with more accuracy than last time. Only problem was I was not going to use one of the holes I used last time and I completely forgot about that until after it was drilled. So filled it in with a steel slug and welded it shut.

The picture above shows the two new plates installed along with the first two studs. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of making the studs but I essentially cut the rod down into 3" long pieces faced both ends and then single pointed a thread on the one end for 1.25" for the nuts to go on. Used a nut as my go/nogo gauge. I definitely will need to practice on the threading. The Hardinge Cataract that I have makes the mechanics of threading go well but I think I need to work on the cutter grinding and the placement against the cutting face. As well my first lathe goes a little too fast for cutting speed. Eventually will need to fix this. 

Eventually got all four studs made and installed them one at a time. Trial fitting after each one. Till finally we had success. The picture below shows the Overhead drive casting mounted on the lathe on all four studs. It even installs and comes off relatively easily. Did not need a hammer to install or remove. However having the chain hoist was a big big help. If you zoom in you can see some of the bolts holding the bracket on.

One last thing I plan to do before I mount the plates for one last time is drill a hole through the casting and into the upper plate between the two studs. I'll then tap this hole for one final bolt. Even when this bracket was installed I did not find the lathe all that more unstable. Yes it moved a little if you moved the casting but not overly so. Will just need to see how it reacts once all the guts are in and the motor is installed on top. I will admit I've done this to be relatively original to the Hardinge system however I think if I ever did this again I would make up a drive system similar to two other owners where the motor sits on the ground behind the lathe and the three step pulley is on a bracket above the motor and behind the headstock. Oh well that will be for lathe number three if another one drops into my lap.

Once I had the all the fitting done I removed the casting from the lathe, removed the plates cleaned them up and will prime and paint them this week. As well left the heat on in the garage and gave the casting a cover of final paint as well. Probably took at least half a spray can of paint. Here's a picture of the casting hanging in place after being sprayed.

Well what with the weather and work issues this weekend that's where we ended this Sunday afternoon. I'll be going on some vacation back home this coming week so there will not be an update until most likely second week in February. Until then stay warm and enjoy the snowy views outside the window.

All the best

Harold