Other Smithy Owners ?

[bandm]

Hello Matt,

I just purchased a Smithy Granite 1340.
Just put it in my basement 2 nights ago.
I would love to correspond with you about the Smithy or machining in general.

Bill

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by milmat1:
Hey guy's:
I was just wondering how many other smithy owners we have out there, Who would like to share experiences or ideas. Such as modifications you have done or special tools/jigs you have made etc..
Maybe some photos of special set-ups even. I have a smithy and i am relitively new to machine work(at least doing it myself). And would love to hear what some of you have been able to do with your machines.
Since the 3in1 machines are nearly always getting trashed on the forum, maybe we can share some set-up ideas or just complain about the machines lackings. I am building a scale model hit or miss engine on mine right now(well trying to !).
Tell me about your experiences with your machines. Or whatever !!!! MATT

</font>

[ralenr]

Hi Guys,

Just thought I should throw my hat in the ring too. I got a 1324 about six months ago. Long time woodworker now learning metal work. Having a great time learning new things. Only wish I had more time to spend in my shop. Just started to try to turn threads. Didn't go too well the first time but will try again soon. I'm really enjoying this new obsession.

Allen

[axl]

I have been in machining for about 10 yrs. I purchased a granite 1340 about 6 months ago and am very please with it. I'm thinking of converting it to cnc and would like some info about the kit smithy offers. Does it allow variable feed rates? How does it work on turning radiuses? Does it allow vertical feed on the mill? Smithy has very little info on this unit.

[OutlawSmithy]

axl, I can't answer your questions, even tho, I have a Smithy, a 1220, and it is CNC copatible, tho, I have no plans to convert it. What I would suggest is to give Smithy a call; they seem pretty honest & sincere, so, I don't think they'd have any problem answering your questions. Good luck.

[DanB]

It is great to find a Smithy forum; I am the happy owner of a Granite 1220 LTD. I have just begun to bring the machine online and am excited about the possibilities. But first a simple question: How do you remove the taper shank from the tailstock? After some lathe drillng I removed the chuck but the taper shank stuck rock solid! Is there a simple way or do I dismantle the entire tailstock? Thanks guys!

[rmatel]

DanB,
There is a set screw that replaces the drawbar when the "jacobs" is used in the tailstock. This gives the taper sufficient length to be released by cranking the slide in all the way.
You will have to loosen the set screw on the bottom of the tailstock by the crank handle. This will allow you to "unscrew" the leadscrew assembly and let you insert your drawbar to tap out the taper.
Remember to protect your ways ;-)

[Locksmith]

DanB: Ask Smithy for this set screw, if it didn't come with it. They're very good about that.

[dplugs39]

TO THE SMITHY OWNERS....JUST A FEW WORDS ON THE SMITHY 3-1 MACHINES....I HAVE A OLD (10 YEARS) CB1220 MACHINE, AND WITH MANY PROJECTS I HAVE PUT OVER 4000+ HOURS ON MY MACHINE.. AND WITHOUT ALMOST ANY MECHANICAL PROBLEMS...I HAVE OVER THE YEARS BEEFED UP THE LOCK ON THE MILL HEAD, REPLACED THE ORIGINAL 3/4 HP AC DRIVE WITH A 2 HP DC VARI. SPEED MOTOR - SURPLUS COSTS $39.00 (BELTED DOWN WITH A 2-1/4TO 1 RATIO) WHICH GIVES ME OVER 4 HP TO WORK WITH..I INSTALLED A DIGITAL CALIPER ON THE MILL HEAD TO SET THE DEPTH OF CUT ON THE MILL..OVER THE YEARS I HAVE MADE 5 STERLING ENGINES ,2 SINGLE CYLINDER IC ENGINES , A TWIN CYLINDER ENGINE,(MY DESIGN) AND THREE 4 CYLINDER HORZ. OPPOSED ENGINES (MY DESIGN), TWO 1/3 SCALE 22 CAL. GATLING GUNS, 1/3 SCALE MIN. MUZZLE LOADING RIFLE, PLUS PARTS FOR ALL OF THE NEIGHBORS, AND THINGS FOR MY KIDS, AND THINGS FOR MY GRANDKIDS.....A LOTS OF PROJECTS AND A LOT OF HOURS ON THE MACHINE , AND IT STILL HOLDS UP VERY WELL...I HAVE A 6" ROTARY TABLE WITH A 5" 3 JAW CHUCK MOUNTED ON THE TABLE, PLUS A LOT OF TOOLING ....LIKE EVERYONE DOES EVERY NOW AND THEN, I START THINKING ABOUT GETTING SOMETHING "BIGGER" "NEWER" "FASTER" , AND I ALWAYS TAKE A FEW STEPS BACK AND ASK MYSELF "WHAT MORE DO I NEED?" AND THE ANSWER IS NOT MUCH!!!! JUST KEEP THE MACHINE CLEANED , OILED , AND TIGHTNED UP AND IT WILL SERVE YOU WELL....ANY QUESTIONS ON THE CHANGES , YOU CAN EMAIL ME (OFF THREAD) AND I WILL TRY TO ANSWER YOU...DALE DETRICH

[davestea]

dplugs39

thanks for the input - I agree -

what did you do to beef up the lock on the mill head?

Seems I have to be really careful with the cut and/or really lean on the clamp.

just a hint - for me all caps is hard to read - and most people consider it to be hollering in e-mail text, which this counts as.

[dplugs39]

davestea....On the mill lock....I removed the stock locking lever and using a metric tap,tapped all the way through the back half of the casting..Then I used a piece of hardened metric all thread the full length of the casting...then I made a heavy flat washer that just fit into the recess in the casting, then I took a chunk of 1" steel hex stock aprox 3" long, drilled and tapped the same metric thread that is used in the mill clamp, then turned a bull nose on the hex about 3/4" long that would fit into the recess...This gives you a long threaded area for the all thread and a 3" long nut, then I used a 1" deep socket and have fixed about a 24 " lever on the socket to allow you to really tighten the clamp....After doing the above mods. I have not had the mill move during a cut...And I did not even shout....Dale Detrich

[chollopeter]

1340 Question

When using the Mill on my 1340, using the cross slide table to move the workpiece in the "Y" direction I have noticed a tendency for the table to creep in the "X" direction. Anyone else had this problem? Any fixes or suggestions? Seems a lockdown to the ways of some sort would be good but, havent seen or heard of anything available. Maybe I'll try to rig something up, if it works I'll post the info.

[Fasttrack]

When using the Mill on my 1340, using the cross slide table to move the workpiece in the "Y" direction I have noticed a tendency for the table to creep in the "X" direction. Anyone else had this problem? Any fixes or suggestions? Seems a lockdown to the ways of some sort would be good but, havent seen or heard of anything available. Maybe I'll try to rig something up, if it works I'll post the info.

There should be a set screw in the middle of the two pairs of gib adjusting screws on the table. This is the lock - tighten that one set screw down and it will lock the table

[motomoron]

On the rear of the carriage in the middle between the cross slide dovetails should be a socket head cap screw, probably 10x1.5mm or so. That's the carriage lock for the X axis. I lock it generally for anything other than the crudest of hogging-off. I made a nice knurled knob so I don't have to dink around trying to find the hole w/ an Allen wrench.

Other worthwhile improvements on my Granite 1324:

Shooting Star 3 axis DRO. Paid for itself with productivity and better parts.

Timken precision lathe spindle bearings. The originals took a crap at about a year, and the Smithy replacements were sh1te. It's a way better lathe now.

Welded new longer handle on mill head height adjuster tool.

Removed handle from leadscrew handle. No more vibration.

Disassembled, debured, stoned, fitted, and carefully assembled most of the machine. They're put together in a pretty haphazard way. You can fix that.

[rustyswarf]

deleted by rustyswarf.

[Boomer Mikey]

I wouldn't do it again

I purchased a Smithy 1324 granite 3-in-one machine Mill-Drill-Lathe in 2001; this was my first machine tool. For gunsmith hobby work this is all I needed according to some of the books I got. This is true, the Smithy is all you really need for hobby gunsmith work and I built a 338-06 from a Mauser 98 action with the Smithy that easily shoots 1 MOA. So far I've built 4 complete rifles, re-barreled a Winchester 94, re-chambered 2 TC Contender barrels, made numerous pilots, nose punches, sizing dies, firing pins, etc. It's real handy to make a simple part or gadget you need instead of waiting two weeks or months for it.



Making a thrust bearing housing for my mini mill.

The milling head is so noisy in operation the neighbors and my wife had to leave home for me to use it and it's a major pain to switch setups between lathe operations and milling/drilling operations. So... I purchased a Harbor Freight round column gear head milling machine on sale...



The Harbor Freight gear head mill was well worth it's cost... this machine delivered the best value/performance ratio of all my machines.





With the Smithy lathe and Harbor Freight mill I designed and made this CNC MiniMill. This took over a year to make and I had a blast making it. I built 3 different spindles for the machine and the machine controller too. This project was a major disaster for my bank account because I wanted more "capability" to make bigger and better things.




Out with the Harbor Freight mill and in with the Industrial Hobbies "Big Mill" with it's 30" table. This machine had awesome capability and a square column. I could now raise and lower the gear head without loosing zero!

The Smithy 1324 was a good "starter" machine; it has served me well, and factory support has been very good. I'm not going to replace it anytime soon but it barely serves my needs as a lathe, it's underpowered, lacks rigidity and requires it's owner to learn to work within it's capability, the Smithy mill head is better than nothing but a $500 Mini Mill has more power. Once you get a benchtop mill you'll forget about using the Smithy mill head. IMO a 13" - 14" X 36" - 40" gap bed lathe with a QC gearbox and a gear head bench top mill is a better value.

I made a new compound slide to use a Phase II QC AXA tool post, a cross slide table lock screw, a spider collar nut assembly for the outboard end of the headstock to support long stock and gun barrels through the spindle bore, reconfigured the original 3 jaw chuck to a "set true" configuration, made my own sets of indexable tool holders for TNMG 321 and 221 inserts, and added travel dial indicators to the saddle and cross slide. I also purchased a set true 5C collet chuck another 6" 3 jaw chuck, tool post grinder, faceplate, and steady rest.

Boomer