Re: Material for riser block
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I forgot to respond to your question!? I recommend steel or cast iron. The forces aren't high enough for aluminum to suddenly fail during use, but the places where you put in screws, etc., will eventually get worn.
Mike Taglieri
I used a block of steel that was a little lower than the compound (which many people think was made too high).? But I made mine swivel, so I can vary the location of the tool and somewhat compensate?for the inadequate cross-slide travel of these lathes.
Here's a picture of my block with my post-type QCTP on it. (It was originally just a rectangular block. I rounded it in front when I found that the corners got in the way).
Mike Taglieri?
I tend to machine whatever I have on hand or can scrounge.
I'd like to make a riser block to replace the compound slide.? I figure something like a 2x2x2 cube of steel would be pretty close - I just got a 4-jaw chuck so I should be able to machine it to size on the lathe.
But I have nothing like that lying around.? Went on ebay and didn't find much.
Started looking at the online metals places.? Cube like that is pretty reasonably priced although the shipping tends to be high.? If I'm going to fork out that cash to a specialty place, I figure I should know what I'm getting.
One of the options is 1018 cold rolled.? Seems like a good choice.
A36 is a bit cheaper but just barely.
Some other sites list other steel alloys.? Is 1018 reasonably machineable?? Is there something else I should be looking for?
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