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Interesting turning technique

 

Watched a short Unimat video where the operator advances spindel instead of the cross slide to turn down a small part. Very efficient.
https://youtube.com/shorts/OO0_LObYHh8?si=qcS9be79qkBnPgeP
 

It’s this guy I think -
?
 

On Fri, Apr 4, 2025 at 07:40 PM, Tinkerer22 wrote:

Cool, save the wrists, thanks for the link
 

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Beats cranking the tiny handle

Get

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Bruce Rohde via groups.io <barohde@...>
Sent: Saturday, April 5, 2025 9:42:58 AM
To: Tinkerer22 <vpol1@...>; [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Unimat] Interesting turning technique
?
On Fri, Apr 4, 2025 at 07:40 PM, Tinkerer22 wrote:

Cool, save the wrists, thanks for the link
 

I run mine that way when making clock bushings. ?
 

Seems the sliding spindle is called the ‘quill’…
?
I wish the U3 had this feature but does it affect accuracy? Does it introduce play in the spindle?
 

And somehow this is a new discovery?
It is possibly OK for coarse turning.? However, I think that there would be a tendency to wear on the spindle hole through the head.? Some amount of whatever you cut will get on the outside of the spindle and pulled into the head.? To what benefit?? Quick?? With our Unimats we must expect to work slowly, make light cuts, and take a long time.
 

More wear occurs on the slides and lead screw, because of much smaller contact area. Those parts are even more prone to debris contamination than the quill.
 

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Hi Peter:

Of course there is clearance in the quill, and thus more play for the spindle run-out. But the amount is minor.

The possible plus of this arrangement is you could turn the head for a taper on one end of the part, while the quill can cut a diameter on the part. Might be a time saver on a production job.

Carl.

On 4/5/2025 2:53 PM, Peter Brooks via groups.io wrote:

Seems the sliding spindle is called the ‘quill’…
?
I wish the U3 had this feature but does it affect accuracy? Does it introduce play in the spindle?
 

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Production machines have handles instead of wheels.?

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From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Carl via groups.io <carl.blum@...>
Sent: Saturday, April 5, 2025 4:05:28 PM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>; peter@... <peter@...>
Subject: Re: [Unimat] Interesting turning technique
?

Hi Peter:

Of course there is clearance in the quill, and thus more play for the spindle run-out. But the amount is minor.

The possible plus of this arrangement is you could turn the head for a taper on one end of the part, while the quill can cut a diameter on the part. Might be a time saver on a production job.

Carl.

On 4/5/2025 2:53 PM, Peter Brooks via groups.io wrote:
Seems the sliding spindle is called the ‘quill’…
?
I wish the U3 had this feature but does it affect accuracy? Does it introduce play in the spindle?
 

I am not cutting tapers, that is not what was shown.? If I get any wear inside the headstock, I am screwed.? What is the benefit?? To turn something a little quicker?? Please show me where this quill movement method is recommended in Unimat manuals.
 

Quill movement is a design feature in Unimat for vertical milling and drilling. But done horizontally is somehow bad?
 

It's as good a technique as any other. If the headstock is nipped up snug there will be no significant loss of accuracy - and if the finished piece is within tolerance then it's accurate enough. As for swarf wearing the sliding surfaces, that applies to al the sliding surfaces, but it doesn't seem to be a major problem.
?
I have seen NC lathes feeding the bar stock through the chuck (collet, or whatever) while turning the diameter with a stationary tool. There must be a bit of cunning going on the get the grip slack enough to feed but tight enough to get sufficient accuracy, and keep the bar rotating, although I can think of ways to do that which are probably simple on a sophisticated modern machine.
 

The Unimat drills up and down, debris falls below the spindle.? With use of the quill movement horizontally for turning, debris falls onto the spindle.? I do not see any benefit to this.
 

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Hi Gang:?

How do chips being flung from the cutting tool in front of the chuck end up behind the chuck? Sure a few, but the quill is a slip fit with little room for chips to get in. In fact I often turn wood making dusty chips and they haven't done anything bad to my 51 year old Unimat.

Sliding the stock past a fixed tool is how Swiss Screw machines work. Multi turn resistors use very long very small screws and Swiss Screw lathes do the work.

The Unimat is a very versatile machine and it is fun to find new ways to make it even more versatile!

Carl.


 

Thank you?
This first video on a Unitmate mini lathe.?
?
Dave?
?
 

I used my SL for many hundreds of horizontal drilling operations without any problems. Never thought twice about it. I had a work holding jig in place of the toolpost and the drill held in a collet on the spindle. Never noticed any swarf on the quill, and there was no evidence of wear. I also used it for many hours of polishing with a small?Scotchbrite-like wheel , with abrasive in it. The only thing I did to protect the lathe from abrasive dust was to clean it down when I'd finished. I had far more debris around when I was turning lots of tiny flywheels for model railway use. I kept having to regularly stop and uncover the main bars, buried in brass chips.
?
I don't believe these machines are that fragile. You can see if something is causing a problem and do something about it. You can also see when there is no problem and just carry on.
 

You'd be putting most of the pressure on one side of the quill using it as a lathe, instead of distributing the wear all around the quill. If you do a great deal of work that way it could become a problem eventually. Most lathe spindles that get a lot of use will do just that in a production environment. Most Unimats aren't used in production, though.?

If you're one of the few who do production work it would be good to be careful about keeing it well lubed.

Bill in OKC

William R. Meyers, MSgt, USAF(Ret.)

Aphorisms to live by:
Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement.?
SEMPER GUMBY!
Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome.
Physics doesn't care about your schedule.
The only reason I know anything is because I've done it wrong enough times to START to know better.
Expect in one hand, expectorate in the other. See which one gets full first.



On Saturday, April 5, 2025 at 08:07:12 PM CDT, Tinkerer22 via groups.io <vpol1@...> wrote:


Quill movement is a design feature in Unimat for vertical milling and drilling. But done horizontally is somehow bad?

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