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Unimat 3 - solving some issues

 

Hello:

I always wanted a small lathe but ended up getting what seems to be the smallest.? 8^)
No matter since I did not have the cash or space for something else.

Read up all I could find and after reading about owners who had been using it for 20 years or more and swore by them, I decided to close what I think was a great deal given how much hardware it came with and the prices they command these days.

I had never used a Unimat, my previous experience being in jr. high (1967/68) on a mid size South Bend.
The thing is that I cannot get used to how the Unimat's 3 jaw chuck works.

And then there's the hand wheels I'd like to change (have the bakelite versions) but cannot find a reasonable replacement.
Everything I have found comes in a minimum of 65mm in diameter or is outrageously expensive ie: ?25.00 for a used aluminium one.

Eventually getting a 4 jaw chuck will solve the first issue but there's the matter of the handwheels: they would have to be 50 mm max and have scales.
Short of making a set (and finding a way to get proper scales on them) ...

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

JHM
 

You have a lathe now. My suggestion is to make your own hand wheels to suit you and the way you work. You can also get digital linear travel scales that will read in metric and imperial.
Dick
 

I've fitted re-settable handwheels to my U3 - and wouldn't be without them. Far easier to use than the supplied ones. Some will scoff as they're plastic but I've had no problems.
See .


Paul B.
 

Hello:

> ... fitted re-settable handwheels to my U3 ...
Yes, I've seen them on the web while searching for a solution to this.

There was a listing on the German ebay for €79+€10 shiping,? no idea of the date.
These days they go for ~ US$80+shipping on ebay.

These are nice but (imo) a bit too pricey for molded plastic and non-engraced scales.

I have yet to finish refurbishing my Unimat milling table:



I find that the two handwheels are also a bit small for me to use comfortably but even though they are also 35mm, they do have more heft to them.
Maybe I should get a pair of readily available 63mm handwheels for the table and graft these on to the Uni.
Food for thought ...

Thanks for your input and the link.

JHM
 

Hello:

> ... have a lathe now.
Yes !? 8^D

> ... make your own hand wheels ...
I have been thinking about that quite a bit.

>? ... can also get digital linear travel scales that will read in metric and imperial.
Yes.
I like that idea, but my wallet is still complaining about my Unimat spending spree.
And I still have to get myself some decent tooling.

Thanks for your input.

Best,

JHM
 

What do you have in the way of shop equipment other than your Unimat? What do you have in the way of materials to work with??

If you have a hacksaw, some files and a caliper you can make stuff you need out of bits and pieces of scrap metal.

??First book listed in that link is the Workshop Practice Series book #18, Basic Benchwork. This is a guide to the techniques used by the guys who invented machine tools to make stuff before they had machine tools. I like it well enough that I have both digital and dead-tree copies.?

A few years back, I got an Atlas TH42 lathe from Craigslist, and bought it a QCTP from Amazon.com. It came with a blank T-nut to mount itself to the lathe. At the time, I didn't have any of my machines either accessible or working, and the lantern toolpost that came with the lathe was missing pieces. I cut the T-nut to fit with a hacksaw and files, and made a rocker from a bit of 1/2" key stock also using files. I couldn't even get to a vise, so all the work was done holding the pieces in my hands while cutting and filing the pieces to fit. The T-nut took about 4 hours, but it fits about as perfectly as anything I've ever made in a lifetime of making stuff. The rocker is a little less perfect, but it still worked. ;)?

These days, it's traditional to use High Speed Steel (HSS) lathe tools, but back in the olden days, they used hand-forged high-carbon tool steel. You can still do that, or buy tool blanks or even pre-ground tooling in HSS. Tool steel is available in many forms, including old broken tool. :) A block of steel for an anvil, a hammer, and pliers, propane torch and a small bucket or can of used motor oil would let you forge your own tooling. For aluminum or plastic, you can even use mild steel, which isn't hardenable. Unimats are a bit "weak" for cutting metals with carbide tooling, but it can be done, and you can get carbide tooling that will fit on the Unimat, but you mostly won't need it. HSS or high-carbon tool steel will work fine for most materials. Spring steel is a high carbon steel, and could be used as a cutting tool. Likewise broken hacksaw blades. K&S Precision Metals sells music wire (spring steel) in 3' lengths, and is available in most good hardware and hobby stores in the US. I don't have a good feel for where you're located, but my area's ACE hardware stores carry it. Amazon has a bunch of HSS and other steels, when and if your wallet ever recovers. OTH, you could make do with salvaged or scavenged materials, too.?

I've been collecting tools for more than 50 years, so I have multiple hacksaw frames with different blades, lots of files, etc, but I started with a scrounged hammer and coathanger wire. My brother and I had G.I. Joes with forged swords, spears, and arrowheads, among other things, when I was 10 years old. Sharpened on a bit of broken concrete...

Hi! My name is Bill, and I'm a Toolohaulic!

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



On Saturday, June 18, 2022, 08:28:44 AM CDT, sawbona@... <sawbona@...> wrote:


Hello:

> ... have a lathe now.
Yes !? 8^D

> ... make your own hand wheels ...
I have been thinking about that quite a bit.

>? ... can also get digital linear travel scales that will read in metric and imperial.
Yes.
I like that idea, but my wallet is still complaining about my Unimat spending spree.
And I still have to get myself some decent tooling.

Thanks for your input.

Best,

JHM

 

Hello:
> ... in the way of shop equipment other than your Unimat?
Far too much and not enough counter space.

Bench grinder, drill press, angle grinder, 2x dremels, MAPP torch, bottled gas jewellers torch, portable welding machine, etc.
Chinese BG rescued from careless owner for peanuts, repaired and heavily modified to accept wider grinder wheels, DP hacked from a vintage B&D drill (the real B&D), the solid AL drill stand accessory and a base made from 11/4" steel plate and a 3" length of 1" solid steel rod. ? ?

Now that I have a lathe I'll be able to make a new PH bronze bushing for the poor thing.
Well over 40 by now and still going strong.

> ... in the way of materials to work with??
Whatever I can purchase or pick up from the curb.
It's amazing the things people throw away.

> ... hacksaw, some files and a caliper ...
> ... you can make stuff you need out of bits and pieces of scrap metal.
Of course: https://homeroasters.org/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=5510&pid=65120#post_65120

> First book listed in that link ...
Thanks for the heads up, will have a look.

> ... all the work was done holding the pieces in my hands ...
Been there too.? 8^)

> ... steel is available in many forms, including old broken tool.
You should see my stash.

One of my favourites:
Some photocopiers use a sort of a silicone soaked fabric (for something, no idea what) which is rolled on a bar of high quality stainless steel and is spooled up by another bar, coming and going wears out. When it has to be replaced, they throw out the whole thing.

That's two 18mm x 350mm precisely machined quality steel rods, just for the asking. 8^)

> Unimats are a bit "weak" for cutting metals with carbide ...
Yes.
I have a new spindle motor coming in soon, we'll see what it accomplishes.
Surely better than the original 90W one.

> HSS or high-carbon tool steel will work fine ...
Yes.
I'm planning to get some of that soon.
Preground set to start with.

> ... don't have a good feel for where you're located ...
-34.603722, -58.381592.

> ... been collecting tools for more than 50 years ...
I have always had multiple interests but a hardware store / tool shop has always been the most fascinating thing to me.
My father gave me, his first born son, a tricycle when I was around four.

Two days later I had managed to take it apart with my bare hands.
Incredibly enough, I still recall the look on his face as he came home to find me playing with the pieces.? 8^D

Thank you very much for your input and encouragement.

Best,

JHM
 

These are 63 mm unfortunately. Otherwise they'd be great I think.


Neil
-----


On Fri, Jun 17, 2022 at 6:13 PM <sawbona@...> wrote:
Hello:

I always wanted a small lathe but ended up getting what seems to be the smallest.? 8^)
No matter since I did not have the cash or space for something else.
...
 

Those hand wheels are very nice but a little too large for a Unimat.?
 

Neil,
Is the Unimat your only lathe or do you have others??

Dick

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