January 8, 2012
Steady as she goes! This roller is part of a giant sanding machine, and is probably about the largest part we’ve ever had on the lathe… The tail stock was hanging out over the end of the machine practically. For the non-machinist types, that means that it was sort of like having to ride in the car with the fishing rods sticking out the window. Anyway, what we were doing here was cleaning up and drilling and reaming the end of this roller to accept a dowel pin, which would then mate up to the broken off end of the drive shaft, and then the they were going to take it back to their shop and braze (hopefully) or weld it back together. You might notice another accessory on the lathe in this picture. Its the big ring thing with the screws in it that goes around the end of the roller. It’s called a Steady Rest and it’s adjustable and acts as a bearing surface at the end of a long piece to keep it…steady. You don’t run them terribly fast, and you definitely grease the surface of the part and keep it cool. We got it all fitted together here at the shop - Hopefully the brazing or welding went well too.

Steady as she goes! This roller is part of a giant sanding machine, and is probably about the largest part we’ve ever had on the lathe… The tail stock was hanging out over the end of the machine practically. For the non-machinist types, that means that it was sort of like having to ride in the car with the fishing rods sticking out the window. Anyway, what we were doing here was cleaning up and drilling and reaming the end of this roller to accept a dowel pin, which would then mate up to the broken off end of the drive shaft, and then the they were going to take it back to their shop and braze (hopefully) or weld it back together. You might notice another accessory on the lathe in this picture. Its the big ring thing with the screws in it that goes around the end of the roller. It’s called a Steady Rest and it’s adjustable and acts as a bearing surface at the end of a long piece to keep it…steady. You don’t run them terribly fast, and you definitely grease the surface of the part and keep it cool. We got it all fitted together here at the shop - Hopefully the brazing or welding went well too.