[Nathannamaya]

Hey guys! Well should be pretty self explanatory by the title, but I was just wondering if you guys had any ideas for some beginners lathe/machining projects? Any ideas welcomed!

[ldbtx]

Check out Frank Ford's site at http://www.frets.com/HomeShopTech/hstpages.html. He's got a lot of good tutorials and some good projects. Also, just let your mind free-spool and start turning any off-the-wall piece you can dream up. One of the first pieces I turned when I got my lathe was a piece with a taper. It had no practical use at all, but it was certainly good practice. Lathes are cool. Just have fun. And always, even when it doesn't matter, try to hold to a preset tolerance. Just for discipline and to keep you honest.

Enjoy your lathe,
ldb

[rick9345]

get a copy of the Atlas/Craftsman
Lathe manual and machinist Tables---By the Clausing corperation

Pretty clear cut on all setup functions and how to. The later editions 70's and up best.
I got mine with lathe in 1977 and wore it out now have an enlarged copy in plastic pages /loose leaf 3 ring binder and it is always close at hand even 28 yrs later.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1974-Sears-Craf ... 56742c65fd

The 12 x 42 Atlas is long gone but the book is still with my 14 x 40 Takisawa.

Like idbtx, tapers and threading is rewarding. It will come to pass"How did I get by without".

Now let the chips fly.

[Diesel]

Ive been wanting to try doing a stainless steel mug or a small mini cannon that uses m80's or something. Im definitely going to try the mug soon.

[TRACKRANGER]

Hey guys! Well should be pretty self explanatory by the title, but I was just wondering if you guys had any ideas for some beginners lathe/machining projects? Any ideas welcomed!

This is probably not 'beginners' level, but you can certainly learn a lot of all types of machinists tasks from this link, including lots of lathe work