Sorry for the delay in my follow-up. As some of you may already know, I do all the custom work for Seybert's Billiard Supply and now with the beginning of the billiard season and the start-up of a lot of the leagues, I've been just busier than Santa Claus. Paying the bills has to come first.
While both images show the router(s) in the horizontal position, they do illustrate a method of encircling the body of the router securely. This is done with metal in both instances. Aluminum is used on the ring cutter and steel is used on the taper lathe mount. When time allows, I'll be making another mount for the taper lathe to put the router in the vertical postion to compare the results of the 2 different mounting positions. I've had relatively good results with the taper lathe setup as is. The reason that I've stayed with that setup for so long now is because I haven't yet lengthened the feed lead screw. The lead screw isn't long enough to allow the router to cut the entire 30" length. My 'work around' has been to remove the router from the mount, place the mount on the opposite side of the compound, re-insert the router and finish the cut. This may sound like a minor hassle but it actually gives me an additional 6" of usable cut length. By the way, this lathe was not of sufficient length to put 30+" btwn. cntrs. until I lengthened it's ways. You work with what you have and get the job done. So sayeth Larry (Git ur dun).
How I acquired the lathe in the first place is a story in it's self. About 20 yrs. ago I had bought 2 lathes from a tool shop for $1,300 ea. One was a Sheldon toolroom lathe which I still use everyday and the other was a smaller SouthBend engine lathe that really had no hope of ever being used to build cues. It just didn't have the length so I resigned myself to the fact that it would be used primarily for close chuck work. Well about that time, I happened to be doing a welding job for a local mold shop and when they came to pick-up their mold, they noticed my little SouthBend and conversation about it ensued. They asked me if I'd be interested in selling it as they'd been looking for something about that size for a while. Giving my 'pat' answer for such questions I told them that 'everything I own is for sale, why, what you got ?'. They said that they have the SouthBend that I currently have and that they'd give me it and $650 for the little SouthBend. I took their money and their SouthBend lathe and also got paid well for welding on their mold. It was a very good day. I'm sure there's a moral in there somewhere and I'll leave you to find it.
My apologies for straying, I'll get back to the subject of router mounts. Both routers mount directly to the compound. Not only does this allow for maximum rigidity but in the case of the ring cutter it allows you to dial-in the horizontal plane as the compound swivels. I've left the base of the aluminum mount sufficiently wide for the purpose of installing leveling screws. Shims would work but I'm not a 'shim it up' kind of guy. I must have gotten lucky in my milling of the base where it fits into the compound as my cut of the billet is only off by .001". Again, as time allows.
I want to thank those of you who have taken the time to point me in the right direction regarding the posting of pics. You know who you are and if I can return the favor, all you need do is ask. Again, Thank You.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc260/kjcues/Aug18003.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc260/kjcues/Aug08_05.jpg
While both images show the router(s) in the horizontal position, they do illustrate a method of encircling the body of the router securely. This is done with metal in both instances. Aluminum is used on the ring cutter and steel is used on the taper lathe mount. When time allows, I'll be making another mount for the taper lathe to put the router in the vertical postion to compare the results of the 2 different mounting positions. I've had relatively good results with the taper lathe setup as is. The reason that I've stayed with that setup for so long now is because I haven't yet lengthened the feed lead screw. The lead screw isn't long enough to allow the router to cut the entire 30" length. My 'work around' has been to remove the router from the mount, place the mount on the opposite side of the compound, re-insert the router and finish the cut. This may sound like a minor hassle but it actually gives me an additional 6" of usable cut length. By the way, this lathe was not of sufficient length to put 30+" btwn. cntrs. until I lengthened it's ways. You work with what you have and get the job done. So sayeth Larry (Git ur dun).
How I acquired the lathe in the first place is a story in it's self. About 20 yrs. ago I had bought 2 lathes from a tool shop for $1,300 ea. One was a Sheldon toolroom lathe which I still use everyday and the other was a smaller SouthBend engine lathe that really had no hope of ever being used to build cues. It just didn't have the length so I resigned myself to the fact that it would be used primarily for close chuck work. Well about that time, I happened to be doing a welding job for a local mold shop and when they came to pick-up their mold, they noticed my little SouthBend and conversation about it ensued. They asked me if I'd be interested in selling it as they'd been looking for something about that size for a while. Giving my 'pat' answer for such questions I told them that 'everything I own is for sale, why, what you got ?'. They said that they have the SouthBend that I currently have and that they'd give me it and $650 for the little SouthBend. I took their money and their SouthBend lathe and also got paid well for welding on their mold. It was a very good day. I'm sure there's a moral in there somewhere and I'll leave you to find it.
My apologies for straying, I'll get back to the subject of router mounts. Both routers mount directly to the compound. Not only does this allow for maximum rigidity but in the case of the ring cutter it allows you to dial-in the horizontal plane as the compound swivels. I've left the base of the aluminum mount sufficiently wide for the purpose of installing leveling screws. Shims would work but I'm not a 'shim it up' kind of guy. I must have gotten lucky in my milling of the base where it fits into the compound as my cut of the billet is only off by .001". Again, as time allows.
I want to thank those of you who have taken the time to point me in the right direction regarding the posting of pics. You know who you are and if I can return the favor, all you need do is ask. Again, Thank You.
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc260/kjcues/Aug18003.jpg
http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc260/kjcues/Aug08_05.jpg
