Turning axles, Hey BillHolland

[Jamie Harris]

I was turning the axles for my tender trucks last night. It just seemed to take forever. If you see my web page (link below) you will get an idea of how I did it. I don't believe that I used all the correct toolbits or that I did everything in the correct order. I am sure that it would be helpful to everybody to learn how other people do this. I wondered if Bill Holland would be so kind as to give a quick tutorial on turning axles. The parts that Bill made look very nice. If anyone else would like to contribute, please do.

Thanks a lot,
Jamie

[Bill Holland]

Jamie, yes, I had to make a fixture, and used a dial indicator for making sure I turned to the correct length, and I made a carriage stop.
Needless to say, my Fixture would not be needed if one had a nice collet or collet chuck.
I'll take pics if you want.
The fixture I made, was nothing more than 1" Brass round bar bored out to snug fit on axle, with 2 setscrews to lock it in. The fixture was held in 4 jaw chuck so I could zero it in. Instead of redoing the 4 jaw chuck each time, I just loosen 2 setscrews.
Now I will say this,the Axles really are not as simple as you think, Nothing is when you need to hold onto tight tolerances. Because when I bored out my wheels, my bison chuck was defective, and I didnt know it, the Ream jobs on the wheels were crappy, oblong. So I had to custom turn each axle for a snug fit to each wheel. ROYAL pain in the ass.
Also, make sure you center drill each axle, just so you can re-turn the wheels in the future between centers incase something comes up.
Now, I did not have a cross slide stop, that would of been a great addition to making sure you dont remove too much diameter. I have a back log of homework to do for college at moment, so It may be a day or 2 before I post pics if you need them.

[Bill Holland]

Jamie, I noticed your tool for turning axles has no back rake, also, use a slower feed. About 400 rpms is good I think. ALSO the angle the tool goes into the shaft, the leading edge, thats your profile tool for the wheels, You want a close to perpendicular to work piece, maybe a little less or more. Also, a small radius on the tip, very small radius. However, smaller the radius, the lighter the cuts you'll have to make. DONT use Carbide. for a finishing cut, I didnt do it, but you want to angle the tool just so that a large proportion of the cutting edge is touching the work, and take a less than .001 cut with Tap magic or other cutting fluid, just a few drops, it gets the metal chips out of the way. I usually leave off about .002 to .001, to even .0005 for a final cut to get the final diameter just right, and a VERY slow feed. I'll try to get a pic of my tool soon enough. However even with that said, my tool aint perfect.
My axle material is also oil hardened drill rod.
I was going to do my wheels between centers, but I don't have a setup for drive dogs.
Another possibility is that your tail stock is not tight enough up against the end there, might be .001 play. I really havent done any between center work, so I can't comment too much on that, except for I tried it once on my mini lathe, and the results were scary to say the least.

Also, Im trying to remember, did you turn the full length of that cold rolled steel? If you did, you might notice that your axles are shaped like banana's. Again, another reason I went with Drill rod.
Just so you know, sitting next to me is a box of axles I did last summer that I now consider scrap. Ofcourse I did them when I got my mini lathe for the first time and I never used a lathe before. I look at scrap as lesson learned, not wasted time. You may end up remaking a lot of axles, view it as the same, expirience gained, time not wasted.

[Jamie Harris]

That's some good info, thanks Bill. I used CRS that was already the correct major diameter so I did not have to turn the full length of the axle. I'll try some different toolbits on the next axle. Maybe i'll get to turn another one tonight or tomorrow night.

Thanks again,
Jamie

[BOB LA COSTE]

HI JAMIE,
I AWAYS USE LEADED STEEL FOR TURNINGS, TRY IT YOU WILL LIKE THE FINISH. YOU CAN ALSO REMOVE MORE MATERIAL PER PASS WHICH WILL SPEED UP PRODUCTION. THE MATERIAL COST MORE BUT IT IS WORTH THE PRICE.

BOB LA COSTE