Machining / Lathe questions

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Mccauley, Daniel H by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <daniel.h.mccauley-at-lmco-dot-com>


Just a few questions regarding machining . . .

1.  My first question is that I want to drill and tap a large number of 1"
steel spheres which I am going to using as
corona balls (spark gaps actually).  Anyone have suggestions on how to clamp
these spheres properly.  I guess the proper way to do this to ensure proper
centering would be to use a lathe (see next question), but precision isn't a
hard requirement as they are only going to be used for spark gap balls.  I
was thinking maybe taking some material putting perpindicular V-Slots and
having the sphere rest in the intersection point.

2.  Secondly, I'm finding that lathe work is becoming a requirement on
almost all my new tesla and high voltage projects (as well as others) and
I'm finding the very high prices of out-of-house machining to be very
restrictive so I think its in my best interest to invest in a lathe and
start practicing.  Are there any lathes out there for under $500.00 that
would be okay for practicing and would be tabletop sized (not a huge floor
mounted lathe)???

Any help appreciated.  Thanks.

The Captain