Re: Machining / Lathe questions

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

Original poster: "S & J Young by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <youngs-at-konnections-dot-net>

Captain,

If your steel spheres are balls from large bearings, you will have a heck of
a time drilling holes in them because they are at least as hard as most
drill bits.  You should first anneal them by heating them
to red-hot temperatures and slowly cooling them.  Might be better to just
buy some brass spheres from McMaster Carr.

Harbor Freight has cheap lathes, but the quality is probably low.  Better to
shop around for a used higher quality one, but be sure the bearings are
still tight.
--Steve

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2003 5:10 PM
Subject: Machining / Lathe questions


 >
 > 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
 >
 >
 >