ANOTHER “DO-IT-YOURSELF” PROJECT FOR THE HOME MECHANIC
Handy Lathe Attachment Cuts
INTERNAL KEYWAYS
BY WALLY SKYRMAN
In restoring old cars we often find a need to
cut a new keyway of clean up an old one. With
this eaily-built accessory for your lathe described
here, you can easly cut your own internal keyways
quickly and with no danger of damage to your
lathe. “Basically, this attachment allows you to
move the carriage and tool post back and forth by
tse of a hand lever without putting any strain on
the carriage apron gear. A boring bar is mounted
in the tool post with the cutter bit positioned so
that the cutting will oceur as the boring bar is
pushed into the work. Width of the cut is varied by
the width of the cutter and/or repositioning of the
work.
‘The attachment is composed of three parts:
1, Tailstock Pivot ~ This part clamps on the
tailstock ram and holds the hand lever in position.
Tt is made of three pieces of iron and is held tight
on the ram by means of a clamp bolt. For the
clamp bolt to work easily, the hole bored to fit
over the tailstock ram should have about 0.002"
clearance.
2, Hand Lever — Hand movement is “geared
down” to push on the cutter bit by using a lever
‘made of a 3/4” rod with an ear welded on it.
3, Push Ring — By means of the push ring,
movement of the hand lever is transmitted to a
loose fitting ring directly over and in line with the
boring bar. Materials used are a 3/8” pipe with a
flat bar for one end. The ring can be made of a flat
bar or a section of pipe. Aim for a 1/32" clearance
between the ring and boring bar holder.
‘Due to the fact that lathes vary in dimensions,
only guide lines will be shown for the common 12
‘Atlas-Craftsman lathe. Try to align all parts so that
the push from the hand lever is in line with the
ABOVE: Lathe fitted with attachment for cutting internal keyways
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