Blunted lathe drive tip

Sorry, I accidentally blunted the tip of one of the lathe drive stocks. I left it on top of the cabinet, next to the tool sharpener.

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Hey! Sorry, the image isn’t loading for me. Thank you for reporting it here, but in the future please be sure to scan one of the red QR codes in the shop to file a problem report so that everything can be properly logged and addressed.

Out of curiosity, how did this happen? Mainly so I can let others know and can help you achieve the desired outcome if something went wrong during turning.

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You can also report a problem at any time using asmbly.org/problem.

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Thanks, I don’t know why I keep forgetting about the problem report. I filed one and fixed the image upload, I was having some trouble uploading it while on site.

The problem was entirely my fault and is unlikely to occur during normal use of the lathe. I have a hollow tail stock which is intended to make it easier to bore through a workpiece. A long drill bit is inserted through the hollow stock while the piece is turning to ensure that the bored hole is fully coaxial with the piece. I have tried boring using the drill chuck and holding the piece on the drive end only with jaws, but I was having a hard time getting the piece back on the same axis on the jaws again after removing it.

The intended usage of the hollow drive stock is to push the drill bit at least half way through the piece, then flip it around and repeat from the other side. I was getting a very minor discontinuity when doing it this way, so instead I set the drill bit handle to go almost all the way through, since I was going to drill out to a wider bore at one end anyway, but left an insufficient margin and ended up having the drill bit make contact with the tip of the drive stock at the very end.

I’m willing to purchase the replacement part myself but I didn’t know how best to exactly match it. It seems like the tip is removable but I can get a complete drive stock if it’s not possible to purchase a tip separately. (I suppose we’re equipped to manufacture a replacement in house but I’ve only taken the wood lathe class, not metal lathe :sweat_smile:)

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Ah ok! Thanks for letting me know. I’ll be in tomorrow and will take a look at it!

If it comes apart it should be fixable - chuck the tip in a cordless drill and put it to the bench grinder.

(coincidentally, I just yesterday saw a video on re-grinding a lathe center)

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Thanks Jon!

Was going to give it a go on the bench grinder, drill is a great idea.

I set it to the side for now, will give that a go later this week. Actually ran across another one with the same problem when organizing this week.

Depending on how much material needs removing, you might want rough it in on the metal belt sander first and then finish it on your tool sharpening grinder. And if you need higher precision, the metal lathe might be necessary.

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Forgot to update, but the drill + course grinding wheel suggestion worked great! Thanks for reporting this and thanks everyone for their suggestions.

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