That’s not your first project is it? LOL.
Hurry up, I'm fading fast.
That's a fairly big lathe for a home shop. Next is the End Mill and from there?
He asked about the first major project. 
I have a few Solarforce bodies to mod for someone who has been patiently waiting for quite some time, but the Elephant is on the docket.
I would love a mill. Learning to TIG weld would be neat too...
I believe it to be 8 inches across.
What are you doing to the solarforce bodies?
Well, she made it up on her perch today. Sorry for not taking pics of the actual hoisting, but the lack of warm bodies prevented me from doing so. I took the Egyptian approach, using leverage, wedges, and rollers.
Oh yeah - there was a 2.5 ton engine hoist too...
It could have gone a lot worse than it did, as the machine was quite top-heavy relative to the area that I had strapped for the lift. Careful adjustment of the apron and tailstock allowed for a decent side-to-side balance, which made threading on the attachment bolts less challenging than I thought it would be. Careful squaring-up and pre-leveling of the stands helped too.
Now I can get to the removal of the Cosmolene, or whatever the Far East version of it may be called.
I misspoke before - here is the actual size:
Some grooving, some boring, some flats removal...
Today begins the process of removing any bed twist, after leaving the machine to 'settle' overnight. This will prevent making all cuts accidental tapers.
I took the day off today, and wifey won't be back until just after dinner...so it's a man and his machine all day. I plan on making some serious progress; we'll see how that goes.
It actually says that? Have to let it flatten out?
I guess 'kinda straight' doesn't cut it. (poor as it is, pun intended)
straightshooterXFoy
I was actually letting the Mason feet flatten before the final leveling, as they are of the shock-absorbing variety.
Bed twist will keep one from turning a true cylinder, as I found out before I leveled the smaller machine. The longer the part, the more this is magnified.
I picked up some oil for the headstock today - 2 gallons of ISO-68 rated goodness for all of the gears that remain in an oil bath. After break-in, this will be drained and replaced with fresh stuff.
I've gone through a half-gallon of WD40 already, cleaning off the shipping grease !
Nice rig Mr. X :bigsmile:
We are waiting for your first project 
Also nice way to your home/shop… really awesome
Well, looks like you are familiar with the required prep. Took a long time to find out
that 50% of the machines i have used were inherently out of balance and misaligned
And im wasting AL and CU stock like its cheap and
I cant believe how you would feel Chicago X. I bought my lathe in 1982 as a very young adult and still love it. Its nothing like what you have worked hard for and purchased now. When you open up the garage door and look at what is there now, the upgrade, I take my hat of to you. Quick change tool post, chuck etc, really nice. I look forward to what your imagination creates. (Hurry up and make something
). Cheers.
Oh… nice tool for flashlights….did it come with a battery 
Man, that is one mighty fine piece of equipment!
Not to be presumptuous, but will you make money with that or is it strictly for hobby/flashlight purposes? What all could/would you make with it? Just curious. At any rate, that is beautiful!
Keith
The machine is going to be primarily for hobby use, but I will likely sell a few lights here-and-there. I don't have the skillset for production work. 
What could I make ? Just about anything less than 13 inches wide and 40 inches long...
Any requests ?
[quote=Chicago X]
The machine is going to be primarily for hobby use, but I will likely sell a few lights here-and-there. I don’t have the skillset for production work.
What could I make ? Just about anything less than 13 inches wide and 40 inches long…
Any requests ?
[/quote
Thanks, man. I will be watching as you become familiar with your new machine. Maybe you could throw out some ideas of what you can do with this & I , at some point would be in for ……….something like a HDS Maybe? I don’t know, but I am for sure interested in something that’s not mass produced. Something copper maybe (thinkin out loud)?We’ll see what develops. I am interest in something special though as I’m certain you would be fair with the price. Very exciting indeed. Again, beautiful machine.
Keith
Nice to see the progress. And from someone who has trained and working in lining up production machinery like lathes and mills: Check it again every month of the first year since you have shock absorbent feet on that machine. I've had the pleasure of re-doing the lining up every 3 weeks for a company that had noise/vibration restriction on their production machinery so that they had to use that kind of feet.
It stopped settling after about 4 months but we were still adjusting a little bit after 8 or nine months. After 12 months nothing more though.
Anyway I like what you have done and really admire that you can have this in your home. Nice!
Thanks very much ! After spending so much time in the woods, it becomes harder and harder to go back to the city.
Thanks for your voice of experience - much appreciated !
I butchered a few pieces of stock myself on the first machine...
Is ExcitedAnxious a word ?
It would need to be quite a large one, as it needs 10A at 240V/60Hz, with a 15A inrush on startup.
How about a shoulder mounted quad sst-90? You could use it to flash cook your steak. 8) (no smiley with a welding mask)
It would be great if machines were plug and play like a toaster. 
I am having to do some work on mine before beginning to even think about making chips. Hunting season starts for me in a couple of weeks so the Bridgeport is on the back burner for now. Looks like you are making fine progress.
I feel so indaequate next to chicago X.
I have “lathe envy” now.
Larry
No need - it would appear that yours is running. :)
So true.