There have been some major in the APE workshop over the last couple weeks. I was going to have a friend turn some parts for this project but it just felt wrong. I had a lathe a few years ago and sold it before I got back into rocketry. Ever since I got back in I've been kicking myself for selling it. So, instead of paying someone else to turn some parts I decided to buy another lathe. I had to move and redesign the enclosure for my CNC mill. I was able to open up a 7' length of the garage wall. I've been keeping my eyes open on Craigslist and on Saturday this lathe came up. It's a 13" x 40" gear head lathe. Besides the chinese branding it's identical to one that Birmingham sells now. It was pretty dirty but underneath the dirt was the original cosmoline grease. The seller bought it on a whim, didn't really use it much and really didn't know anything about it. I've spent about 6 hours cleaning it up and it's almost ready to move into position.
Stay tuned. I'll be back to making flying things soon.
View attachment 336822