Turning hard materials

**Jonathan** · 05-02-2016

Originally Posted by Neale

So, all you need is a convenient induction heating unit!

I've been resisting the temptation to buy one of these for a while:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1000W-ZVS-...4AAOSwcu5URhOk

Perhaps I should stop resisting....

**Neale** · 05-02-2016

Originally Posted by Jonathan

I've been resisting the temptation to buy one of these for a while:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1000W-ZVS-...4AAOSwcu5URhOk

Perhaps I should stop resisting....

I gather that you've used the annealing method yourself - how did you heat the ballscrew, and do you think that there was any distortion? Was it machined out if so? I now have a lathe with a big enough spindle clearance for ballscrew machining, and trying to make sense out of the various sources of "advice" available via Google...

**Jonathan** · 05-02-2016

Originally Posted by Neale

I gather that you've used the annealing method yourself - how did you heat the ballscrew, and do you think that there was any distortion? Was it machined out if so? I now have a lathe with a big enough spindle clearance for ballscrew machining, and trying to make sense out of the various sources of "advice" available via Google...

There are some pictures of one I did here - got a bit carried away with the heating, but I didn't notice any distortion - neither did I check carefully if I'm honest.

http://www.mycncuk.com/threads/4497-...0297#post30297

I used my Mum's cooker to heat it - it's a gas hob. Better off using something with a bit more power output though.

**Clive S** · 05-02-2016

Originally Posted by Jonathan

I've been resisting the temptation to buy one of these for a while:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1000W-ZVS-...4AAOSwcu5URhOk

Perhaps I should stop resisting....

Not sure if that would do it from what I have been reading you need about 10Kw. Funnily enough I have been reading this today https://github.com/joshcam/ReactorFo...ctorForge-Core but decided a good Mapi gas blow lamp would achieve the same result cheaper

**Neale** · 05-02-2016

I have a propane torch with range of burners from tiny to teenage dragon flame sizes. One should match "Mum's gas hob" plus a bit!

Thanks - always good to hear from someone who's actually done the job.

**Boyan Silyavski** · 05-02-2016

Originally Posted by Jonathan

I've been resisting the temptation to buy one of these for a while:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1000W-ZVS-...4AAOSwcu5URhOk

Perhaps I should stop resisting....

Jonathan,
what can this really heat ? Can it melt a coin or a gold ring? And would you translate the Changlish in the description to me? I have 15v 40A lab PSu that i used for anodizing. Will that work with it?

**Harry Hills** · 06-02-2016

Thanks for the replies people. Annealing the ends worked great. Thank you!

**dodgygeeza** · 06-02-2016

use map gas, it will be much quicker that using your mums stove to heat it up lol.
It needs to get cherry red to make any difference.
a tool post grinder will be a lot better and you can get much higher tolerances than normal turning, and a much better Finnish as well.
However, even if you use a tool post grinder you may still need to anneal the screw because where you turn the thread into the screw may still be in the hard or just on the edge where it goes soft, and this can be a bugger to put a thread for the locking nut if it is not totally soft.

**Harry Hills** · 06-02-2016

Yeah I used mapp and it was a breeze.

**AndrewMawson** · 07-02-2016

For future reference you can buy hard turning inserts made from CBN that will even turn HSS without annealing. Your lathe needs to be pretty rigid though.