Thread: shim stock or gauge plate supplier

Originally Posted by .RC.

Any ideas of where to get some 1mm thick shim stock or gauge plate?

I need to build up my 10EE tailstock 0.95mm to get it back to centre height and need some flat steel to do it...

I do not need much one piece has to be 145 X 185 and the other 30 X 185 or thereabouts....

I have plenty of 3" wide 20 thou spring steel, two thicknesses of that would be 1mm, or of you'd prefer single thickness, I've got some 3/32 O1 that I could heat treat and surface grind to 1mm

Ray

I have some rectangles Matt sent me, maybe 100x50, they would be 20 thou at a guess, i can check tomorrow.

Ew

I also have some 6" x 25" 20 thou and 15 thou. Blue tempered spring steel.

Ray

Thanks, I will have a think about it...

I did come across this place I had not heard of before...

On page 71 of their catalogue http://www.hales.com.au/_pdf/industr...l-products.pdf they sell O1 gauge plate..

Given that the load will be distributed over a decent area, hardness of the shim is not really a major issue. Why not just get some 1.2mm thick (or similar) steel sheet and surface grind it down?
One day when I have the bed sorted on the CVA I'll have to shim my tail stock and that was the plan for that...

Michael

I tried that with some 1.6mm I had on hand, all it did was bow like a banana and pull itself off the plate....

I bought a pack of shim stock from RS Components. Not sure if that helps, but it was among the cheapest that I could find at the time in the size that I needed (300mm).

http://australia.rs-online.com/web/c...ls/shim-stock/

I have the same issue as the OP with my Chipmaster. I had the bed, saddle and tailstock base reconditioned and this resulted in a tailstock which is 10 thou. lower than the headstock. I have added shims between the tailstock base casting and the barrel casting but this means that the V way register is lost (the location register for setting over the barrel for taper turning). My plan, after reconditioning the headstock, is to get the tailstock barrel ground and then bore and sleeve the barrel casting using a tool in the headstock. The tailstock would be placed between the saddle and headstock and the tailstock moved using the saddle feed. I have heard that this is the method Nutall used in the manufacture of their lathes. This might be an option for the OP as it results in a completely reconditioned assembly.
Mm.

I thought the best way to fix a low T/S was to add bronze shim to the ways and scrape it to fit the bed? Any packing between the 2 halves of the T/S may effect the alignment as Mm suggested, and also will leave a gap between the graduations and marker for the offset.
At some stage in the past someone has packed the leblonds T/S up simply by building up some weld in each corner of the bottom half and grinding it flat.....

Ew

Originally Posted by Ueee

I have some rectangles Matt sent me, maybe 100x50, they would be 20 thou at a guess, i can check tomorrow.

Ew

If it suits I have still got about 100 or so kilos of it in different sizes....

Matt

Originally Posted by Metalman

I have the same issue as the OP with my Chipmaster. I had the bed, saddle and tailstock base reconditioned and this resulted in a tailstock which is 10 thou. lower than the headstock. I have added shims between the tailstock base casting and the barrel casting but this means that the V way register is lost (the location register for setting over the barrel for taper turning). My plan, after reconditioning the headstock, is to get the tailstock barrel ground and then bore and sleeve the barrel casting using a tool in the headstock. The tailstock would be placed between the saddle and headstock and the tailstock moved using the saddle feed. I have heard that this is the method Nutall used in the manufacture of their lathes. This might be an option for the OP as it results in a completely reconditioned assembly.
Mm.

What I am up to is the final major part in a complete rebuild.... Everything except the headstock has been apart, ground, replaced and scraped where necessary...

Something like you propose cannot be done on a 10EE... The tailstock leadscrew is hole concentric by a threaded holder... Any change of location of the tailstock ram hole, means the tailstock leadscrew is no longer going to be centred in the hole, with resultant feeding problems.... There are other considerations as well, it can be done though but depends on the machine design... A chap on PM forum did it this way with his Graziano SAG12 with good results... Unfortunately he recently passed away without completing the full rebuild...

Originally Posted by Ueee

I thought the best way to fix a low T/S was to add bronze shim to the ways and scrape it to fit the bed? Any packing between the 2 halves of the T/S may effect the alignment as Mm suggested, and also will leave a gap between the graduations and marker for the offset.
At some stage in the past someone has packed the leblonds T/S up simply by building up some weld in each corner of the bottom half and grinding it flat.....

Ew

There are multiple ways to do it, all depends on how everything fit together... Apparently one thing you do not do is put turcite on the bottom of the tailstock if it is not designed for it.... Some who did it on general lathes complained of the tailstock being impossible to lock down, the turcite being too slippery..

From my point of view there are things to consider when doing this sort of work.... Rigidity being one.... You do not want the two halves only meeting at some random points.... I had a tailstock on an AL1000C lathe that from locked to unlocked the tailstock moved sideways as there was just random contact points between the two halves.. It was an utter crap job of manufacturing a supposed precision machine...

This model 10EE was made not long after Monarch went from a 12" swing to a 12.5" swing.... As they had old castings to use up, with my machine they put a 6.35mm steel spacer plate on top of the tailstock base.... I could replace that, but am not going to..

As it stands now I have done some tests with some 1mm thick gal sheet metal I have on hand.... It surface grinds easily without warping... Looks like I will be making my own shims with either it or I will get some 1.2mm...

I may glue the shim onto the base... I have never felt the need to adjust the tailstock for any taper turning, so once it is aligned, it should be staying aligned...

Readers can read up on my tailstock adventures here, if they have not been following the rebuild progress... http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...ml#post2229036

Originally Posted by .RC.

Apparently one thing you do not do is put turcite on the bottom of the tailstock if it is not designed for it....

I'd concur, don't even think about that.

Regards Phil

I have read that somewhere before, makes sense really....

Whats your thoughts on fixing T/S height Phil?

Cheers.
Ew

Originally Posted by Metalman

I have the same issue as the OP with my Chipmaster. I had the bed, saddle and tailstock base reconditioned and this resulted in a tailstock which is 10 thou. lower than the headstock. I have added shims between the tailstock base casting and the barrel casting but this means that the V way register is lost (the location register for setting over the barrel for taper turning). My plan, after reconditioning the headstock, is to get the tailstock barrel ground and then bore and sleeve the barrel casting using a tool in the headstock. The tailstock would be placed between the saddle and headstock and the tailstock moved using the saddle feed. I have heard that this is the method Nutall used in the manufacture of their lathes. This might be an option for the OP as it results in a completely reconditioned assembly.
Mm.

I did exactly that when I rebuilt an old Premo lathe. It worked out fine.

There's no way I'd do it to my Chipmaster. I'd think of something else.

PDW