Thread: Lathe way covers

Slow down Dave
The lead screw cover is on my to do list but the "gap cover" is a great idea. Is it made out of anything special or just some plywood and pine?

What's the alum(?) tube to the left of the top slide for?

Have you thought about adding another plate like the one on the saddle to the headstock? Or is the cutter far enough away to make it not worth while?

You're killing me Dave! More projects to do.

I second Stustoys query - whats the shiny tube on top of the carriage for?

I am laid up at the moment with the flu which is not helping the broken disc in my neck, so I have been hitting the computer.
The gap cover is sheet metal as well, the carriage is usually half the distance it is in the photo so the ways get covered and the carriage doesn't travel up that far to the part that doesn't get covered.
I found having it on the carriage to be good, as it is always under the tool bit were the chips are. These have been real handy when turning cast because of the mess.

The aluminum tube is were the dro scale lead runs out to the back of the lathe. You can see in the photo below it runs under the cross slide then goes into that tube and out the back. The tube protects the lead from any damage.

Talking about dro's here is something else for lathe to help out anyone putting a compound scale on one of these lathe.
I did want to make levers that you could flip up and over from side to side but they wont work with a scale.

You will find there is not much room for a spanner to get onto the nuts to adjust the compound. I cut up a piece of hex bar for new nuts each side. I drilled out the centre and threaded to suit the compound bolts, then cross drilled the top 3 ways to take a bolt/handle. I made the handle out of a piece of aluminum tube drilled in about 10mm to suit a allen head bolt that runs up the centre.
This way there are no spanners around the reader head and no spanners needed to adjust it. The other side didn't need it, but I put one on it as well so I don't need a spanner for that side either.
When I first put them on I could pick any hole I needed, one side didn't line up right so I found a different thickness washer to put under it to bring it into line.

The handle in the picture sticking out the end has got in the way on a few jobs, but it is only finger tight so it can be taken off or moved another hole easy. I did make the first trial one shorter so it was level with the end of the compound but found it to hard to get to and had to use a screw driver as a wedge to undo it.

They have been on for about 4 years now with no trouble.

Dave

Nice work again Dave, but you forgot to mention your felt way scrappers and carriage lock. My to do list is getting longer all the time. Just so we don't miss anything, what is the black thing to the left of the aluminum tube were the dro scale lead runs? Coolant is my first guess but I'm most likely wrong. hehe
Thanks
Stuart

Hope the flu buggers off quick, and that your disc settles down. My dad has a blown disc in his back at the moment - trying to do a motorhome conversion is not easy with that sort of injury I can tell you! All the best for your speedy recovery.

Stuart
I made up the felt way wipers a while back. What pushed me to do it was I was getting marks on the tail stock flat way from chips getting under the tail stock then getting clamped, even though I was careful.
I made them up out of standard 0.5 zincalum sheet metal I had laying around and folded them up in the vice. I made 2 for the tail stock and while I was there I made one for the cross slide and one for the compound.
I have had the compound and cross slide apart since I installed them and have found no traces of anything and have got no more marks in the tail stock way.

Mark, thanks
The disk in my neck is broken in 2, one side is squashing a nerve against my spine making me get pins and needles down my arms or my arms go dead. I had an operation were they ground away my spine to relieve the nerve but the scar tissue from the operation is now pushing against it making it worse. They will operate again if I want but don't advise it. After scanning my whole back in an MRI they informed me I had of old spine equal to a 70 - 80 year. I have had to give up my motocross bikes because of it.

Dave

A few pictures of the tail stock way wippers.
Before you ask, the longer screw with the stopper on it, is a stop so the tail stock before it hits the cross slide dro scale. It contacts the cross slide underneath the scale.

Dave