Thread: Mars lathe crosslide scraping and taper gib

I tried that......the bottom way is not symmetrical, the space for the gib is machined off the bottom way not the slide (well except for the taper)....i ended up using the prism to scrape it level to the already scraped area. All fixed now but quite a trap to fall into. Now i have to re-scrape the gib to fit again, glad i had not cut it yet.
I did it with the compound too, only it was far worse as i had to scrape a twist out of it. Easier to fix though, not being trapped in.

Hi Ewan,

"the bottom way is not symmetrical, the space for the gib is machined off the bottom way not the slide (well except for the taper).."
I dont understand this sorry.

One thing I've just noticed which I dont think anyone else has mentioned and its a little late now granted...... I think your gib is on the wrong side of the dovetail... I have no idea how much difference it would make in the real word.

Stuart

It was always on that side, i wonder if another mars owner can tel me what side there's is on?

The flat ways on the saddle are not the same width. Before i machined the taper on the slide the flat ways were the same width. So it doesn't mater if you turn the slide 180 you don't get any further into the corner.

If you like the red spot i have marked has been "removed" to make space for the gib, rather than part of the way on the slide being removed.

Edit, the Conrik shown on the Lathes.co.uk site has its gib on the right too.....

Hi Ewan, Stuart,

So if I understood that correctly, the area where the gib goes is the area that's worn down? The red rectangle in the picture..

Why would it wear there?, wouldn't the gib be a little lower than the slide.

Regards
Ray

oh I see whats happened now.

Right is right
just in this picture you have it on the left.
https://www.woodworkforums.com/attach...2-large-2-.jpg

i.e. the red rectangle is on the wrong side

Still thinking about the rest

Stuart

Originally Posted by RayG

Hi Ewan, Stuart,

So if I understood that correctly, the area where the gib goes is the area that's worn down? The red rectangle in the picture..

Why would it wear there?, wouldn't the gib be a little lower than the slide.

Regards
Ray

Hi Ray,
No its not worn down, its high. But i couldn't get the slide into a position to spot the area. If you go back a few pages i completely re-machined the saddle ways, they were twisted well beyond what i wanted to scrape off. The only scraping i had done in the area was the break up pass.

Stu is right, i F###ed that up royally. The pic i drew on has the rectangle on the wrong side I just saw the non contact area and charged ahead. I blame the 12 hour day i did today.......

Try this pic, its a bit earlier on in the process.... but the clean are is pretty clear.

I'll take some more pics tomorrow, if i get a chance. I didn't set foot in the shed today at all.

Bugger.... i still didn't take the pic of why i couldn't scrape into the corner of the flat ways.....

Anyway, some more progress.....

The compound gib is now flat on the important side and fitted. The compound is sliding nicely through its full range of movement.

I drilled, tapped and counter bored the slide for the gib adjustment screws, and drilled and tapped holes for wipers on the cross slide.
I have machined oil grooves in the Cross and flat saddle way. The V way already has relief at the apex so i simply drill a hole through to it and inserted a ball oiler.
For the dovetails on the cross slide, i drilled down through to the flat way, then across into the dovetail, through the vertical hole. The outside of the hole was then plugged and a ball oiler put in the surface of the cross slide. It seems to work very well.

The cross slide is all back together and feeling very smooth. I had to change the shimming on the nut by .3mm (i guess thats what i took off the flat ways) but i still need to adjust it sideways a little to make up for the amount i took off the doves.

All in all i am very happy with the way it feels.

I am wondering about oiling the compound though, is it worth putting oilers and grooves in or not?

Hi Ewan,

Good to see it coming back together, you certainly work fast! If you are doing the compound why not lubricate it.. Although given that under normal use the compound is not going to move as much as the cross slide, it's probably less of an issue.

I can't quite see the gib adjustment, I assume there is a slot on the gib?

Regards
Ray

Originally Posted by RayG

Hi Ewan,

Good to see it coming back together, you certainly work fast! If you are doing the compound why not lubricate it.. Although given that under normal use the compound is not going to move as much as the cross slide, it's probably less of an issue.

I can't quite see the gib adjustment, I assume there is a slot on the gib?

Regards
Ray

Sorry Ray,
Better late than never i guess....the gib is just machined at each end as per the pic, an M5 socket head cap screw and a small washer is at either end for the adjustment. There simply was not enough meat to slot them, plus that means needing a lathe to make the bolts.....bit of a viscous cycle that one (why on earth do i have 2 lathes and both are in bits)

Cheers,
Ewan

With the making of my youngest's bed and the ally job things had slowed down a bit, but the lathe is mostly back together now.

I have made wipers for the saddle and cross slide, the saddles are a bit interesting on the TS side as the rear one is slit in 2. I'm undecided if i need one running the length of the bed in the gap for the T/S, i don't think much will get under there though. All the wipers are made from 5mm stock, machined back to 2mm for the 3/16 thick felt. A rebate of 3mm seems to be about right to compress the felt enough to apply nice pressure on the way.
The new BS is a godsend, makes life much easier. I even used the dicky little vertical table to cut the v's out.

I've done the cross slide lock too but SWMBO calls.....pics later

Cheers

Here are the pics of the cross slide lock.

The brass puck is 12mm dia, the smallest i felt i could get away with. At the narrowest point it is 5.8mm, the thread is M5.

Now i'm sure there would have been better ways to machine the dovetail, but i did it this way so i didn't have to swap the vice around to being at 90deg from the "norm".

The locking lever will be in the way and have to be removed if i want the rotate the compound anti-clockwise, or past 90deg clockwise, but it can just be removed. I could put a counter bored SHCS in but then it will just fill up with chips.....

I just need to put some small angle in to stop chips getting in the gap down the side of the slide and i think i'm done with the saddle, onto some wipers for the T/S.