1957 Clausing Colchester 13 Compound mechanism is very 'stiff'

D

dansawyer

Registered
Registered
Joined
Jun 13, 2018
Messages
442
The machine is a 1957 Colchester 13, new to me. The compound action is very stiff. In this model it appears to me the gib is adjusted by 3 set screws in the side. (There does not appear to be tapered adjustment screws ala a milling machine gib.) The stiffness is not dependent on the dial rotation position, it is uniform throughout a full rotation.
How should I approach diagnosing this? The compound feed can be removed. I am concerned someone forced a gib into the mechanism. I do not have a manual for how the compound is constructed. Is there an order to dissamble documented somewhere? I am concerned about damaging something that is currently not damaged.
Thank you in advance for your help. Dan
 
Last edited:
Yes, I backed them off significantly. I should have clariified that. I believe I will have to disassemble the compound.
I have found a video that details removing and disassembling the compound slide. The link does not copy accurately.
The Issue is the gib appears to be locked by three large allen screws; the three small adjusting allen screws do not operate once the three large screws have been tightened. Based on the above I will proceed to disassemble the compound slide this weekend and update my findings.
 
Last edited:
Usually, one has to remove the screw and its bearing that is usually screwed into the compound, then, the gib is removed and usually the top of the compound can be separated, generally, the compound crank and the graduated dial is removed, revealing spanner holes in the bearing to be engaged by a face spanner.
 
I removed the slide and turned it over. The 6 allen screws were visible, the three small ones and the three large ones that locked the gib in place. This is by no means a standard gib; it is a part that acts to fix one side of the slide ways. I tried to gently tap it free with no effect. I will try to remove the slide in hopes of freeing the gib.
The part is useless as an adjustible gib. It only serves as a fixed way. If I can remove it I will try to gently hone the side that acts as the horozantal sizing edge. This should fix the stiffness, however it will not make it act as an adjustable gib.
 
It would be interesting (to me, anyway) to see this if you could snap some pictures
-Mark
 
It is back together; I managed to adjust the compound feed from overly stiff to acceptable firm. The issue is the large set screws that hold the gib down create interferance between the gib way surface and the compound slide way surface. The only way I can see to fix this would be to remove material on the opposide of the gib from the way surface. This would remove the interferance by allowing the gib to be positioned away from the slide. This would require using the small standard side adjusting screws to adjust the gib. This was beyond what I was willing to tackle on this pass.
 
One final note, when the positioning nuts are tightened they pushed the T bolt into the slide. This essentially 'locked' the slide. I do not understand how this ever worked. I carefully honed off 10 or 15 thou from the end and everything finally came together. The slide has a great feel, just firm enough to not 'walk' under use. This part now works great.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top