ERL-1340 Cross Slide Lock for DRO Equipped Lathes

mksj said:
Often when doing tight tolerance work one needs to lock the cross slide to get consistent diameters along the length of the cut. My ERL-1340 was fairly tight when new, but over time I did noticed slight shifts in the cross slide position from my original setting. I am using glass scales, and I do not have access to the gib cross slide lock under the scale,. Using spacers between the carriage and DRO scale was not a good option because of the carriage design. In the past I fabricated a cross slide lock on the headstock side of the carriage, and opted fopr this approach for the RERL-1340. This one is made out of 25 mm wide aluminum bar stock with a lower cutout step so the face to carriage distance is about 0.01". The lock is 1" bronze rod with a 7/8-14 (UNF) thread which I cut to the shoulder, there are four 1/4-28 threaded holes at 90 degree intervals for the locking bar. All that is needed is about a 10 degree movement for full carriage lock. The lock mounts to the follow-rest mounting holes, and is easily removed if needed.

Cutting the 7/8-14 thread with a lay down threading insert at 350 RPM.
View attachment 298060View attachment 298061

Installed.
View attachment 298062
View attachment 298063
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Thanks for the suggestion and the photos. I have a new PM-1640TL ( TL-1640 ). PM installed the DRO. The cross slide scale hides the right side of the slide. I don't want to disturb the installation, and, there is no documentation of the right side of the slide in the manual.

So, this a very good suggestion. I'll also look for an alternate, similar solution, for when I want to use the follow rest.

Thank you.
 
I have yet to use a follow rest in the last 10+ years, but if you need to use the follow-rest then you just unbolt the lock and remove it. You would not need to use both at the same time. The lock helps prevent small shifts/creep in the cross slide when you need tolerances typically under 0.001", otherwise these bigger machines the cross slide seems to hold position well when machining. I do like to be able to adjust the tension on the cross slide on some situations, and this gives a very progressive adjustment w/o causing wear. You can also adjust the gibb for a bit more tension if you do not have access to the lock.

Cross slide lock.jpg
 
I wish PM still sold these lathes. I really want to move into this class of machine and the 1440TL is a little to big.
 
mksj said:
I have yet to use a follow rest in the last 10+ years, but if you need to use the follow-rest then you just unbolt the lock and remove it. You would not need to use both at the same time. The lock helps prevent small shifts/creep in the cross slide when you need tolerances typically under 0.001", otherwise these bigger machines the cross slide seems to hold position well when machining. I do like to be able to adjust the tension on the cross slide on some situations, and this gives a very progressive adjustment w/o causing wear. You can also adjust the gibb for a bit more tension if you do not have access to the lock.

View attachment 376141
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I like your cross slide stop. Also, your mod for the micrometer stop is nice.

In the rabbit hole, trying to figure out why the cross slide wheel is so hard to turn, I even removed the gib. No change. I probably lost the ball in the lock if there had been one, since the lock was not documented in my manual.
 
For the cross slide handle being hard to turn. You can disconnect the cross slide nut from the cross slide to narrow down the binding. With the nut disconnected and the gib adjusted correctly you should be able to slide the cross slide with minimal effort. This is how I adjust my gibbs, take the leadscrew out of play. Then once it slides as it should reconnect the dial and adjust for backlash.
On the factory cross slide lock their was no ball. Screw pushed on gibb. After redoing my lock i added a brass insert to press on the gib. 0F57A282-FC8E-44CE-AD2A-FD329872AD5D.jpeg
 
Cadillac said:
For the cross slide handle being hard to turn. You can disconnect the cross slide nut from the cross slide to narrow down the binding. With the nut disconnected and the gib adjusted correctly you should be able to slide the cross slide with minimal effort. This is how I adjust my gibbs, take the leadscrew out of play. Then once it slides as it should reconnect the dial and adjust for backlash.
On the factory cross slide lock their was no ball. Screw pushed on gibb. After redoing my lock i added a brass insert to press on the gib. View attachment 376196
Click to expand...

Thank goodness about "no ball" in the locking mechanism.
 
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