G0602 Compound Problems. Thoughts, Ideas?

Old Squier

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Happy New Year lads! Hope I'm in the right spot for my question. Looked in knowlege-base, but didn't find anything precisely on point.

My Grizzly G 0602 lathe compound slide is experiencing extreme foulage. It's either tight as hide or horribly loose. Not only that, but both of these undesirable conditions exist along the entire travel of the slide. Moreover, it comes to a hard stop well short of full extension. I've worked with the gib adjustment to no avail. Backlash too, is awful on both compound and cross slide. Again, adjustment procedures in manual meet with negative results.

Do I just need to undertake a total disassembly/rebuild on this little machine? My principal lathe is a high-quality precision toolroom machine with perfect, silky-smooth operation. It is totally trouble -free, whereas this beast has been a real POS from the get-go. It's making me crazy. Any pointers on disassembly will also be most happily received.

Thanks in advance boys!


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Hey Old Squier, you are not too far from me as I am near Fort Smith. You can come over and see what I have done to the cross slide to help rigidity.
 
Squier, How old is your 602? Due to the relatively little use the compound lead screw sees under normal conditions, I wouldn't expect to see wear but you could have hardened lube deposits or rust which will make movement difficult. When you say either loose or tight does this occur with each revolution of the crank or does it vary from one end to the other of travel? A variation as you rotate the crank could indicate a bent lead screw whereas a variation with position of the compound would more likely be due to a misadjusted gib. Full travel on my compound is about 4.2"

I would suggest pulling the compound off for cleaning, inspection, and lubrication. The compound lead screw has no convenient means for lubrication of the lead screw,ior thrust bearing.

There is no lash adjustment for the compound lead screw other than thrust bearing play. The cross slide lead screw has an adjustment for lash in the lead screw nut. However, the manual's description is incorrect. The cap screw that they describe as the adjustment is actually the nut retaining screw and should be tight. Just forward of the cap screw is a cone point set screw which wedges into a split in the nut to provide bias and remove lash. This is part 920 in the parts diagram. Between that adjustment and the adjustment for thrust bearing play, you should be able to reduce backlash to an acceptable level. When adjusting lash, you need to check for freedom pof movement at the extremes of travel which normally don't see as much wear.

Disassembly is fairly straightforward. The compound can easily be removed by loosening the gib screws and backing the compound off until the lead screw clears the nut. When reassembling make sure the slot in the gib nests the center adjustment setscrew.

The 602 is not a tool room lathe by any stretch of the imagination but then neither is the price. It does have shortcomings as supplied. but I have found it to be a reasonably well made machine that benefits greatly from some customization and tuning.

BTW, the set screw, part 920, was missing from my lathe when I bought it. A call to Grizzly got a replacement.
 
i think the best two things you can do to improve your compound is to make a four bolt clamp to improve rigidity .

and rework the gibb and screws . my gibb strip was not even close to being flat . like you my compound went from to tight to way to loose .

i spend an hour or two with a stone and worked it untill it was as flat as i could make it , and then went to work on the set screws .
i made three new screws to replace the factory junk and then drilled and tapped two new holes in-between the three factory holes .

i think the addition of the two new set screws made all of the difference
 
Hey Old Squier, you are not too far from me as I am near Fort Smith. You can come over and see what I have done to the cross slide to help rigidity.
Hey Rascal - thanks for your reply! Yeah, I'm not too far at all - 10 miles, or so, northeast of Tahlequah near the AR line. I would love to see what you have done. I've never sent a PM using Tapatalk. But, I'll try to figure it out tommorrow and see when we can get together.

Squier a/k/a "Paul".



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Hi RJ! Than you for your informative post.

First, I want to apologize if it sounded like I was trashing the G0602. I'm sure it's basically an okay machine. I've just had a LOT of problems with it. Bad motor, sand pillar to post, tailstock won't accept any of the three arbors Grizzly provided, so drilling anything properly is out till I have time to take it apart fand perhaps make some new/better parts. I know others who have had terrific results from their machines. So, not trashing it at all, just frustrated.

Okay, my lathe was new in April 2016, manufactured (if my failing memory is correct) in the summer of 2015.

The compound slide wobbles side-to-side with each turn of the crank. The problems of too loose/tight vary from end to end, and is especially tight near the end of its range of travel.

I will definitely pull the compound as you and "Bocephus" suggest, to clean, repair, or replace any parts as needed.

The discrepancy in the manual you mentioned is noted. Unfortunately, not the only discrepancy I've found. (The tailstock arbor for drill chuck).

I shall also attempt, with as much attention and focus as I can muster, to adjust the lash again. Maybe I missed something on my previous 10-12 attempts. I will also be certain part 920 is in place.

Thanks again RJ, I'll post again and let you know how it goes.

Paul




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give some consideration to adding the two extra Gibb screws ... it will put and keep a lot more surface in contact .
the three factory screws just aren't enough .

if the tail stock isnt right right i would give some serious thought to sending it back to grizzly
 
i think the best two things you can do to improve your compound is to make a four bolt clamp to improve rigidity .

and rework the gibb and screws . my gibb strip was not even close to being flat . like you my compound went from to tight to way to loose .

i spend an hour or two with a stone and worked it untill it was as flat as i could make it , and then went to work on the set screws .
i made three new screws to replace the factory junk and then drilled and tapped two new holes in-between the three factory holes .

i think the addition of the two new set screws made all of the difference
Thank you Bocephus, for your suggestions. I've sure been lucky to catch your attention as well as that of RJ and Rascal. Looks as though the solution is going to lie in pulling the compound and tataking the action you guys reccomend. Then, try to hook-up with Rascal and see what he's done to his machine to increase rigidity.

As I mentioned before, I'll post again and let you know the results.

Thank again, Squier/Paul

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give some consideration to adding the two extra Gibb screws ... it will put and keep a lot more surface in contact .
the three factory screws just aren't enough .

if the tail stock isnt right right i would give some serious thought to sending it back to grizzly
Hey Bocephus!

Yeah, I can add the extra gib screws. Sounds like a great idea if it will help cure this doggone problem.

Oh yeah, as for the tailstock, I did send it back. They said they would have someone look at it and report back before they sent out a replacement. Well, that didn't happen. Rather they sent me a new tailstock that was too tall. Can you believe they suggested I mill the bottom of the damned thing to get it to the correct height?: I told them they were nuts and requested another, correct, tailstock. It was at the correct height, but had the same issues as the first one. Ha, ha! A tech at Grizzly finally told me the truth: They really have no way to replace a tailstock with certainty as to height, whether or not a drill chuck arbor should have a tang or not, etc... This is because the factory that makes them changes specs willy-nilly and no one at Grizzly has any clue what tailstock shipped with a particular lathe. Great, huh?

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oh you defiantly need to cut off any tang that might be on an arbor . matter of fact except for dead centers i have had to cut every arbor off right right before the start of the taper to get the full usable quill travel .
having your tail stock a little high shouldn't be an issue even if its .004 -.005 to high heck someone who knows more then me might even allow for it being higher then that .
i think .001-002 to high is a common practice to allow for wear .

to my thinking it is much more important that it lines up on the same axis without any nod
 
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