Mini Lathe Carriage Lock - Jiggles Around When Unlocked

[MaverickNH]

I put this Carriage Lock on my LMS 4200 7x12 mini-lathe. It’s fine for acing when locked down, but when unlocked for turning, the handle is loose and jiggles around. I snapped the handle off on a run when it jiggled forward under the spindle and hit a lathe dog.

Did I have it set up wrong? It’s tight over the read bolt when locked (as in the picture below) but when unlocked, does not remain in position over the rear bolt.

 

[RJSakowski]

I scratched my head over this and the only solution that I could come up with would be to switch to a left hand thread for the lock bolt. That way, it will still jiggle but to the front rather than the rear. You will of course now have the same situation when locked but at least the carriage won't be moving then. If there was a possible conflict when locked, you could lift and rotate the handle to clear.

 

[Garage Dog]

Could you drill & tap the other side of the carriage so it would be away from the rotating chuck.

Here is what I made to lock my carriage. It works quite well. I made oiler fittings for the existing holes in the carriage.

 

[MaverickNH]

My 2nd search found the below thread - Google can be touching on wording!

7 X 12/14/16 inch mini lathe carriage lock LMS 2977 Review

The small 7 by 10/12/14/16 lathes have a very light carriage. Often when facing or parting they want to shift. This can result in facing and parting operations which are not entirely flat. I had resorted to stiffly holding the carriage wheel while cranking in the crossfeed; this was less than...

www.hobby-machinist.com

 

[ChazzC]

My solution, after several locations/variations of the LMS Carriage Lock.

 

[pontiac428]

Wow, my solution is rocket science compared to y'alls. A somewhat stiff coil spring to spread the nut from the carriage when unlocked will do it. Then again, I'm no engineer...

 

[MaverickNH]

Wow, my solution is rocket science compared to y'alls. A somewhat stiff coil spring to spread the nut from the carriage when unlocked will do it. Then again, I'm no engineer...

I’ll epoxy the snapped off handle back on and try it! Worst case, I snap it off again.

 

[ChazzC]

Wow, my solution is rocket science compared to y'alls. A somewhat stiff coil spring to spread the nut from the carriage when unlocked will do it. Then again, I'm no engineer...

The LMS didn’t include the spring but since there was one at the tail stock plate it looked like a good idea so I added one at the Carriage Lock too.

 

[Garage Dog]

Can someone explain why they prefer the carriage lock to be on the left side of the carriage? It would seem to be far more logical to put it on the right side away from the chuck so the carriage can be locked without turning off the lathe.

What am I missing here?

 

[eraserhd]

Can someone explain why they prefer the carriage lock to be on the left side of the carriage? It would seem to be far more logical to put it on the right side away from the chuck so the carriage can be locked without turning off the lathe.

What am I missing here?

I bought the lock from LMS and it uses the holes that were already drilled and tapped for the follower rest. I’m pretty sure that is the only reason, and I’m going to move it to the other side one of these days because I can’t lock it when I’m in close to the chuck and I worry about the chuck hitting the locking handle.