Mini Lathe Carriage Lock - Jiggles Around When Unlocked

[ChazzC]

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?

That is why I moved mine. The SIEG lock is designed to be mounted on the chuck side of the carriage to take advantage of the existing tapped holes (for the travel rest) and because of interference with the gib adjusting screws. I tried that, didn't like the big handle so changed that to a smaller one, still didn't like it so modified the lock and drilled & tapped holes on the tail stock side of the Carriage per the link in Post #5. However, I really like your solution and will probably adapt my locking screw to work with his attachment point the next time I have the Saddle removed (or I may just take the tail stock off, run the Saddle all the way to the right and drill & tap the mounting holes in place).

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.

What material did you use for the angle? It has a tight inside corner so I assume you fabricated it from steel?


Charlie

 

[Garage Dog]

What material did you use for the angle? It has a tight inside corner so I assume you fabricated it from steel?

Charlie

For the angle I used a piece of 2x2 1/4" aluminum that I had laying around. I had to notch the top so the gibb adjustment screw would clear. I drilled and tapped 2 m6 holes to screw it together. Then I turned a piece of 1" 1018 for the bolt that screws into the bottom plate and ran a M10x 1.5 die on it, drilled a couple of holes for the alum wrench to match the holes and cut some 1/8" (I think) rod for the alum wrench. It works perfect!

 

[ChazzC]

For the angle I used a piece of 2x2 1/4" aluminum that I had laying around. I had to notch the top so the gibb adjustment screw would clear. I drilled and tapped 2 m6 holes to screw it together. Then I turned a piece of 1" 1018 for the bolt that screws into the bottom plate and ran a M10x 1.5 die on it, drilled a couple of holes for the alum wrench to match the holes and cut some 1/8" (I think) rod for the alum wrench. It works perfect!

Thanks for the details!!