SB 10" Cross-slide Chip Guard

[Canuck75]

Have always been annoyed with the cross-slide chip guard on my SB 10" because to move the cross-slide fully away (aft) you need to turn that chip guard around because it runs into the base of the compound rest, and, you have to back things off to be able to get enough room to swing the guard around. When you again move the cross-slide forward the lead screw becomes exposed so you must once again turn the guard around. So I made a stacked double leaf replacement which gets rid of that issue. The two leaves are basically the same except the slot in the under leaf is about half-travel length, this causes the under leaf to get picked up by the locking bolt about halfway during back travel, and, if already back, the locking bolt again picks up the under leaf about halfway during forward travel. The narrow slots at the back are just to keep the leaves aligned and ride against a small screw at the back. At no time is the cross slide lead-screw exposed. I had already made a different and longer extension arm to accommodate the DRO out back so had territory to mount the extra length of the new leaves.
Hope you find this interesting.

 

[gard]

Well done, it looks very clean. I have wondered about the standard chip guard as neither of my lathes came with one (SB 13 1/2 and 10L). Is the standard one just flat plate of steel with a single hole or is there some feature on the bottom that keeps it aligned to the slot? How thick is it? I like the idea of the stacked leaf but not sure I have enough room behind the taper attachment.

 

[benmychree]

I have seen quite a few SB lathes, and not one of them had any such guard.

 

[MontanaLon]

I have seen quite a few SB lathes, and not one of them had any such guard.

Standard with the taper attachment.

 

[SLK001]

Standard with the taper attachment.

No, it wasn't standard! It was an additional purchase from SB! Go figure...

 

[Canuck75]

I too have noticed from pictures that some have the guard and some don't. Yes, the slotted extension arm is part of the taper attachment setup. The first picture I included shows the original SB guard that came with my lathe. And, yes, it has dents on either side of the clamp bolt hole which protrude into the slot and keeps the guard aligned. It is 1/16" thick.
Thanks for the replies.