Stuck Lathe Carrage Cross Feed.

[Marv]

I came out of retirement to help a buddy get his shop running. I finally made it to his #8 Warner & Swasey M-1200 lathe today. First, it's been badly neglected for lubercation... both carriages have dried up grim on them that I'm working on getting cleaned & lubed. The longitudinal carrage feeds ok fwd & rev under power, but movement by the hand wheel is very hard. The cross feed carriage hand wheel appears to be frozen or stuck (the carriage clamp is in the loose position). I did power feed it most of the way out... but that is it and will not move in or out now. When I engage the "engagement lever" with the "feed lever in rev... I get a slight grinding of the gears like they are trying to engage.

The Square Turret Indexing & Binder Handle also does not move. What"s the trick?

It's been awhile since I worked one of these... am I doing something wrong? How do I get the the cross feed carriage to move again?

 

[JimDawson]

I think I would soak it in a 50/50 mix of automatic transmission fluid and acetone to de-gum it. Sounds like things are gummed up.

 

[Ulma Doctor]

you may need to loosen up gibs and such to get parts moving again,
Jim's response of 50/50 atf/acetone is spot on.
although you can mix it 60% acetone and 40% atf, for faster penetration
or other ratios in between.
if you go too much acetone, not much lubricant/detergent reaches it's intended surfaces

 

[brino]

Hi Marv,

First, welcome to the site!

I was going to suggest exactly what you see above. The acetone thins the mix that it wicks in to every little crack. The acetone evaporates quickly leaving the oil behind. Use in well ventilated area for big jobs/large amounts.....and NOT near open flames.

Ideally the lathe would have been soaked in the stuff for a few weeks _BEFORE_ you tried to move anything.
It's possible to damage lead-screws, nuts and gears by trying to force things too early.
I would never try power feeding until hand feeding was loosened up real well.

Would appreciate some photos and updates as you go.

Good luck with the project!

-brino

 

[ch2co]

+2 on the ATF and Acetone mixed 1:1 (50/50), but give it a LOT of time, nothing overnight. Acetone and its vapor are exteemely flammable as well as somewhat toxic and it evaporates rapidly. Outside or very well ventilated, no smokin, no pilot lights, no flames or sparks of any kind. Good luck


Chuck the grumpy old guy

 

[Marv]

50-50 & 60-40 mix 4 hrs & counting.
Turret unit, & Longitudinal feed unit work very well now. (You should have seen the crud that came out onto the rails).
Cross slide is still stuck fast like the Carriage Clamp is locked (which it isn't). The LF Handwheel moves very slightly... but only to take up the slack like the Carriage Clamp is locked. The table refuses to budge.

What "Gibs"... I don't see any. I have 2 one inch holes mid carriage left side that appear to be holes for shavings to fall though, and 2-3/8 holes 2/3 of the way back on the right side that appear to be dead ends for threaded bolts . All holes are above the top of the rail.

I had my friend take a good look who has a sharp eye and they could not find any "gibs" either.

Note: Test: I set the machine at a very low speed and carefully engaged the cross feed with the hand wheel in the mid play position and it will turn the Carriage Screw gear at which point I quickly disengaged it... so that part works.

I will post photos late afternoon/evening when I get home. Meanwhile I apply liberal amounts of the solution.

 

[kd4gij]

This isn't for your lathe model but should help. It shows the location of the gibes for the saddle and cross slide.

http://www.vintagemachinery.org/pubs/detail.aspx?id=3761

 

[brino]

besides the manual that kd4gij found there is also this one from the same site:
http://www.vintagemachinery.org/pubs/detail.aspx?id=3760
page 25 of which discusses removing the cross-slide and carriage.
(Note, it is for the #3, 4 and 5 not the #8, but they may be similar)

-brino

 

[Marv]

Thanks guys.

One thing I don't understand is on page 25 to remove cross slide "loosen gib screw & remove jib at rear". What does that have to do with the cross slide... it's not even attached to it, or close to it?

I see no jib's I can loosen to free up the carriage... am I missing something here. See photos.

It looks to me that all I need to do is remove the Nut on the hand wheel & the cross feed should pull off... if it is not stuck. But then how do I get it back on w/o loosening the jibs?

How do I get oil in there to loosen it up? Right now I'm squarting it on all sides anyplace I can think of that it might do some good.

 

[Silverbullet]

Wish I could figure the hours I have on running and setting these babies up. Plus the amounts of the items I machined . You've got a nice machine there and a real workhorse to boot. Did you ck to make sure the carrage lock or locks are undone. If I remember some have two way locks ? But it's been forty years ago now , but I can still feel like a machine running a machine . Lots of hard body work no wonder my backs shot. Wish I could do it all over tho.