Stuck with 4 way toolpost. How to cope?

[mickri]

Show us pictures of your 4 way with the handle in the different positions that you a talking about.

 

[taiwanluthiers]

Show us pictures of your 4 way with the handle in the different positions that you a talking about.

So I removed the washer and picture 1 shows where it is, but before I removed the washer it was in picture 2 location. The problem is that the position can change depending on how I set the compound, and when it's in the wrong position it can crash.

It looks like previous owners used the compound as an anvil...

Another thing I have trouble with a 4 way is that it seems boring bars have different level compared to normal tool bits, I don't know if this is by design but say a 20mm tool bit requires another mm of shim, a 20mm boring bar on the other hand requires nearly 12mm of shim to be up to the center level. Not sure why.

 

[mickri]

Boring bars typically require different shimming because the tool bit is held in the center of the bar. This is done so the bar can fit into smaller holes.

I used a 4 way before I made made my Norman QCTP. And I still use it occasionally. I set the compound at 29.5* because this is the setting for threading. I do virtually all of my machining with the compound set at 29.5* except for parting when I would set the compound at 0*. Your pictures show the compound at around 0*. Setting the compound at 29.5* would move the handle away from the chuck with the washer in place. I don't understand why you would ever need to remove the washer. Even if you had the compound pointing directly at the chuck the handle would still be pointed away from the chuck with the washer in place.

I recall reading a post where a member who preferred using a 4 way would glue the shims to the bottom of the tool bit. This way he didn't have to fiddle with shims when he changed tool bits. All of his tool bits were shimmed to the correct height.

I noticed that you have luthiers in your forum name. Do you make guitars or other types of stringed instruments? Show us pictures of your guitars. We would love to see them.

 

[taiwanluthiers]

A guitar I'm working on, and a mandolin I'm doing neck angle adjustment on by gluing in a wedge under the fingerboard. The lathe and a mill I have is intended to support this operation.

 

[David2011]

The last lathe I owned had a four way and I disliked it very much for all of the same reasons as you enumerated. I had it for 10 years. The center post was screwed directly into the compound instead of using a tee nut so changing it would have required machining a tee slot into the compound. I didn’t trust myself to do that so I lived with the four way. When I got a different lathe I didn’t use it even for a test cut until I got a QCTP and mounted it. I used a 13” South Bend for two years with a lantern toolpost and reall preferred it to the four way.

 

[stupoty]

So I removed the washer and picture 1 shows where it is, but before I removed the washer it was in picture 2 location. The problem is that the position can change depending on how I set the compound, and when it's in the wrong position it can crash.

It looks like previous owners used the compound as an anvil...

Another thing I have trouble with a 4 way is that it seems boring bars have different level compared to normal tool bits, I don't know if this is by design but say a 20mm tool bit requires another mm of shim, a 20mm boring bar on the other hand requires nearly 12mm of shim to be up to the center level. Not sure why.

To change the position the clamp handle stops, change the thickness of the washer (or add a washer) under the clamp down lever.

Stu

 

[epanzella]

On my old Logan I had a home made tool post that was essentially one position of a four position post. I got a plastic box with small compartments designed to hold fishing lures. Every time a made a shim for a tool I kept it with that tool and stored it in that box. Swapping tools was just a matter of grabbing the tool and it's dedicated shim.

 

[mmcmdl]

For your height on different tools . Mill an aluminum block for each tool to bring it up to C/L . Pretty simple . Mill a slot into the block that the tool will fit into . Loc-tite it in you want . As far as the handle , take the one piece handle off and put a nut on it . Use a ratchet to tighten and loosen as you need . Take the ratchet off when done . This is really not a big issue here .