Tool Height Adjustment

John Hasler said:
Or better yet with a stone.
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Yeah stones are handy, i keep meening to get a better selection as their pritty good value general use items.

Silly question maybe but can you get small stones in shapes for hard to reach places? Or are the dimond coated small files good for that sort of stuff?

Stuart
 
Cavediver said:
What type of stone? Any chance you could provide a link?
I am new to this as well and have a used mini with a few dings in the bed.
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I tend to use general oil stones , probably because i don't know better, i use the finest one i have to hand but their generaly quite big, i see people with more palm sized ones in fine grits for very light abbraising of raised bumps.

I used to find on my 9x20 that moderatly hevey cuting could make the top slide less than happy if it was over hanging at just the wrong angle or length. Take a pic of set up if you get a chance, it will turn in to CSI LATHE and we all like that

;-)

Stuart
 
grepper said:
Thanks for the input everybody!

The issue is that when cutting, vertical force applied to the tool causes the tool to tip enough to affect the depth of the cut, further exacerbated by the fact that the tool is hanging off the side of a QCTP thereby a further distance from the post . Not a lot, but enough to be visible on a polished surface. It is especially apparent when reversing the rotation direction causing the tool to tip in the other direction. I haven’t measured it yet, but maybe .001” or .0005”, something I consider a real problem that I doubt I can overcome with a more practiced technique.
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The carriage is not designed for an “UP” force only a “DOWN” force. Notice that the compound and cross ride on flats in the dovetail in the down force. And only on the angle in the up force. And there isn’t much holding the whole carriage down on that lathe either. You add that all up and that is why you see the excessive play in the up force.
 
Please pardon my slowness, but when turning into the tool, down force on one side of the carriage is up force on the other. Wouldn’t turning in reverse be exactly the same only down on the other side and up on the other?

With the automatic feed engaged, is reversing spindle direction to go in the other direction not advisable?
 
Cavediver, I’m hardly in the position to give advice, but thanks to good advice given here I have found that if you search around, this whole issue including different types of stones, files and scrapers is extensively discussed to the point of being overwhelming, complete with all the good/bad advice and conflicting opinions that you would expect. I have no idea if that is helpful or not, but at least there is a TON of information to weed through.
 
chips&more said:
Sorry, but lapping the ways would be a terrible idea. You need to read up/get more info on the use/ finesse in using of your lathe.
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Thanks to chips&more’s most excellent advice, I now have a much better understanding of the issues. There is a big difference between surfaces mate well because they are flat and level, and two that simply mate well.

This video shows almost exactly the problems I am seeing with my lathe. Towards the end of the video he shows the uneven surfaces caused from the slop in his machine and how a bit of lapping pretty much resolved the problem:


That being said, I’m convinced that some careful scraping, rather than lapping is the way to go. I’m not looking for perfection from the specially imported from the Orient little HF, but I do need to remove the slop, be able to smoothly move the slides without binding and achieve at least a flat surface. If I can’t do that, I’ll replace the parts with new ones, and hope for better result.

On the other end of the spectrum, I found this guy’s entire series of videos most informative:


Thanks everybody for all the words of caution. Without same, I probably would have charged ahead without understanding the issues.
 
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