Y AXIS FINISH FEED ???

[ARM]

Hi Guys
Most of U will say this is indeed a dumb question.
Nevertheless we have to get it out and over with, if we want to improve the final quality of our work.

We have this quite accurate 14 x 40 heavy duty import Lathe on which we just cannot seem to slow down the auto Y AXIS SADDLE/APRON FEED RATE towards the chuck to acquire a nice SUPER SMOOTH FINISH. Having seen a short video of an EMCO V10P in action, which a friend wants to sell, we were blown away by the absolutely dead slow even AUTO FEED that machine had to take a finish cut. It was classy.

We have attached pics of the CONTROLS of our LATHE which shows the LEADSCREW ENGAGEMENT LEVER at the lower most. Having tried most of the positions on both the Red right and Blue left, we just cannot seem to slow down the LEADSCREW to achieve this speed reduction.
Are we doing everything wrong ???
Is there something we need to do with the other LEVERS ???
Is this not possible on this TYPE or MODEL of machine ???
It seems illogical for the LEADSCREW to turn at any slower speed than set by the governing SPEED CONTROLS at the upper most !!!

We are confident there are many of U more experienced with these mechanical oddities out there who would be able to throw more light in our state of darkness.
Your esteemed input would be immensely appreciated.
We thank U in advance.
Kindest regards
aRM

 

[kd4gij]

Post a pic of the controls on the sadle. That lathe should not use the lead screw for turning. The lead screw is for threading only.

 

[ARM]

Post a pic of the controls on the sadle. That lathe should not use the lead screw for turning. The lead screw is for threading only.

Hi KD
It's 22h07 here. Kinda late for us.
Will go down first thing in the morn and take pics of the SADDLE to upload.
Will keep U posted.
Take care
aRM

 

[Tony Wells]

Right, the lead screw doesn't even need to be turning for this. And a different lever on the carriage is used to engage feed instead of thread.

Oh, and it's Z on a lathe for the left-right feeds, not Y.

 

[darkzero]

From what I can tell in the charts, it appears that the lathe does not have a specific lever/control for changing between power feed & the leadscrew, looks like it's done with a combination of levers.

It looks like .002" is the slowest IPR which is appears to be labeled LCT1W. So the high low lever on the top that is pointing down you set to L (there lever directly behind it changes saddle direction). The bottom left lever set to C. The middle lever set to T. The lever all the way on bottom set to 1, & the lever on the right set to W. That should give you .002 IPR for Z feeding.

In the pics it looks like it is currently set to LCS1Z which looks like it is for 0.4 metric thread

 

[Ray C]

By any chance, does this lathe have change gears on the side of the head? If it does, you'll need to install the correct ratio gears...


Ray

 

[ARM]

Post a pic of the controls on the saddle. That lathe should not use the lead screw for turning. The lead screw is for threading only.

Hi KD
We got some pics now and hope these will assist.


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By any chance, does this lathe have change gears on the side of the head? If it does, you'll need to install the correct ratio gears...


Ray

Pardon my ignorance Ray.
But aren't these "change Gears" used for Cutting threads only ???
aRM

 

[Ray C]

On my lathe, the change gears transmit all power into the lower gearbox which controls both the leadscrew and feedrod. Yours may be different as it looks like a much higher-end lathe.

Nice looking lathe you got!

Ray

 

[Tony Wells]

The drive gears for the feed/thread gearbox aren't generally called "change gears" on this type of setup, meaning that you don't change them to alter the feed or thread. They are fixed, unless you change the leadscrew to Metric, then you change to the appropriate set for that leadscrew.

On the apron, the lever on the left is the half-nut engagement control, the lever in the middle engages the feed. It has three basic positions, the middle (no engagement), up, which engages the crossfeed (-X-) feed, and down, which you have to pull to the left to get to, engages the longitudinal (-Z-) feed. When the proper gear selection is made through the use of the levers, you will get a fine or coarse, or in-between feedrate.

The knob on the bottom simply pulls out and pushes in to control which direction things move.....left or right, in or out.

 

[epanzella]

Hi KD
We got some pics now and hope these will assist.
View attachment 54658View attachment 54659View attachment 54660

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I believe that lever on the left of the apron switches from leadscrew to power feed. In the pic it's in the "up" position which is for threading. Push it down and the feed geartrain in the apron should slow the feed down. I don't know anything about your lathe but my machine has a lever like that and that's what mine does.