# Lathe Carriage Stop



## Hawkeye (Dec 15, 2013)

I'm getting to know my 'new' Storebro lathe by making up some  accessories that I find useful. A few times, I have been missing the  carriage stop that I have on the Hercus lathe. I corrected that  deficiency today. This design includes both a hard stop and a dial  indicator to give advanced notice that the stop is coming up. With a bit  of practice, you can drop out of power feed with about 5 thou left to  turn by hand.


 

I have it adjusted to zero out on the hard stop after 1/2" of contact. I'll replace the hex-head bolt when I can get a 2" SHCS.


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## Philco (Dec 15, 2013)

Very nice job Hawkeye. This is definitely a tool that you will constantly find yourself using.


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## Boot (Dec 15, 2013)

Great idea and great tool.  It is nice to have a hard stop and an indicator stop also.  I use a magnetic base ,but it is a pain in the rear to get it to stay in the right place.  I definitely need one of these. Trouble is I'm involved in two other projects right now.  Boot


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## GK1918 (Dec 15, 2013)

Nice Hawkeye,  by the way, one of my employee's is named "Hawkeye"  Yep, got one eye, got the other eye shot out when a kid by
a bow and arrow from another kid 60 yrs ago.

sam


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## rdhem2 (Dec 15, 2013)

Mr. Hawkeye;

I am not so much worried about the hex-head bolt as I am about the stop rod tap.

Very interesting.

Use mine all the time.

Tap, stop, and DI.

Just not all in one unit!


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## Hawkeye (Dec 16, 2013)

When I was looking for a piece of rod to make the hard stop, I spotted a broken tap on the bench. I spun the broken part square against the grinder and took the tops off the teeth. I spun the tip at the other end to make a small diameter so it's not as sensitive to swarf as the 1/4" tip on my other lathe.


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## 283v8 (Dec 16, 2013)

Someone help me out here.
How does one use a "solid" carriage stop.
I regularly use an indicator in a carriage stop type holder to measure carriage movement which leaves plenty of time/warning to disengage.
It seems to me that poor timing on disengaging with a solid stop would cause a "crash" (carriage into stop) that would damage the feed nut.
Maybe my reflexes arent fast enough for a manual stop at the exact same spot every pass?
Just Askin :thinking:


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## rafe (Dec 16, 2013)

283v8 said:


> Someone help me out here.
> How does one use a "solid" carriage stop.
> I regularly use an indicator in a carriage stop type holder to measure carriage movement which leaves plenty of time/warning to disengage.
> It seems to me that poor timing on disengaging with a solid stop would cause a "crash" (carriage into stop) that would damage the feed nut.
> ...



my question too. does it engage the clutch? That would be my guess but I'm scared to try it because of half-nuts .....not me on the screw


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## xalky (Dec 16, 2013)

You disengage the auto feed right before you get to the solid stop, then you manually feed into the stop. An example would be when your turning down to a shoulder on your left or right. You can set the stop a hair before your finished dimension and then face off the shoulder, afterwords, to your finished dimension. It's especially helpfull when your turning between 2 shoulders, because sometimes it's real easy to overshoot the mark. It just makes things dummy proof so you can pay attention to other things, like safety., and you don't have to worry about looking at that dial guage at every pass.)


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## 283v8 (Dec 17, 2013)

so - if "it is easy to overshot the mark" what happens when the carriage does hit the stop and try to keep moving - does it damage the nut, disengage somehow or what?
Thanks in advance  :thinking:

PS: I often set the dial indicator so that it only moves a few thou before time to cut off - kind of a "soft stop"


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## MedfordChris (Dec 17, 2013)

283v8 said:


> so - if "it is easy to overshot the mark" what happens when the carriage does hit the stop and try to keep moving - does it damage the nut, disengage somehow or what?
> Thanks in advance  :thinking:



You have to disengage the half-nut from the lead screw BEFORE the carriage hits the stop (or bad things happen). Then you can manually feed the last bit by hand until you contact the stop. That way every cut ends in exactly the same spot.


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## xalky (Dec 17, 2013)

283v8 said:


> so - if "it is easy to overshot the mark" what happens when the carriage does hit the stop and try to keep moving - does it damage the nut, disengage somehow or what?
> Thanks in advance  :thinking:
> 
> PS: I often set the dial indicator so that it only moves a few thou before time to cut off - kind of a "soft stop"





MedfordChris said:


> You have to disengage the half-nut from the lead screw BEFORE the carriage hits the stop (or bad things happen). Then you can manually feed the last bit by hand until you contact the stop. That way every cut ends in exactly the same spot.


Exactly, the carriage stop allows you to stop at the exact same place every time while manually feeding the carriage. It's not for automatic use. 

I've seen many carriage stops that do actually disengage the carriage at the end, but thats way more than what we're talking about here and for a different discussion.


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## 283v8 (Dec 18, 2013)

thanks guys. Always good to have an education. You just gave me some:thumbsup:


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