# Help with adjusting LMS 5200 lathe



## Ckormann (Feb 4, 2018)

Hi all,

I am new to machining and recently purchased an LMS 5200 lathe. I am having a difficult time adjusting the cross slide and the compound. 

I am struggling to get the cross slide to move freely but be tight enough that it does not lift, for example, on a facing cut. I have the same issue with back lash. I have to make it pretty tight to remove the backlash, but then there is too much resistance when trying to move the cross slide.

I also have a back lash type behavior with the compound,  but it is not back lash in the true sense. It is caused by the way the compound lead screw is held in place.  There is about 20 thousands of play that the lead screw has with the bushing (for lack of the proper word to describe it) that holds the lead screw in place.

If anyone has experience with the LMS 5200 I would greatly appreciate your advice.

Thank you,
Chris


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## Chuck K (Feb 4, 2018)

I'm not familliar with that model, but a lot of things are common between different lathes.  One thing I can tell you is that you don't address backlash by tightening your gibs.  The issue with your compound could be as simple as tightening the nuts at the handle to pull the slop out of it.  Or it may have a worn screw and nut.  Is it a used machine?


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## Ckormann (Feb 4, 2018)

Thank you for responding. I didn't mean to imply I was trying to resolve back lash by adjusting the gibs. I should have been clearer about that. What I was trying to say was that in adjusting the gibs and the set screws for backlash, I can get the cross slide to be tight to the dovetail and still move easily, or I can get rid of back lash and have the cross slide still move easly. But I have been unable to have the cross slide tight to the dovetail and get rid of back lash and still move easily.  I hope that makes sense.

Also, It is a new lathe.

Chris


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## Chuck K (Feb 4, 2018)

Was it built crooked?  It sounds like your crosslide screw is binding.


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## royesses (Feb 4, 2018)

It is just a customized Sieg, same as the one sold at harbor freight. I have a 7x16 from Harbor Freight that started life as a 7x10. I have extensively modified it mostly with LMS parts.  The 5200 is a much higher end lathe though. When new the cross slide and compound are difficult to get adjusted until they wear in a little.  I use a grease containing 65% molybdenum that can really help out but it is expensive. The grease is available on Amazon and Ebay. I use it on my rifle bolt lugs where it works like magic. You will most likely need to have a bit more drag on the cross slide and compound than you'd like until you use it enough to get the gibs and slides to wear in. The moly grease really helps on the cross slide screw where it goes into the cross slide. You will never get rid of all the backlash. You adjust for best available backlash and least drag and then use it. As it wears in you can readjust and eventually it will be pretty good. LMS sells brass gibs and they might help a bit. Also you could call LMS and ask for their suggestions. They are a great bunch of people.

Some more info at:
http://www.mini-lathe.com/
Roy


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## Ken from ontario (Feb 4, 2018)

The cross slide and compound slide on these lathes(when new) are a little too finicky in my opinion  but it doesn't mean you can not achieve the smoothe  performance you're looking for,it takes a few sessions of fiddling with them to reach your goal.

 I took apart both slides and cleaned them thoroughly, sanded the gibs a bit to get rid of a couple of high spots, greased everything and reassembled them ,then started to adjust the  cross slide first.you may need to do this again a few times as the gibs wear. changing the set screws to better quality screws  is not a bad idea either.  a cross slide lock is also a great upgrade especially for facing . you just lock the cross slide so it doesn't get pushed back . 

If you haven't watched Frank Hoose's videos on youtube ,I highly recommend that you do,  he also has a few videos on adjusting the cross slide and compound slide:





 











There's a great video by Steve Jordan on how to upgrade the compound slide on these lathes, which is  to drill two extra hole on the side of the compound slide so you could lock it when you  don't need to move it.
Here's the video on the upgrade:





Hope this helped.
Ken.


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## MSD0 (Feb 5, 2018)

Ckormann said:


> Thank you for responding. I didn't mean to imply I was trying to resolve back lash by adjusting the gibs. I should have been clearer about that. What I was trying to say was that in adjusting the gibs and the set screws for backlash, I can get the cross slide to be tight to the dovetail and still move easily, or I can get rid of back lash and have the cross slide still move easly. But I have been unable to have the cross slide tight to the dovetail and get rid of back lash and still move easily.  I hope that makes sense.
> 
> Also, It is a new lathe.
> 
> Chris


Here's some information that might help.


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## Wreck™Wreck (Feb 5, 2018)

Lead screws with square threads will have backlash, the only way around this is a loaded lead screw nut/nuts. If one loads a non rolling element screw/ nut assembly it will have a good deal of friction, the answer is ball screws which may be loaded and exhibit little friction.

If you are not interpolating arcs where an axis must change direction and lead screw lash becomes a problem just ignore it as has been done for the last 120 years with manual machines.


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## Ckormann (Feb 5, 2018)

Thank you everyone. A lot of great information.

I am very familiar with Frank Hoose's videos and website. I have watched all of his videos on the 5100 multiple times and it was really helpful.

So what I am taking from all the responses is that I am probably going to have to live with a little backlash, which I can. It's not a big deal. I just wanted to know how experienced machinists dealt with this.

I think Roy and Ken are on the right track about taking time for the mating surfaces to wear in. I watched a video that showed how to help that process along. It involves taking apart the cross slide and compound and removing the lead screw. Then apply some WLG to the cross slide and re-attach it to the dove tail without the lead screw, then aggressively move the cross slide back and forth. As it gets easier to slide, tighten the gibs a little and repeat. It needs to be done for a significant period of time, but I imagine that will vary from person to person. I did perform this process, but probably not for long enough so I am going back to square one and start over.

Thank you everyone.

Chris


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## lcrepairs (Feb 18, 2018)

Ckormann said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I am new to machining and recently purchased an LMS 5200 lathe. I am having a difficult time adjusting the cross slide and the compound.
> 
> ...


I had the very same lathe for a year or so.  I couldn't take it anymore and bought a full size lathe.  It was very expensive for something that really wasn't much use.  I try to steer anyone away from jacking with mini type machines as it's just a waste of time and money.  Spend your money on something that weighs at least 1200 lbs.  It was a costly but valuable learning experience for me.


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## Ckormann (Feb 25, 2018)

lcrepairs said:


> I had the very same lathe for a year or so.  I couldn't take it anymore and bought a full size lathe.  It was very expensive for something that really wasn't much use.  I try to steer anyone away from jacking with mini type machines as it's just a waste of time and money.  Spend your money on something that weighs at least 1200 lbs.  It was a costly but valuable learning experience for me.



I agree with you and I would love to have bought a much larger lathe, but I just don't have the space, and possibly not the budget. Purchasing a nice lathe like that is a bit of tossing pearls before swine; my skill level does not yet justify that type of a purchase. As it is, I have tuned the lathe to the point where it leaves a pretty nice finish. The cross slide and compound are tighter than I would like, but I can live with it for now.

Chris


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## Bob Korves (Feb 25, 2018)

Ckormann said:


> I agree with you and I would love to have bought a much larger lathe, but I just don't have the space, and possibly not the budget. Purchasing a nice lathe like that is a bit of tossing pearls before swine; my skill level does not yet justify that type of a purchase. As it is, I have tuned the lathe to the point where it leaves a pretty nice finish. The cross slide and compound are tighter than I would like, but I can live with it for now.
> 
> Chris


I can certainly understand the:
-Not enough money, and
-Not enough room
issues, but cannot give you a bye on the:
-Not skillful enough, and
-Not worthy (of good machines and tooling)
Machining is not easy to learn.  It takes time, effort, practice, and often help.  Hobbling yourself with poor machines and tools will make the learning slower, more frustrating, and more confusing.  It will make you less likely to succeed.  On the other hand, seasoned machinists know what they are looking for and how to get there.  Poor tools and machines can be compensated for if they know how.  They can have great success and turn out beautiful and accurate work with poor machines and tooling.  Beginners deserve and require decent enough tools to work with to help achieve initial success.  Otherwise, they can often fall along the wayside, confused and frustrated.  The other thing newcomers really need is mentors, when in a self taught environment with no school, no teacher, no master machinist, no apprentice and journeyman programs.  Find someone or even better, multiple ones who can help you with problems.  H-M is really useful, and is a real godsend, but we are not physically looking over your shoulder and really seeing what is going on, good, bad, mediocre, and/or dangerous.  Self taught newcomers really need that input to put them on a workable and safe learning path to success.  Even just some friends who are machinists where you can hang out and watch is very useful, though you will need to sort out and vet the good, bad, efficient, inefficient, safe, and dangerous practices by thought, study, and practice.  Hobby machining is often a sport for loners, but it need not be that way, and is a lot more fun with mutual help and camaraderie...


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## Ken from ontario (Feb 25, 2018)

Your LMS 5200 could produce beautiful projects if you know basic turning/milling and fully understand the smaller machines limitations. , and if you look around the HM forums you'll find some the most talented machinist happen to own smaller lathes( due to lack of space or other reasons) , and you'd be amazed at the intricate machining and tuning involved in their projects.
The point is, to own a small lathe/mill does not automatically makes you a total novice  and by the same token, owning a bigger /much heavier lathe does not make one a professional /seasoned machinist.


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## lcrepairs (Feb 25, 2018)

Bob Korves said:


> I can certainly understand the:
> -Not enough money, and
> -Not enough room
> issues, but cannot give you a bye on the:
> ...


Very True, these are the things I learned, if you can run a mini Lathe (which is extremely difficult) you can run a larger lathe very easily.  I couldn't believe how easy it was after fighting that little 5200 for about 1 year.  I'm not knocking what others do, I'm just stating how I learned the hard way and don't want others to fall into the trap of thinking the mini lathe is the way to go.  My Grizzly G0776 isn't very big and don't take up all that much room.  I just measured it at 2ft X 6ft footprint.  It works great.  I've owned it now for 1 yr 4mo.


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