# Cross feed nut



## RJ-Jr (Dec 31, 2020)

My Wade 8a had a lot of play in the nut so I made a new one from bearing bronze. It’s pretty tight but hopefully it will work itself in. I used a $30 tap I got from eBay, 7/16-10 left hand Acme thread. No more backlash 
rick


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## benmychree (Dec 31, 2020)

How about posting a picture of the lathe?  I saw a Wade lathe many years ago and was impressed with it, it was quite nice.  I like the quite long length of the nut, should last a long time.  I made one for a 14" American High Duty lathe many years ago that was cast iron and 3" long with acme threads, also made a new screw for it, so nice to have a screw and nut with nearly no backlash.


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## RJ-Jr (Dec 31, 2020)




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## RJ-Jr (Dec 31, 2020)

The Wade is #696 which puts it late 1950’s production. It has a US Navy property tag on the back of the bed. It’s in pretty good shape And is real nice to use.


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## benmychree (Dec 31, 2020)

Does it have the wide front way like a Leblond?


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## RJ-Jr (Jan 1, 2021)

RJ-Jr said:


> The Wade is #696 which puts it late 1950’s production. It has a US Navy property tag on the back of the bed. It’s in pretty good shape And is real nice to use.





benmychree said:


> Does it have the wide front way like a Leblond?


Not sure what the Leblond looks like but the Wade ways are not symmetrical. The front one is about an inch+ wide and a lower angle.


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## benmychree (Jan 1, 2021)

RJ-Jr said:


> Not sure what the Leblond looks like but the Wade ways are not symmetrical. The front one is about an inch+ wide and a lower angle.


Yes, that was what I was asking, and is as the one that I saw so many years ago (early 1960s) in our school machine shop class, it came from surplus, and the night class guys rescraped the ways, etc.  I figured that the teacher would give it to himself as a retirement present, but that did not happen, what became of it, I never heard.


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## Axismatt (Jan 11, 2021)

Regarding the tightness... I know some guys will smear a little lapping compound on the threads and run it back and forth awhile until it relaxes.  Not enough to loosen things (obviously not the goal), but it will smooth off jagged spots at the microscopic level that are making it feel stiff.


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## RJ-Jr (Jan 12, 2021)

I’ll give that a try if it stays tight. It’s certainly workable now just a tad tight.


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## macardoso (Jan 12, 2021)

Man, I'd worry the lapping compound would embed itself in the soft nut and wear the screw forever. Maybe I am wrong.


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## RJ-Jr (Jan 12, 2021)

I was just out in the shop and gave it a few turns. I’ll probably just leave it alone As it works as it should. No sense trying to help and end up wearing both the nut and screw out.


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## ptross (Jan 15, 2021)

I also have a Wade with similar problem. Can you answer a few questions about how you laid out the hole location in the new nut for the thread?
Peter


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## RJ-Jr (Jan 15, 2021)

ptross said:


> I also have a Wade with similar problem. Can you answer a few questions about how you laid out the hole location in the new nut for the thread?
> Peter


I did the best I could measuring from the original worn part. I came up with the threaded hole .500” from the dovetail bottom. The Dovetail is where the nut is held on the cross slide. I started with a block of bronze bar stock. Once it was machined to size I drilled and tapped the 7/16-10 thread. It is possible that this is where the tightness comes from. It is possible that the threaded hole is not exactly parallel with the mating surface. I indicated it to be less than .001 but maybe it isn’t god enough. As the nut is far out on the screw it moves smoothly. When the nut get close to where it is held in the cross slide it tightens up a bit. Honestly it is very slight and I’m just going to leave it. Hope this helps. Let me know if you want more info. Rick


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## ptross (Jan 15, 2021)

your lathe looks like it has much lower mileage than mine. Mine has had a couple of injuries, but most were repaired at sometime in the past. I also have the variable speed drive, though some of my speed control mechanism (sheaves, brackets, etc) have been modified. I recently made a new crossfeed screw and contemplated making a new nut, but the existing one is still useable. I'll double check my measurements and see if they are similar to yours. Thanks for the tip on new acme taps. I ordered one today.
Peter


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## ptross (Jan 15, 2021)

RJ-Jr said:


> It is possible that the threaded hole is not exactly parallel with the mating surface.


my original nut has approx 20 or 30 thou clearance between it and the track it rides in, so any out-of-parallel deviation in the hole is irrelevant. Up or down would make a difference close to the near side. The nut only needs to lock to the cross slide, not guide the cross slide- doesn't need to be snug in its track. I don't know how close a fit you ended up with, but perhaps a bit more clearance on the sides would eliminate the stiffness.
Peter


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## RJ-Jr (Jan 15, 2021)

ptross said:


> my original nut has approx 20 or 30 thou clearance between it and the track it rides in, so any out-of-parallel deviation in the hole is irrelevant. Up or down would make a difference close to the near side. The nut only needs to lock to the cross slide, not guide the cross slide- doesn't need to be snug in its track. I don't know how close a fit you ended up with, but perhaps a bit more clearance on the sides would eliminate the stiffness.
> Peter


Yes, my first cut was way too tight on the sides. It is all clearance anyways. I did relieve material afterwards.


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