# New cross-slide for my lathe



## woodcutter (Jul 3, 2012)

Thought I would post a write-up of  how I dealt with a worn cross-slide screw on my Rockwell 10x36. I bought the lathe a couple of years ago, not knowing anything more about metalworking than what I could remember from school, about 42 years ago. It was in "unrestored" condition so I got it looking presentable. It became obvious that there were some problems when I started using it. First a couple of before/after pics.




The first problem that needed to be dealt with was the Reeve's variable speed drive.Not sure what was wrong but either the belt would slip under any kind of a load or if I tightened it up it would overload the motor to where it would easily stall.The PO probably experienced the same  because the motor bearings had about a 1/16" play  - side to side. His fix was to sell it to me. I remedied that problem by installing a 1 hp 3 ph motor and building a new step pulley drive.  That project is described here under theRockwell lathe forum.
  On the the cross-slide. The screw was worn so that the acme threads came to a point.  The slide  had about a 1/16" back and forth  slop. After reading about cross-slides with T-slots I decided to go that route.  By now I had jumped in head first and bought a Bridgeport so I needed to justify its existence. Started out with a bar of continuous cast iron from Speedy Metals 12 x 4 1/4 x 1 1/4.
   Here's a shot of the  original.


   First squaring up the bar. I used a fly-cutter because I didn't have an insert type facemill at the time.It left a nice finish but slow going and flycutters are supposed to be hard on the splines in the mill drive. A buddy of mine has a surface grinder in his basement so  that he had to justify its existence.




 Used a 3/8" rougher to plow the groove for the t-slots and then a t-slot cutter to finish them. Mounted the piece on a rotary table to cut the circular t-slot so I could use the original compound slide.






  Here's a shot of roughing out and then cutting the dovetail on the underside.




  Bevelling the edges.


  The piece so far.


  To be continued. Henry


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## jumps4 (Jul 3, 2012)

really nice work henry
keep us posted
steve


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## woodcutter (Jul 3, 2012)

The paint was mixed up from leftovers I had in the shop. I believe the dominant color was Walker Turner  grey/green with some off white added to it. From what I've read, Rockwell made two versions of this lathe , a 24" and the 36" with the overhanging bed. Henry


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## 7mag (Jul 6, 2012)

Beautiful job sir!


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## rebush (Jul 6, 2012)

Henry: Very nice indeed. Can't wait to see the finished project. Roger


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## woodcutter (Jul 9, 2012)

Made a jig to clamp the gib into the cross slide so I could  bevel it to match the dovetail.




 Next is the set-up to drill the holes for the gib screws. Used the little clamping bars to hold the gib in place so it would receive a dimple that the screw would engage.




  Rather than make a new cross slide screw I cut off  the screw and fitted a new piece of acme threaded rod from Mc Master-Carr. Drilled into  the remaining piece and turned the screw down to fit. Tried bearing retainer but it didn't hold very long and ended up spot welding the joint.Chucked it in the lathe and tweaked it straight. Found a blank bronze nut on ebay and got my retired machinist buddy to turn it down to fit.






 Here is the slide in place. The little post for the compound to pivot on is removable  so that I can replace it with a hefty block that I can mount the QCTP on.






 Here is a shot of the block that the QCTP mounts on, and is well supported. It is the right height so that I can use either the compound or the solid block without changing the  adjustment  of the tool holder. For most operations I don't need the compound, and if I do, it only takes a couple of  minutes to change over.


 Here is the Shape-Rite shaper bringing the block to size. It leaves a great finish -  almost looks like it came off a surface grinder.


  The other accessory is a parting tool holder mounted on the back of the cross slide.


 There is a small dovetail in the recess that clamps the blade of the parting tool. Didn't have a small dovetail cutter and my eastern European background objected to buying one for this 6 inch long cut. A few minutes on the bench grinder , modifying a 1/2" drill bit produced perfectly  acceptable results.




  Did not have good results with a slitting saw cutting the slot to allow clamping the blade. Was taking a shallow cut, low rpm, cutting fluid and excruciating slow feed. Got about half way and this happened. Finished by hand with a hacksaw.


 I'm very pleased with the results. Much more rigid set-up and with the speed control from the 3ph. motor and VFD the lathe is a pleasure to use. 


I hope you found this write-up interesting. Henry


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## woodcutter (Jul 9, 2012)

The  round post on the cross slide nut fits into a hole bored in the  slide body and held in place by a set screw from the side, where the gib screws are.  The picture of the slide looking from the tailstock shows the setscrew hole in line with the nut. I drilled and tapped a few more holes on that side, thinking I could mount an indicator somehow.  The center Gits oiler is for the nut. The  other  two oilers lube the dovetails. Henry


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## Glmphoto (Jan 1, 2014)

woodcutter said:


> Started out with a bar of continuous cast iron from Speedy Metals 12 x 4 1/4 x 1 1/4.



Very impressed sir!!!!!  
I need to do this as I have to line bore a gear box and need that flat to mount the thing.
I am interested to know what the finished dimensions are over all.... Did you feel there was plenty of material from rough to finish dimensions?  Just wondering how much over size a guy should order his cast.  Thanks for a great post and all those pictures...GREAT!!!!!!

Best Regards


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## Joarek (Feb 17, 2014)

Beautiful work. I enjoyed reading this, well done


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## itsme_Bernie (Feb 17, 2014)

Henry, fantastic write-up, and fantastic pics..  But most importantly, absolutely wonderful looking upgrade project!!  I mean, seriously beautiful.

I want to ask you how you achieved such beautiful finishes in places like the round t-slot on the compound, and the other t-slots?  It may be the pics, but they almost look ground!  It may just be your great technique and tight, well-maintained machinery.  But if you have any other tips or suggestions, I am all ears!  Only because it looks so lovely!

Nice setups too, with the gib "retainers".  Especially to really center those dimples for registering the gib.  Wow, nice.


Bernie


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