Clausing Colchester Bed Casting Question

[Janderso]

Hello,
You see the two milled flat spots with drilled and tapped holes (4 each)
One is directly above the chip pan on the left and the other is directly below the tailstock-below the black dot oiling points.
Somebody went out of their way to put these there.
What are they for??.
They are probably the size of a deck of cards.
Oh, this is a mid 70's Clausing Colchester 15X50.

 

[graham-xrf]

Jeff - is it possible they line up with each other, so that something long could be mounted between them, like a DRO linear sensor maybe?

 

[Janderso]

Did they have DRO's in 1977?
Yes, I think they do line up parallel to the ways.
Of all the pics on the internet I have never seen anything mounted there.

here is a close up off the internet

 

[graham-xrf]

You are right about DROs in 1977. If they had them, they probably came with Nixie tubes!

 

[hman]

Maybe not a DRO, but possibly a Trav-a-dial????

 

[Norseman C.B.]

Probably an adjustable auto stop bar mount. If I remember right there was one on the Clausing 21"
I ran during my apprentice ship though it was never used ..................

 

[Janderso]

Adjustable auto stop.
That makes sense.
I’ll check the bottom of the apron to see if there are drilled and tapped holes?
Or did the apron stop while bumping into the clamped device on the bar?

 

[graham-xrf]

Maybe to mount limit switches.

 

[HarryJM]

Have you tried posting this question on the OWWM.org metal working machine sub-forum as they usually enjoy a challenge.

Old Metalworking Machines - Old Woodworking Machines

 

[benmychree]

Or possibly they were used for setup surfaces for machining the bed or subsequent operations.