Dials slipping?

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ACS_Super

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Has anyone had an issue with their dials slipping? It has been an issue for me on a couple of projects where the dial does not turn accurately with the handle, so I will be off by a little bit. I have started holding the dial and handle together, but that's not 100% perfect. I just looked through the Smithy Granite manual, and do not see anything concerning adjusting the tension/pressure on the dials. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

ACS
 
I don't have a 3n1 so not sure if yours is similar but I had the same issue on my old mini lathe but not as bad. My dial rubbed. I took the dial off & faced 5-10 thou off of it. Under the dial is a bent strip of flat metal that sat in a groove which acted as a spring to provide tension for the dial. I bent the strip more to provide more friction. If you do have that, be careful when bending. I broke one once & had to make a new one.
 
Is this a dial with a slip collar that you can twist and set to an arbitrary value?

If so, most of them have a little piece of band steel bent into an arc and wedged underneath the slip collar. Take the front dial off, remove the collar (being careful not to drop/lose the band steel arc) and unbend it just a tiny bit. Getting it back together is a little annoying but after you've done it a few times is no big deal. Put a drop of oil in there while you're at it.


Ray
 
Thanks guys. I took your suggestions, bent the spring steel a small amount and also removed a small amount of material from the outer ring and I'm not seeing the slipping any more.

ACS
 
My Shop-Task 12-22 TC was missing the spring when I got it. I went to the local auto parts store and got some 1/8 vacuum tubing. I split it in about half, so that it fit in the groove and stuck up a little like an O-Ring would. Then I cut the length so it would fit all the way around and put it back together. $1.07 for the tubing and about :30min.
 
How about using a reference mark so one can tell if the dial has slipped? That way you would know for sure if there was any slippage of the dial.
 
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