Help with Compound Removal-Clausing Colchester 15

[Janderso]

Hi gang,
I hope you and yours are all staying healthy!
I decided to take the compound off my 1970 Clausing Colchester 15X50 lathe to clean and inspect.
I stripped it down but I can't get it off the cross slide.
I believe it is hanging up on the compound Acme nut. I don't see any way of removing the nut with the compound installed.
Have any of you done this job before?
I can't remove the assembly from the cross slide because the nuts bottom out on the under side of the topside.
Please see the parts break down.
As a side note, I am very happy to report there is no visible wear in the acme screw!!
Thank you,
Jeff

 

[macardoso]

From the diagram it looks like there is a retaining screw for the ACME nut located beneath the compound handwheel. Loosening this should allow the nut to be removed I would think. Don't own the lathe so no personal experience.

 

[Janderso]

I saw that this morning. I'm trying to remember if there is access for the nut removal???
I'm at work, tonight I'll check it out. Thanks

 

[macardoso]

Looks like you undo the retaining screw, remove the ACME screw from the nut, then the nut falls out of the bottom of the compound near the graduated ring that has the compound angle one it.

 

[Alexander McGilton]

Here is another image of the assembly on page 36 onward

http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/182/20245.pdf

This may sound silly, if you remove the gib, does the assembly slip off vertically or is it still captive?

Otherwise if the bronze nut is exposed from the bottom and is pressed in firm, then drill and tap a hole on bottom then pull it out from bottom. If that fails then drill a hole next to the oil port on top and drive a punch through it to drive it down.

 

[Janderso]

This may sound silly, if you remove the gib, does the assembly slip off vertically or is it still captive?

I removed the tapered gib and all the hardware including the compound locking allen screw which I thought was holding it up.
I'll check out the nut access tonight

 

[Janderso]

Mac,
You were right, once I got everything removed I was able to lift the top plate barely enough to wedge the nuts off. It only bound up on one side.
The brass nut had to be convinced to get out of its hole by using the threaded hole and a series of 5/16” bolts to draw it out.
Got it!

 

[Janderso]

How did those chunks get in there?
I am very pleased with the lack of wear. Buying a lathe that was never in a production environment is a benefit for sure.
I'm thinking about diving into the cross slide but I really have no reason to.

 

[macardoso]

Did they provide the threaded hole in the nut to start with? If so I suspect that they had it threaded exactly so it could be removed.

Looks great! I wouldn't dive into anything unless it is dirty or needs adjustment. Whenever I do, regardless of how much care I use, something silly will break and need to be repaired.

 

[Janderso]

Yes, the threaded hole must be for this purpose.
Once I got the dried oil off it slipped in. Very little jiggle room from the acme thread to the brass not!!!!!
Actually, if a guy had to make this nut, it wouldn't be that tough.