Information needed regarding "Carriage Feed"

[littlejack]

Hey fellas:
I got the lathe (10" QC54) mounted and belts changed out last night. I also changed the drive belt to the biggest pulley on the
countershaft, to slow things down a bit.
Afterwards, I was running it and checking things out. I put the "left hand" lever in E position, and the "slider" lever in the no. 9 hole. This is
supposed to be the slowest setting for the feed, .0042.
I set a dial indicator behind the carriage (tail stock end) and ran the lathe to take out the slack then zeroed the indicator. I then turned the
chuck by hand, one full revolution. The dial indicator read .008. I repeated this a couple of times, with the same .008 reading.
Question: Did I do it wrong? Isn't it supposed to read .0042?
I need some tutoring.
Jack

 

[Mondo]

My interpretation of the charts (I do not have my 12" QCGB lathe assembled so I can't test this) is:
To get carriage advance of .0042" per spindle revolution:
LH lever: Position E engaged.
RH lever: Position 9 (extreme right)
Sliding gear on quadrant: OUT to engage the 16 tooth compound gear.


So check the sliding gear in the quadrant on the side of the headstock. It sounds to me like it is in the "in" position engaging the 32 tooth compound gear.

 

[littlejack]

Spiral Chips, thank you very much for your reply. I will check that gear position when I get may chores/honey-do's done.
That shows how much I do not know about these machines.
I figured that when they say "Quick Change" all there was to do was to change the position of the two exposed levers.
Now, knowing that there IS another procedure to change the carriage speed, that would explain why, when setting the TPI, that the
feed looks to be too fast for cutting threads. Would this be correct also?
Is there any site on the net that goes through the procedures of setting the QC gear box for all operations?
I have the Manual of Lathe Operation, but it does not cover that.
I am certainly glad that there are machine operators here that are willing to help the novice. Thank you all very much.
Jack

 

[littlejack]

According to my Atlas Parts List schematic from Clausing, the sliding gear shown is a 40-T. I checked mine, and it is indeed the same. So, I am right back where I started.
If anyone knows why the Carriage Feed on my lathe is a measured .008 instead of the proper .0042, it would be greatly appreciated if they would chime in.
Jack

 

[kd4gij]

Yes the slide gear is 40th meshes with a compound gear that has 32th in the back and 16th gear in the front.you wan't to be in the out position riding on the 16th.

 

[littlejack]

By golly, you fellas nailed it.
It took me some head scratching while looking at all those gears. The "sliding gear" literally slides, DUH?
Now, there must be a pictorial book/manual that has all of this information? Where can I find one?
Fellas, thank you very much for the help and instruction.
Oh yea, I set up the dial indicator again, and it moved the proper .004 +/-. Imagine that.
Regards
Jack

 

[Mondo]

Yahoo groups has a very active Atlas/Craftsman machines group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/atlas_craftsman/
That group has a "Files" section that contains a plethora of Atlas/Craftsman lathe documentation. There are three QCGB manual there that you can download in pdf format. You may need to download all three and compare them to what you have to determine which is correct for your model.

You will need to apply for membership in the group to gain access to the files, but that isn't much different than applying for membership to this forum.

 

[mattygee]

I was able to squeeze an extra 40/20 compound gear into the train to give me a .0021 slow feed rate. Handy when turning larger diameters. On the rare occasion (heck, its rare I even use the lathe these days) I thread, I just double the thread count on the QC.

 

[littlejack]

Thanks fellas for your posts and information.
I think I will be good to go (for a couple hours) until something else comes up.
Regards
Jack

 

[kd4gij]

Glad to hear it all worked out. Now have fun. Any other questions come up ask away. And remember The only dumb question is the one that didn't get asked.