Lathe Carriage-Tailstock-Link

[werz99]

Today I made a thing I wanted to do for a long time. Couple the carriagge and tailstock of my HBM 250x550 lathe to make my life easier.

With this simple link I can use my DRO and the autofeed (or the wheel for manual drilling) when I have to drill holes with exact depth.

I milled a small link which uses an existing M5 mounting hole for a tailstock-sidecover and on the carriage a M8 T-Nut is the mounting point. Easy to remove and no modifications on the lathe needed.

See video:

 

[benmychree]

Where I served my apprenticeship, two clapped out Lodge and Shipley lathes had a similar device for dragging the tailstock along, I think they used one of the follow rest tapped holes on the backside of the carriage bridge, it had a slotted link that flipped over a shoulder bolt tapped into the tailstock. A better solution is a tool block carried directly on the compound or by a QC tool holder, I have one on my 19" lathe that takes #4 MT, they also make a drill chuck holder (Aloris). One thing that I do not like about pulling the tailstock is that torqueing the tailstock is liable to raise to slightly off the ways allowing dirt and chips to enter.

 

[werz99]

One thing that I do not like about pulling the tailstock is that torqueing the tailstock is liable to raise to slightly off the ways allowing dirt and chips to enter.

That is an interesting hint. i will observe this. - Thank you.

 

[mmcmdl]

We had the tailstock to carriage mounts on all of our larger lathes . Made sending spade drills thru stock quite easy . I have a Dorian CXA with a MT4 drill or chuck holder that almost left this week . I no longer have a lathe large enough to use it .

 

[hman]

I did something similar a few years ago, on a 9x20 I used to own. It's definitely a handy feature. See post #14 at:

Carriage Drilling Adapter

The main thing that makes me hesitant about power feeding a drill is that you can't feel it. Other than subtle changes in sound, you have no hint that something is going wrong until something breaks.

www.hobby-machinist.com

Similarly useful is the Edge Technology tool post drill chuck, which I bought for my 12x24:

Tool Post Drill Chuck 41-000

The Tool Post Drill Chuck is designed to decrease the time it takes to drill a hole on the lathe. Peck drilling can be performed much faster since the drill bit is held at the tool post instead of the tailstock. Hole depths can also be monitored on the carriage DRO during the drilling process.

www.edgetechnologyproducts.com