Lubricant channels - Lathe Cross Slide -

[middle.road]

Trying to figure out how to do some channels - manually - in my cross slide like JimDawson did to his over -HERE- w/CNC.
On my Birmingham compound, one of the holddown nuts is giving out, so I'm going to have to tear it down and thought this would be a good mod to do up.
Can't figure out how to do it manually on the Mill. (now, if I lived down the street from Jim. . . )

Thanks.

 

[4GSR]

I take a sharpie and mark the grooves on the slide. Next take a die grinder with a ball pointed burr and get after it. Don't need to be very deep,1/32" should be plenty deep. Nobody's is going to see it after it is put back together.

 

[Kernbigo]

that is the way i did mine a carbide ball burr, quick and dirty

 

[middle.road]

Thanks!
There I was complicating it again.
I just rebuilt a 1/4" electric die grinder over the holidays. Time to put it to use.
And I believe that I have a carbide burr.

I take a sharpie and mark the grooves on the slide. Next take a die grinder with a ball pointed burr and get after it. Don't need to be very deep,1/32" should be plenty deep. Nobody's is going to see it after it is put back together.

First I should do a CAD layout and make a template - right?

 

[4GSR]

...............First I should do a CAD layout and make a template - right?

What for? That just complicates things.

First thing I do is locate and drill the hole for oil. From that hole, take your Sharpie and hand draw or use a straight edge, (Not your Starrett scale!) and draw a diangular line so far down the way surface. Curve it back a little the other direction and then another diangular line. Stop about an inch from the end. I don't recommend making any right angle cuts. Those kind of cuts slow down oil flow to the end. Keep them running smooth without any abrupt stops to the end of the trough. I'll see if I have a picture to attach in a bit.

 

[middle.road]

Question Ken, do you use a Spherical Ball type or a Ball Nose?
I've got the bottom style one on hand, don't have any of the upper type.
Thanks.

I take a sharpie and mark the grooves on the slide. Next take a die grinder with a ball pointed burr and get after it. Don't need to be very deep,1/32" should be plenty deep. Nobody's is going to see it after it is put back together.

 

[4GSR]

Dan,

That cutter is fine, or any that have some kind of rounded end to them including the cone shaped or mellon ones too.

 

[Silverbullet]

From most machines I've seen they can use more oil to the flat sliding surfaces. They seem to think the scrapping alone will collect and hold the oil. From worn off scrape marks I don't think they do specially with most who don't oil up every time. Or in some cases a few times a day.

 

[middle.road]

From most machines I've seen they can use more oil to the flat sliding surfaces. They seem to think the scrapping alone will collect and hold the oil. From worn off scrape marks I don't think they do specially with most who don't oil up every time. Or in some cases a few times a day.

Wait, this slide was scrapped?
Poor lathe was in the maintenance area of a granite cutting shop, real bad dusty grit. It was even in two computers I bought that were in the front office.
Cross slide is kinda gouged/scored in places, luckily the ways are good. I did tear it down and clean it out and stoned it before I started using it. Now I'll go back and add the channels. Wish I'd seen or thought of them before.

 

[savarin]

I will be doing the same to mine soon but I was going to use a cutting disk in a dremel.