More progress.
I was able to get about 0.180" back in tool height adjustment bymilling a small amount off the top of the cross slide and both the top and bottom of the compound.
This was
just enough to be able to adjust my 5/8" tool bits and cut-off tools to center height without the tool-holder bottoming out. Whew.
Hopefully nobody is following along, but don't do what I did and assume you have enough adjustability that the extra thickness in the cross slide won't be a problem! Once I'm satisfied with everything, I'll post drawings of what I should have built (considering this one a prototype).
Here's what it looks like now:
Other than the fact that my compound-slide looks kinda like a freshly-shorn marine, I think it looks pretty spiffy, and it works a champ (I still need to make my gib lock levers, though).
I couldn't remove any more off the top of the cross-slide because the tee-slots (both straight and circular) were getting uncomfortably thin (about 0.160"):
Other than the slightly funny look of the compound, the only other issue I ran into was with the square-headed bolts and captured nuts that hold the compound onto the cross slide:
I had a nasty surprise when I first re-assembled everything and tried to face a piece of aluminum. I swiveled the compound to 30 degrees (60 degree mark on the rear of the compound) and tightened the two lock-nuts on either side as shown above. Then I put a turning tool in the QCTP, loosened the top of the toolpost and swung the tool around for a facing cut. When I re-tightened the toolpost, though, the entire compound spun a bit to the right!
Get out the wrench and crank down on the nuts a bit more. Huh. Feels a little weird when I torqued the nuts down. Is there some swarf trapped somewhere? (No.) I was able to lock it down tight enough that it wouldn't turn, but it definitely bugged me (everything was slathered in oil, but still). Then I try to advance the compound slide.
Very tight. Huh. Did I over-tighten the gib screws? (No.)
Eventually I copped to the fact that removing material from the bottom of the compound meant the square headed bolts were now too long. As I drew them up with the nuts, they were hitting the top of the slot in the compound (which acted almost like a gib screw and made the slide hard to move).
So I cut the screws a bit shorter and found a 5/16-18 die to cut the threads a little farther along the shaft. (As an aside, I don't know what those screws were made from but it was the easiest machining I've ever performed -- the die cut so easily and smoothly I couldn't believe it.)
Anyway, all is well with the world again. After
a slight tangent adjusting my spindle take-up nut, my lathe is now fully operational again.
I think my next task is to make a bunch of ball-handles for various things (gib lock levers, a better carriage lock handle, and replacement gib locks for my mill). I've been in conversation with Jim Sehr who has a brilliantly
simple design for a ball turning attachment, and has also taught me several interesting things (like "timing" front and rear mounted tools for production operations).
I've done enough scraping now that I at least know how to do it. Flat to maybe 20 ppi isn't terribly difficult, but I'm struggling to two sides of my transfer block perpendicular and flat within a couple thou. Dovetail ways are definitely still beyond my skill level at the moment, and the Russian straightedge I bought off of ebay doesn't seem to transfer dykem-hi-spot very well, so I think I'll hold off on scraping the ways for a good while longer and get back to actually using my lathe!
I also need to make my rear-mount tool holder. That will be useful for making ball handles, so that may be next in the queue before the ball turner. This hobby needs a shorthand term for making parts for tools to make tools to make parts for tools.
Regards,
--
Rex
