Modifications Needed For Qctp?

J

Jester966

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I just received an axa "Wedge type" QCTP for my 10" Atlas TH54

I only had a few minutes to check it out before leaving for work today, but it does not appear to fit unless the compound is set to 0 or 90 degrees. If, for example, I want to leave the compound at 29.5 degrees, to have the QCTP square to the work as it should be, the top of the compound forging would interfere with the corner of the tool post. It seems to me I either have to make a large washer to raise the tool post up ~.150" or so, or machine part of the forging down. flush with the base for the holder.

Hope this makes sense, I'm at work now so can't take a picture.

Surely everyone else with this setup has run into this, or did I just overlook something in my haste? What is the best solution?

Thanks
 
This is a common problem with all 10". As mentioned elsewhere, a spacer will work. But if I had a 10", I would mill off more of the top of the compound slide casting. If you happen to have a milling attachment, you can replace the vise with the compound assembly and mill it on the lathe. Just do not try to use the fact that you can rotate the compound on the milling attachment's pintle to cut a fancy radius at the edge of the milled area.
 
I used large files, patience, and a steady hand to file off enough of the hump to allow full rotation of my AXA toolpost. It is also a great time to true up all the nicks and gouges these old lathes always seem to have.

There are lots of threads where others have done this. Skim the first 10 pages of this form and I bet you'll find 2 or 3...this is a common mod...lots of ideas out there.
 
I had the same problem with my 9x19. I tried to mill .050" off the bottom of the tool holders but they were very hardened and all I managed to do is polish them in a shower of feathered sparks with a carbide fly cutter. I ended up taking them to a shop that did surface grinding, at stupendous expense I might add. I would have tried to mill the top of the compound slide, but the tool holder bolt didn't seem to be removable.
 
Wow thanks for the quick replies. I do have a milling machine so cutting the "hump" won't be an issue. I just wanted confirmation before removing any material, as I don't recall ever seeing this issue when researching which QCTP to get.

I was also surprised at how large the T-nut "block" is. That is a lot of material to come off for those who would have to mill it with the lathe.

Thanks again!
 
Thanks for this thread guys,
I too have the same problem of metal interference , I got round it by rotating the compound slide but that was indeed a PIA most of the time for it was only needed for a few seconds most of the time . Knowing that there is enough meat on the carcass & that you can remove it with files & or an angle grinder helps tremendously .as I don't have a mill etc . I had thought of making a frame to secure the compound on its side and bolting it to the cross slide then slowly use the lathe to mill off the unwanted bits.
Jester966 said:
Wow thanks for the quick replies. I do have a milling machine so cutting the "hump" won't be an issue. I just wanted confirmation before removing any material, as I don't recall ever seeing this issue when researching which QCTP to get.

I was also surprised at how large the T-nut "block" is. That is a lot of material to come off for those who would have to mill it with the lathe.

Thanks again!
Click to expand...



Jester .
I simply scribed lines all round the big flat washer on both outer edges so it still remained central to the "Tee " slot , used an angle grinder to whizz away the unwanted metal , then used a 2nd cut file to take it to the bench fit ..... it took all of 20 min to take of the 5/16 or so of an inch off each side & bench fit it .

I did find I had to rub each shoulder of the "Tee " slot with a dead smooth file as the centre bolt was a smidgeon ( about five thou ) over size wrt. to the width of the slot as there was no way I was going to set up the old tool post again and turn off a small shoulder on the centre bolt .
 
If you don't want to mess with milling the 'Tee Nut Block' that came with the toolpost, you can buy the appropriate Tee Nut on Ebay in the Atlas 10 Lathe search category. I did this and it saved a lot of time. The Tee Nut as received did not fit initially, but with some careful 'figure 8 lapping' on a flat emery cloth, it finally got coaxed into the compound. You can order different screw threaded holes; mine was metric.
Lou O.
 
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