On 2008-07-15, Bruce in Bangkok wrote:
On Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:41:55 -0400, "Joe AutoDrill"
wrote:

"Ignoramus22312" wrote in message
...
Now that I have my lathe "working", I started looking at its condition
a little more closely. On my lathe, the cross slide is moved by a
3/4-5 ACME screw, that moves a brass nut attached to the cross slide.

There is a lot of wear in this, as in, maybe 1/16 to 1/8" of slop.

I was thinking about fixing this.

Three things come to mind.

1) Buy a McMaster ACME brass nut 95270A123 and attach it to a custom
made part to fit under the cross slide.

2) Do something clever like wax the screw and inject epoxy into the
nut to take up the slop.

3) Make a replacement part on the mill and lathe.

Has anyone dealt with this issue. Clausing wants $750 (not a typo) to
custom make this part for me.

Is it something you can take off, measure up and have someone make for you
for less? If they did this, would you be guaranteed to have less slop?

I read posts like this frequently but in reality any machine tool
built before the advent of ball screws had backlash in all its
adjustments. Apprentices were taught to cope with this problem by
making all adjustments in the same direction - opposite to the force
being applied by the cutting tool.

You can adjust the cross slide in the opposite direction if you pull
it by hand to "aid" it's motion.

i

In your lathe's case, assuming
normal turning operations, you back the tool off and then readjust it
toward the work until you reach the dial setting you had used for the
previous cut and then as much more as you want for the next cut.

If you want less slop then just make a new nut.... after all, you've
got the lathe to bore and thread the new nut.





Bruce-in-Bangkok
(correct Address is bpaige125atgmaildotcom)

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