DIYbanter - Taig Lathe Cross Slide Problem

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Taig Lathe Cross Slide Problem

Bought a Taig lathe about six months ago. I am a little dissapointed
in the quality, particularly the cross slide. It binds as you turn the
dial. Looks like the piece that the lead screw threads into may be
cocked? Not sure. Also, very poor instructions came with this lathe.
Anyone have similar experience?
M

In article ,
msterspy wrote:
Bought a Taig lathe about six months ago. I am a little dissapointed
in the quality, particularly the cross slide. It binds as you turn the
dial. Looks like the piece that the lead screw threads into may be
cocked? Not sure. Also, very poor instructions came with this lathe.
Anyone have similar experience?
M

Did you buy the assembled lathe or the kit?

The kit requires a little fitting and running in (thats why it is a kit). On
mine, I experienced a similar issue until I removed the cross slide and
looked at the brass nut underneath. There was a little burr that caused it
to bind up in the hole it sits in. Since it couldn't pivot to take up runout
in the leadscrew, it felt like it was binding. I cleaned it up a touch and
that fixed the problem.

The other possibility is that you have the gibs too tight.

If you are a little dissapointed with the Taig, you would probably be
mortified with anything else in the same price range. Once set up and
adjusted propperly, the Taig will do very nice work for a long time.

-- Joe

--
Joseph M. Krzeszewski Mechanical Engineering and stuff
Jack of All Trades, Master of None... Yet

"msterspy" wrote in message
...
Bought a Taig lathe about six months ago. I am a little dissapointed
in the quality, particularly the cross slide. It binds as you turn the
dial. Looks like the piece that the lead screw threads into may be
cocked? Not sure. Also, very poor instructions came with this lathe.
Anyone have similar experience?
M

[Most people seem to be pretty happy with their Taig equipment. It sounds
like your lathe is out of adjustment. Unlike much equipment in its price
range, these tools are made in the USA. If you have a problem, you can
contact them; they provide excellent free technical support. I'm sure they
can talk you through the adjustment process, and get your cross-slide
working smoothly. You can call them at 480.895.6978. If it's still under
warranty, which would be the case if you bought it new, they will replace
any defective parts for free. If you want detailed instructions on setting
up and running your lathe, I'd suggest you purchase Tony Jeffries' book,
"The Taig Lathe", available from the Taig site:
http://www.taigtools.com/accessories.html. ]

Best Regards;

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com

In article ,
msterspy wrote:
Bought a Taig lathe about six months ago. I am a little dissapointed
in the quality, particularly the cross slide. It binds as you turn the
dial. Looks like the piece that the lead screw threads into may be
cocked?

Follow the suggestions given by the other followups. It is
almost certainly just a matter of adjustment. Or perhaps some chips
from previous cutting operations have gotten wedged in the threads of
the nut.

BTW The gibs *should* be tight enough so the setting won't shift as you
move the other axis, so it may be that you are expecting it to
be less effort than is normal. If the gibs are too lose, you
will get chatter, and the settings will change while you're
cutting.

Not sure. Also, very poor instructions came with this lathe.

I have *never* seen what I would call "good" instructions coming
with a lathe. The assumption is always that you already know how to use
a lathe, and they instructions focus on controls which might be
different from other lathes. As the Taig is a very simple lathe, I
would expect very little in instructions. (IIRC, there were *no*
instructions with mine, from quite a few years ago.)

FWIW The best instructions that I have seen came with the Unimat
SL-1000 (which was expecting users with no previous experience).

Other than that -- two of the lathe makers (South Bend and
Atlas) have published a "How to (use/run) a lathe" books which
were often shipped with their machines for the novice user, and
which are still available in reprints or NOS (New Old Stock)
copies, and which are very instructive. None of these focus on
an individual lathe in the maker's line, but rather on the
general principles -- except perhaps for charts for threading
gears for those lathes which come with individual change gears.

Anyone have similar experience?

No -- other than the minimal instructions. But -- I did not
*expect* any more. I already knew how to use a lathe, and had
experience with several sizes.

Good Luck,
DoN.
--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

If you bought the assembled version your should contact your dealer
first, to see what they say.
That said, often there is a little stiffness in the crosslide at first
until the parts wear in. You need to lube it and make sure the gibs
are adjusted.
The nut can be adjusted with a pair of pliers, rotating it so it lines
up with the ways. I often find that lapping in the screw/bearing
interface will clear up any roughness as well.
Subscribe to the taigtools yahoogroup for lots of good advice about
the lathe, pretty much everyone who has one is subscribed there.

Nick

On Wed, 02 Feb 2005 19:17:43 GMT, msterspy
wrote:

Bought a Taig lathe about six months ago. I am a little dissapointed
in the quality, particularly the cross slide. It binds as you turn the
dial. Looks like the piece that the lead screw threads into may be
cocked? Not sure. Also, very poor instructions came with this lathe.
Anyone have similar experience?
M