Hi all; I am still trying to put that ball screw in the X axis of my mini-lathe, and as I was cleaning things up, getting ready for the next step of the assembly, I find that I have not fixed a gib problem this POS has had since day one, and likely cannot without a new, more precisely fitting gib strip.
The first time I ever took it apart, I noted that it was bent, swaybacked by about an eight of an inch just laying on the table relaxed. So I got out something resembling an anvil and bent it back as straight as I could, then polished it till its wear face was straight before I reassembled it, removing possibly .005" in getting the upper facing 45 degree angle so it marked a magic marker full length. Today as I was reassembling it and attempting to adjust the gib screws, I noted that the top face not only wasn't in contact with the bottom of the slider, the tip of it at the bottom of the carriages v-cut was sharper than the bottom of the carriages v-cut, so I purposely rounded off that edge hoping that both sides of the V would make contact. Such is not the case and never will be with this strip, it is not only about 50 thou thinner than it should be, but when the angled face is in contact with the V-way, its top face is clearing the bottom of the cross slider at a very noticeable angle of at least 10 degrees. If I stick my pocket knife into the gap between the carriage top and the bottom of the slider, I can lift the right edge of the crossfeed a good 20 thou, which explains a lot of why I can't begin to use all the spindle motor for a cut and the bit, when the cross slide tips up like that, is driven into the workpiece hard enough to stall the spindle & blow the fuse or trip my electronic fuse in .hal instantly. I can actually see the gib strip being picked up by the adjustment screws, allowing a tip up of at good 20-30 thou by the time the top of it is in contact with the bottom of the slider. I can also see straight through the clearance gap, both top and bottom. EG this sows ear is decomposing. LMS doesn't show a replacement strip for this lathe, so it appears I will need to make a new one. So, 2 questions: 1: What should I make it out of? 2: will the usual 45 degree dovetail bit suffice to establish the correct angles to contain this lifting of the right edge of the cross feed slider? 3: Or, perchance is this a stock item at some other machinery peddler besides LMS? Thanks. Cheers, Gene -- "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." -Ed Howdershelt (Author) My web page: <http://coyoteden.dyndns-free.com:85/gene> is up! Checking host system type... i586-unknown-linux configure: error: sorry, this is the gnu os, not linux -- Topic on #Linux ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Live Security Virtual Conference Exclusive live event will cover all the ways today's security and threat landscape has changed and how IT managers can respond. Discussions will include endpoint security, mobile security and the latest in malware threats. http://www.accelacomm.com/jaw/sfrnl04242012/114/50122263/ _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
