Let's See Your Mill

[Rickabilly]

(07-18-2012, 06:11 AM)stevec Wrote: Rick, is there any point/or possibilty of making up some form of "quick connect" to your carriage and use it to pull/push your tailstock to/from the head stock (I'm assuming that's what you meant by employing the power feed unit).
Also, (careful I'm rambling on here) I have seen some large older lathes with a hand crank on the tailstock to advance/retract it, I think it utilized the carriage rack.

Hello Steve,
A hook up to the carriage is possible but using it to drill with is problematic as unless the clamp is locked the tailstock isn't securely located and of course if it is locked it can't move with the carriage.

Big old lathes and just big lathes in general sometimes have a rack gear for moving the tailstock into position before locking, given the weight of the tailstock the weight alone is enough to hold the tailstock down when drilling small holes as a result this drive could be used but in most cases, it's ratio isn't ideal anyway, some big lathes also have a two speed gearbox on their tailstock quill, which makes it easier to drill big diameter holes, my Colchester is not one of these lathes.

Best Regards
Rick