Cleaning up my old lathe

[EdK]

Nice job on the fix Darren.

Ed

[f350ca]

NICE CUT OFFS. Daisy May would be proud of them.

[TomG]

Looks like an elegant solution to the problem Darren. What is left to do on the old girl?

Tom

[sasquatch]

This has been an interesting follow along rebuild/clean up.

[Mayhem]

Thanks guys.

X and Z axis feeds are the main thing left to do on her. I also want to make a carriage lock, as my first attempt didn't work. I have an idea for the next attempt but it probably wont happen for a while.

[Mayhem]

I've had little shop time recently due to other things requiring my attention. However, yesterday I did get some time and decided to start mounting the DRO on my lathe. The Z axis was going to be fairly straight forward but the X axis was going to be a little more tricky.

I cannot go with the standard installation of mounting the scale to the cross slide and the read head to the carriage, as the feed system runs on the rear of my lathe and the scale would crash into the gears (which wouldn't be good). Here is an older photo, showing the feed gear on the right-hand side:
   

After considering several options, I decided to mount the scale (on its side) to the carriage and fix the read head to the cross slide. I bent up a bracket and powder coated it bright yellow in the hope I would see it and not smack into it, or drop anything on it.

   
   

I need to fabricate a cover, which will sit flush with the top of the cross slide and extend out to cover the read head.

On to the Z axis. When my lathe was made, DROs were not yet invented, so I can excuse them for the rough casting on the bed. As such, my first job was to make some levelling plates, so I had a fighting chance of getting the scale mounted true.

   
   

I pretty much ran out of time here, so I quickly mocked up the read head bracket and called it a day.

   

[Mayhem]

Yesterday I decided to finish off the DRO install, which had been put on hold due to other projects/commitments. I got the Z axis scale lined up and finished off the bracket for the read head.

   
   

As I had to make the x axis read head movable, I needed to make a cable guide to prevent fouling when retracting the cross slide. Additionally, when the feed gears go back on, the cable needs to be kept clear of them. I took a 1/2" elbow with a decent radius and then cut it in half and smoothed out inside with a die grinder. I brazed this to a bracket and I'm pleased with the result. A loop added to the worm gear cradle finished this off nicely.

   
   

I ran the carriage all the way to the rear of the bed (that took some cranking!) and then pinned the cables near the headstock and then routed them behind the pedestal and up the front. Whilst I have an excess of cable on the z axis, I'm short on the x axis. My plan is to shorten the z axis and use the excess cable to extend the x axis. I guess my lathe wasn't the one in mind when they designed these things.

Final shot of the readout in position.

   

Sorry for the quality of these pics - I forgot to take my camera with me, so these are off my phone.

[Mayhem]

The extension cable arrived and I got the x-axis cover made up. It still needs a coat of paint but all up, the DRO install is compete.

   
   
   
   

[RobWilson]

Belting thread Darren .

Bull gear repair's , teeth and  crack , very well  done .  Myford ML7 has the same/similar tail stock design . Good to see a good old lathe being brought back to life and used .


Rob

mumble,mutter ,  mumble ,,, 16" 4 jaw chuck  , swing envy . lol

[Mayhem]

Thanks Rob - it's been a lot of fun and I've really gotten to understand her.

I've been toying with the idea of placing a couple of three phase stepper motors I have on the screws to get the power feeds running. However, part of me wants to get it back to the original set up. Having said that, I'm not 100% sure how the original set up worked, as those parts are missing and it is slightly different to the similar lather that I am filling in the blanks from. Step one in making the decision is finding the gear that drives the carriage. I know I have it somewhere...