12” x 37” Lathe Tailstock Clamp Improvement

[Log_on Bob]

I have problems with my lathe tailstock

I don’t access to a mill that can do this work so I used two rectangular 3/8” thick by 5” wide CRS 1018 platese.

.

Paul, I know this was almost two years ago now and may or may not see this, but I am like under 10 mins away, call it Bastanchury/ Placentia with a 9 x 42 Enco Mill, DRO and X powerfeed in the garage AKA the Shop if you have need again for a Mill. Drop me a note and and it's yours to use. Enjoyed the write up. I am out looking for and Enco ( or clone ) tailstock 12" and how I found this.

Dan

[olderdan]

Nice solution to an all too common problem, it seems that manufacturers pay more attention to the parts you can see than the ones we cant.
I am about to post a lever conversion on an old lathe that cured the problem in a similar fashion.
Nicely presented post as ever, I am still working on that but I guess you have been doing it longer than me, gives me something to aim at.
Regards
Olderdan

[Paul Jones]

Thank you Dan and Olderdan for the comments, offers and feedback.

Looking forward to seeing Olderdan's tailstock lever conversion. In addition to making a larger clamping plate, one of the easiest and best improvements to my tailstock clamp was changing the bottom clamping nut to a Nyloc Nut rather than a conventional nut. The Nyloc Nut is a kind of locknut with a nylon collar insert that resists turning. The action of clamping and un-clamping the tailstock plus the constant lathe vibrations would eventually loosen the bottom clamping nut, and reduce the mechanical advantage range of the clamping arm. There are ways to use a brass tipped set screw to lock the bottom nut in place but I found the Nyloc Nut to be the easiest solution.

Paul

[Y-geo]

Hi,
neat design Paul wish my conquest lathe could be modded like this ! I went with this Mod at first:-

to keep the foot aligned to the ways when re-assembling the tool post to the ways. Steve used two screws to do this but since my machine "shop" is
only days old I used a roll pin as a guide instead.

Steve also came up with this secondary tailstock lock:-

Which while not ideal in a space limited shop it does work

hope these are of some use to the smaller lathe owners

[Paul Jones]

Y-Geo,

I like your double locking modification on the tailstock. I had used a Kant Twist clamp at the back of my tailstock as a poor man's version of your double locking method before I made the larger locking foot. Your clamping method is quick to set and release.

Thank you for showing what you made,
Paul Jones

[Paul Jones]

Everyone,

Just in case you had this question. I re-used the original bottom locking plate from the tailstock on the original center rest for the lathe. My used lathe included many accessories but the original center rest was missing its bottom locking plate. The original bottom part from the tailstock fit perfectly on the center rest and no need to make yet another replacement.



I want to replace the brass tips on the center rest with small ball bearing rollers. I would like to see if anyone else has examples of this type of center rest modifications for adding ball bearing rollers or know of examples on the Internet.

Thank you,

Paul Jones

[Y-geo]

paul,
I had this bookmarked as "interesting" :-

about making a steady from scratch BUT it does show the roller bearings you are thinking about

More along the same line but with a good talk about the why's and wherefore's :-

Part 1

Part 2

HTH certainly food for thought

[Y-geo]

Paul,
Also dug these out my "library" of modding a chinese steady :-

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

[Frank S]

There you are Paul Jones Y-geo beat me to it LOL

[Paul Jones]

Thank you to Frank S and Y-geo for the interesting examples.

Looks like a fun project and will be a significant improvement over what I have today.

Regards,

Paul