The tool holder is bent. I’m not sure if this happened from use over time or someone had a terrible outing? I believe it was a terrible outing. I’m going to shorten the part, drill a hole, and tap the current tool holder plate.
I am going to retap the tail stock cam lock or remake it.
I used the lathe a week and a half ago or so, and I didn’t see that. On the other hand, I had to look very closely at the first photo to see any problem, so maybe I just didn’t notice. Certainly nothing dramatic happened while I was using it.
If that allowed the tool position to flex, perhaps that could explain why I was getting such poor quality cuts. Though I was cutting Nylon, so there wasn’t a lot of force back on the tool, so maybe not.
I thought about it some more and think the metal just yielded. It is not hardened and was not supported. It just failed over time. I had that plate on the compound and it was moved into an unsupported overhang. When I shorten it. It should not be over hung on the compound.
I used it several weeks ago, and I could have contributed to the problem. I was cutting aluminum. I adjusted that slide out because I needed more clearance between the toolpost and my work, and I didn’t adjust it back (I should have, I forgot). I should have reset it, because if someone did aggressive cutting after I did that, I could see it causing problems.
I know when I slid the bar out, it would fully fit inside the top slide. So if it won’t fit inside the top slide any more, that’s something recent.
I didn’t see any other way of having the cross-slide set for the cut I needed, while keeping the tool post and top slide clear of the chuck. I had the QCTP bolt still inside of the top slide. And the entire tail of that piece was inside the top slide I think.
Was it wrong to get the overhang that large? Or was it that I just forgot to reset it after I was done?
The tool post plate is not hardened. The lathe did not come to us with one.
No big deal. I’m making some improvements to the whole setup. The part will be done by Tuesday.
At some point I want to look for some stress proof bar stock to make a new plate for the tool post
@JoeN Thanks for checking this out I submitted a maintenance ticket on the 10th. I was using it to cut steel. I was not getting clean cuts and could not figure out why (initially). After a few tests, I noticed the tool cutter bolt got loose but did not think much of it. I tightened it back down and noticed it was stripped and bent. I could have definitely been a factor in it failing due to cutting steel but I was being very conservative in my cutting.
No worries. Thanks for the bringing it up. I think the tool plate fatigued. The lathe will be better after it repaired
@JoeN Just so I know for future reference, did I do anything wrong in extending the toolpost out to cut my part? It seems like that’s what that slide is setup to allow for, but maybe it has a different purpose? (I should have put it back when I was done, but besides that…) Or is it just our lathe is “well loved” and needed a part replaced with the proper part?
You can extend it for light cuts. Just put it back after you are done. It can introduce chatter on your part.
I added an allen bolt to the tool post spacer plate. They are now indexed together and will provide a little more support.
The quick change tool post also was cleaned and lubricated.
Thank you Joe for taking care of our machine!
The tailstock cam and handle got some welds, machining, drilled, and tap/die. I did a test cut and it seemed pretty good. Clean up after your done. The means brushing chips down into the trough and vacuuming the trough.
That looks dead one. Great job!
