tools « gimbalStuff

Posts Tagged ‘tools’

The Dial Gauge on the Taig Lathe

Apr 22nd, 10 / Comments Off

As can be seen in this shot, my Taig lathe has a dial gauge mounted under the headstock that I use to measure carriage travel. The mounting block also includes provision for a stop rod. A web surfer asked me recently to post some more detailed photos of the mounting.

The block itself is L-shaped. The two cap screws pass through and into the T-slots in the headstock. The thumbscrew was the one that came with the lathe. It holds the stop rod (a piece of 0.250 silver steel/drill rod) in place with the aid of a brass pad.

The dial gauge is mounted on a rod which passes through the hole pictured below. A clamping mechanism is devised from a slot and another cap screw.

Here is the mount for the dial gauge. The rod is held on the block via a grub (set) screw, and the dial is mounted via another cap screw.

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Mounting a DRO on the 6×26 Mill

Sep 30th, 09 / Comments Off

I kept the chinese DRO scales and readout display from the previous mill. All of the travels were able to accommodate the travels on the new machine. Having a DRO is something I don’t think I could now live without.

Here are some photos showing what I did:

I drilled and tapped a couple of M5 holes in the bottom half of the belt guard – this allowed me to attach the readout unit to the side of the machine.

I removed the scale and the stop post that was attached to the front of the table and used the t-nuts that where in the t-slot at the front of the table to attach the X-axis scale. I used some lightweight aluminium angle to protect the scale from chips and coolant etc. The cable was put inside plastic sheathing and was tied down with cable ties.

The Y-axis scale was attached to a plate that was attached in turn to the Y-axis stops bracket via standoffs. I used stand offs to clear the oiler for the knee dovetail. I replaced the steel stop piece with a new part that acts as both a stop and a bracket for moving the scale.

The Z-axis was the only place (aside from the readout bracket) that I had to drill holes to attach the scales. I have not covered these scales yet.

All the cabling was neatly routed and tied down with cable ties.

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A Countershaft for a Taig Lathe

Sep 16th, 09 / Comments Off

I have been doing a bit of steel turning on the Taig lately again and have been having trouble parting off and form turning. I needed to slow the spindle speed right down. I didn’t want to go and spend more money on a DC variable speed drive, plus I don’t think they have enough torque at low speeds, so I decided to keep my trusty induction motor. I needed a countershaft.

I wanted a compact design that allowed me to adjust the belt tension easily in both directions and also allowed for quick changes of speeds. I sketched something up.

As you can see from the design, the countershaft is mounted on a pivoting arm that pivots around the same axis as the motor shaft. In this way I can adjust the tension between the motor pulley and the countershaft without disturbing the tension between the lathe and the countershaft. Similarly the tension between the lathe and the countershaft can be adjusted without disturbing the other belt. I also ended up with an assembly that was very compact.

I started to turn sketch into metal.

Here you can see the two cheek plates and the pivot arm. The ball bearing are old Taig spindle bearings – bit worn but OK for this job. Here is a shot from the other direction: