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Ancient lathe chuck adjustment

Willie B

Willie B

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Mount Tabor VT
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DDoug said:
.005 is not much.
suggest you dis-assemble it fully, clean very well, and take a flat file
to every flat surface to get rid of any dings & humps.

And then hard turn the jaws in place.

Which....will only get it true in that one dia. setting.

Or get a 4-jaw and learn how to dial them in.
Click to expand...
Four jaw is nice, but slow work. Dialing it in takes time.
 
D

DDoug

Formerly digger doug
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Thrash-A-Matic designer
Willie B said:
Four jaw is nice, but slow work. Dialing it in takes time.
Click to expand...
I can do it plenty fast.
What's your hurry when doing repair work ?

It's really not that hard with a little practice.

Dialing something in to .001 with a 4 jaw is much easier than fiddle farting
around with a 3 jaw, some shims, some voodoo.
 
Last edited:
Welder Dave

Welder Dave

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That older guy looks like he knows what he's doing! Just like the specialist who did two vertebroplasty procedures to repair my back. He was younger but gave you confidence he knew what he was doing. Actually it's kind of the same when picking up parts. You want the person that knows how to look it up in a paper catalogue.
 
materthegreater

materthegreater

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mekanik said:
More pictures of the lathe? It would probably be a good idea to disassemble that chuck and give it a good cleaning.
Click to expand...
Kept forgetting to take pictures. I'm sure the whole lathe should be cleaned also. If only I had more time to work on my tools...

The gear circled is the one that doesn't stay engaged with the changeable gear. It's on a pivot and there doesn't appear to be any way to latch it in place. I've been using a bungee cord but that only works so well.

1000013032.jpg

1000013030.jpg

1000013031.jpg
 
mekanik

mekanik

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Great old lathe!! That gear that keeps coming out of engagement has to be adjusted to get the proper gear lash between the gear that drives it and the gear it drives. I suspect there are bolts behind that gear that need to be tightened once the lash is set.
It looks like the gears could use a good cleaning and lubing. Chainsaw chain oil works really good on open lathe gears.
 
materthegreater

materthegreater

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mekanik said:
Great old lathe!! That gear that keeps coming out of engagement has to be adjusted to get the proper gear lash between the gear that drives it and the gear it drives. I suspect there are bolts behind that gear that need to be tightened once the lash is set.
It looks like the gears could use a good cleaning and lubing. Chainsaw chain oil works really good on open lathe gears.
Click to expand...

There is a small set screw that increases the friction on the pivot (it pivots on the same axis that the gear above it turns on). There are no other bolts or anything else I can find to lock it in place once set.

1000013040.jpg
 
mekanik

mekanik

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What is this square headed screw for? Does it lock the idler gear shaft once the lash is set?
gIzKDVk.jpeg
 
materthegreater

materthegreater

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mekanik said:
What is this square headed screw for? Does it lock the idler gear shaft once the lash is set?
gIzKDVk.jpeg
Click to expand...

You, sir, are a genius and I am an idiot! That screw looks identical to the tailstock alignment screws, so I assumed that it somehow adjusted the headstock. But I just tried it and it does indeed lock the idler gear. Thank you!
 
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