Carriage stop for the lathe

[KWK]

I made this carriage stop/Indicator holder so I have one for each of my two South Bend 9's. Just made it up in my head, you know. I can use either the thread insert or the slit sleeve to hold a dial indicator. I made a square head bolt so it uses the 3/8" toolpost wrench. Same as the carriage lock bolt as well. I made it the same profile as the other two bolt heads. Notice the last picture. The pink image on the surface (last picture) is a reflection. That's how nice the Logan metal shaper finishes aluminum. Better than a fly cutter on a milling machine. You should also be getting a finish like this on your lathe cutting aluminum with HSS. It's hard to get that to show up in pictures. I used the metal shaper for several of the operations because I can!
Kerosene is the best cutting fluid for aluminum. But it stinks so I use mineral spirits. Don't douse your part or whole machine with it. Just brush a little on. And it's flammable so don't burn the shop down!

A nice metal shaper finish on aluminum. See the reflection of the 1/4" socket and bolt? Cut with a HSS blank ground for use on a lathe. If you're not getting a finish like this with aluminum on the lathe you're doing something wrong.

 

[KWK]

I cut the slit in the block with this slitting saw arbor I made. You hold it with a 5/8" R8 collet in the milling machine.

Slitting some screw slots

And parting. Duplicating rare BSA barleycorn sights for a 1907 BSA. Why make 1 when I could make 2?

 

[Oddhawk]

Thank you for sharing this! I would be dangerous with these skills! Lol

 

[rcs9250]

Nice work. Especially on the front sights.

 

[heavy-impact]

Love it.
I've been pushing for an airgun machining section here to posts our projects and learn from each other. If you'd like to cast your vote https://www.airgunnation.com/threads/we-need-a-new-sub-forum-for-machine-work.1307004/

 

[lindsey]

I saw you had sand paper (or emery?) in your 3 jaw chuck. Do you do this for fragile parts so less clamping pressure is needed, or to take up variations on a rough surface? Or something else? I've used paper when clamping multiple parts in a mill vise, but never in a lathe chuck.

 

[KWK]

I saw you had sand paper (or emery?) in your 3 jaw chuck. Do you do this for fragile parts so less clamping pressure is needed, or to take up variations on a rough surface? Or something else? I've used paper when clamping multiple parts in a mill vise, but never in a lathe chuck.

It's a piece of brown/white coil stock.
One of the pictures shows copper wire on the moveable jaw side of a vise. That helps hold both pieces without concerns about slipping.

 

[Healthservices]

That's neat! Only problem is I have no idea what it does. Other than maybe it holds a indicator. Yeah, no clue.

Allen

 

[KWK]

That's neat! Only problem is I have no idea what it does. Other than maybe it holds a indicator. Yeah, no clue.

Allen

If one part is .001 thinner it wouldn't be gripped as tightly. The copper wire crushes some to hold both parts pretty much equally.
Another thing is if the parts don't have parallel sides the vise will hold firmly against the fixed jaw.

 

[heavy-impact]

That's neat! Only problem is I have no idea what it does. Other than maybe it holds a indicator. Yeah, no clue.

Allen

If one part is .001 thinner it wouldn't be gripped as tightly. The copper wire crushes some to hold both parts pretty much equally.
Another thing is if the parts don't have parallel sides the vise will hold firmly against the fixed jaw.

He's talking about the carriage stop.

 

[KWK]

Read the pictures?

 

[heavy-impact]

That's neat! Only problem is I have no idea what it does. Other than maybe it holds a indicator. Yeah, no clue.

Allen

I'll try explaining it but I've never run a lathe that has this capability.
A carriage stop I believe is only used on a lathe with a clutch on the lead screw which drives the carriage when you engage the half nut. You lock the carriage stop in a place you want the carriage to stop when doing multi pass turning or threading.
For reference...

 

[GeneT]

Nice work! I share your enthusiasm for shapers, I've often slowed down a project by using mine, but it's just fun to do. WD-40 is my aluminum cutting fluid of choice, I think it works even better than kerosene, but it smells as well.

GsT

 

[Healthservices]

I'll try explaining it but I've never run a lathe that has this capability.
A carriage stop I believe is only used on a lathe with a clutch on the lead screw which drives the carriage when you engage the half nut. You lock the carriage stop in a place you want the carriage to stop when doing multi pass turning or threading.
For reference...
View attachment 445202

So this is a stop that prevents movement of carriage.

it replaces a existing stop (or maybe these units dont have one?) and uses a dial indicator to locate its position.

Or this unit uses a dial indicator to better help position where the existing carriage stop should be?

Or something else?

Lol, sorry just trying to learn more about these cool (and scary) machines that have all these levers, switches, and gears that spin, go in all different directions and cut chunks of metal.



Allen

 

[Smitty911]

On my lathe or mill I use a Green cutting oil that smells kind of like wintergreen. Great surface finishes as well.

Smitty

 

[KWK]

It's a stop you use when you want a shoulder on your part. Not necessarily for under power feed.
Usually set it a few thou short of the desired shoulder then face the remaining amount to get the finished dimension.
A "stop" that prevents carriage movement is the carriage lock.

 

[heavy-impact]

It's a stop you use when you want a shoulder on your part. Not necessarily for under power feed.
Usually set it a few thou short of the desired shoulder then face the remaining amount to get the finished dimension.
A "stop" that prevents carriage movement is the carriage lock.

Thank you for educating us.
I have only used my cheap chinese Grizzly G0602 with an add on DRO so I enjoy and appreciate the education.

 

[KWK]

Using a carriage stop on a lathe that only utilizes the half nuts for feeds can be risky. Use caution. Running into the stop accidentally can be catastrophic. It's better to have a separate feed clutch mechanism that will slip and not do damage to the machine. And simply power feeding doesn't put wear on the lead screw threads or half nuts. Preserve their accuracy for threading. Not to mention they can be expensive to replace.
Buy a lathe with a separate clutch if you can. And preferably with power cross feed as well. Parting operations go much smoother under power feed. Same for facing.

 

[heavy-impact]

I converted to an electronic lead screw so it only runs when needed and I thread with the tool upside in reverse so there's no chance of a crash. I hated those sloppy change gears for threading. I also use WD-40 on aluminum. What year were your South Bend 9s made?

 

[lindsey]

Using a carriage stop on a lathe that only utilizes the half nuts for feeds can be risky. Use caution. Running into the stop accidentally can be catastrophic. It's better to have a separate feed clutch mechanism that will slip and not do damage to the machine. And simply power feeding doesn't put wear on the lead screw threads or half nuts. Preserve their accuracy for threading. Not to mention they can be expensive to replace.
Buy a lathe with a separate clutch if you can. And preferably with power cross feed as well. Parting operations go much smoother under power feed. Same for facing.

I had half nuts stick on my Leblond once. Into my carriage stop it went. Bam! Quadrant gear was the weakest link. Took a bit of brazing and filing to fix that. I remember reading about the round heads having a clutch to prevent such things. I guess mine does not, or its stuck closed.