Handy mod for G4000 9x20 lathe

I just bought a used Grizzly G4000 and have started cleaning it up, etc. I noticed that one of the lube points is obscured by the aluminum pulley on the spindle. The first photo shows how the lube point can be accessed, though at enough of an angle (maybe 40 degrees or so) that the tip of the oiler can't "seal" well, and you'll get a major drool when trying to oil it.


Luckily, the G4000 uses a very small section belt, so the grooves in the pulley aren't very deep. I solved the problem by drilling a 1/4" hole through the pulley, centered 1/4" inward from the outer edge. The hole is large enough to allow access to the lube point, but small enough that it doesn't break into the belt groove. Just to be OCD about it, I actually drilled two holes 180 degrees apart - wouldn't want there to be any imbalance when spinning the chuck!:rofl:

Still in the process of setting up my G4000, I've made two modifications to the tailstock.

First is a "paranoia guard" - I somehow have this fear of getting too vigorous after using the tailstock, sliding it too far and dumping it off the end of the ways. So I devised a simple stop, using 3/4" aluminum angle. I cut a chunk about 3 1/2" long, drilled and tapped the end of the ways (below the heat treat area), and mounted the stop with a screw. I (blue) loctited the screw in place so it very loosely retains the stop and allows it to always return to near vertical with just gravity. When I actually want to remove the tailstock, I rotate the stop out of the way.




The second mod is for the sake of laziness. I get tired of cranking the tailstock in and out when drilling deep holes. I mounted a 3 1/2" hinge on the tailstock and added a pin (actually a #10 screw held on with a nut) to the outer leaf. The pin can be hooked into the dovetail slot of the carriage and the carriage used to advance and retract the tailstock.

Details: The fixed leaf of the hinge is spaced away from the front of the tailstock with some washers, to clear the hinge barrel. There's a hole drilled into the tailstock behind the appropriate screw hole in the fixed leaf of the hinge. It's big enough to clear the pin and allows the loose leaf to lie almost flat when not in use. The loose leaf is cut away to clear the compound mount.

Funny how a couple little things can make such a difference in using the machine. Keep them coming.
Pierre

Lube point access hole is inspired.
Your hinge for the tail stock may be down right genius!
On your tail stock safety stop... If you look down between the ways at the last webbing, there might be a threaded hole there, mine has about a 2" threaded stud in it. Ill try to geta picture later. It catches the bottom of the tail stock before it can fly off the end. Don't get me wrong, you have a simple practical, very workable solution, just wondering if yours has the factory solution that my 12x36 does?

Thanks to all of you for your kind words!

Daver said:

On your tail stock safety stop... If you look down between the ways at the last webbing, there might be a threaded hole there, mine has about a 2" threaded stud in it. Ill try to geta picture later. It catches the bottom of the tail stock before it can fly off the end. Don't get me wrong, you have a simple practical, very workable solution, just wondering if yours has the factory solution that my 12x36 does?

Click to expand...

No joy. I checked today, and none of the cross-webs have any kind of hole. Sounds like somebody had a great idea when the were designing the 12x36.

John, here are some pics... The second shot I tried to get down even with the bed to show that the bolt will stop the tail stock by hitting to bottom clamp.
saved my bacon once or twice, usually right after a good cleaning and oiling, when everything slides so easy! :yikes:

My c3 clone from einhell (german brand) already had that bolt to stop the tailstock.