I rebuilt the crossfeed on a 16" lathe.
Cut off the old bent one and TIGd the new one on.
After she cooled I'd measure her for straight on the surface plate.
Mark where she needed a tweak. Then hit her with a little heat from the TIG torch.
As you know the metal moves toward the heat. Let her very slowly cool and do it over again.
Got her within a few .001 over 12inches.
Daryl
MN
Daryl,
I just built a cross feed shaft on my Springfield lathe about a month ago. It was worn beyond salvaging. The project started with a
piece of cold roll and I made acme threads using the Monarch and a steady rest. That turned out pretty good. Today,
I tweaked on the Gorton X feed rod and now it is pretty straight except for the last foot that is not threaded. I may try the
torch method and see how it goes. It all works fine until I tighten up the end bearing and then it starts to bind. So if the torch
doesn't get it straight, I will cut off the shaft and machine up a new end for it. I have a surface plate but with such a long rod,
it is very difficult to determine where to tweak. If you put it on vee blocks on the ends, that doesn't work either. Also the rod
is very stiff so it doesn't bend easily. Here's a photo to give you an idea of what the end of the shaft looks like. The casting
was broken by the scrappers along with the bent feed rod. I would think I could put the shaft in the lathe and cut it off and
machine a straight end piece and pin it on with some tapered pins or roll pins maybe or possibly even silver solder. The shaft that mates to the bearing area and the cast iron bracket has to
be concentric with the rest of the shaft to not bind .
Let me know what you think. Thanks.
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