Getting rid of the compound slide?

There's no reason not to that I can see. I have one on mine.
 
Ken from ontario said:
For me facing is one operation that is difficult to do without a compound slide.
Usually with the compound on,I let the tip of the cutting tool touch the face,(with the lathe off), lock the carriage ,move the compound back a couple of thou, turn the lathe on, move the compound forward a few thou , cut with the cross slide until done,but now without it I would have to move the carriage a couple of thou and that's not an easy task on a mini lathe.
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All that needs to be done to keep track of movements is put a mag base dial indicator on your saddle and zero it out on a hard stop. Then you can move precisely.
 
There are a number of other mods that people have done to their mini lathes to improve rigidity without losing any function. I fitted angular contact bearings to the spindle and this made a big difference. In an effort to get my mini lathe up and running again last night I re-adjusted these and have noticed a big improvement in the surface finish when facing.

Tapered gibs is another mod I know a lot of people have done. I would love to do it myself but I don't have a mill to make them so it's on the back burner for now.

When parting I have found it best to lock the carriage and compound if possible to prevent any movement. The biggest issue I have is the tool digging in and either snapping the parting blade or stalling the lathe. I personally found running at slightly higher speeds helped as the lathe had less of a tendency to stall. Keep the parting blade sharp too - if you try and push a blunt tool into the workpiece then that's a recipe for disaster.
 
Pcmaker said:
What size lathe is considered ridgid enough to part off as well as some other procedures? I was thinking of getting an 11 x 27 Precision Matthews lathe sometime in the future
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I have never had any problems parting off with my G4003G 12*36 Even big hunks of steel.
 
So far I have had no problems parting off on my old 9" South Bend.
 
I need some seriously thick steel to replace the compound slide. Something like 3 inches thick.
 
That doesn't sound right, 1.625" thick is what I'm thinking.
 
Yeah, I just measured it and these are the dimensions of what I need. Anyone know where's a good place to get it online? Something exact or close enough and I can mill out the rest. I don't think it has to be exactly the same length and width as the block below it.

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It is to bad you need it 1 5/8 inch thick. I have some 1 3/8 inch thick stock I could cut and send but guess it wont help. Sorry. Warren
 
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