Mini Lathe Correct Cross Slide Setup?

HansWorks

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Hello All! I just purchased a lightly used Little Machine Shop 7x12 mini lathe, and this is my first post. Thank you in advance for any help sorting out my question/issue below.

Could anyone tell me if the PO setup the cross slide correctly? He was turning only pen sized plastic material.

Based on the current setup only small diameter materials could be milled. Certainly nothing even approaching 3in. The red line in the photo shows the max distance the tool post can be moved away from the stock 3in chuck.

My background, just to let you know how green I am: I work as a graphic designer but I am addicted to tools. I have only spent about an hour on a large South Bend lathe and about the same on a Bridgeport vertical mill.

Thanks again!
4100_hitorque_cross_slide.jpg
 
If I'm looking at the picture correctly, you would want to rotate the tool post 90 deg clockwise.
 
Hello and thanks for your comment. Yes, the tool post needs to be rotated.

My main question is about the cross slide, shouldn't it be able to move farther to the right in my photo?

Currently the farthest it can move away from the center of the chuck is about 1.5in. Is that standard for a mini lathe?

For example, if i wanted to turn a piece of 2in stock there would not be enough space between stock and tool holder.
 
Hello HansWorks,

First, Welcome to the group!

Next, lets be clear about terms: your carriage has BOTH a cross-slide and a top or "compound" slide....and that's a good thing!
Check out the link in the first post here:
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/a-guide-for-selecting-the-right-lathe-for-beginners.25915/
for lathe terms.

The "cross slide" is the one that is fixed at 90 degrees from the lathe axis (the lathe axis goes from headstock centre to tailstock center).
The other, adjustable angle slide is the "compound slide".

The angle of the compound slide can be adjusted to suit the work you are doing:
-set it at 29.5 degrees to cut threads, this way you only cut on one side of the 60-degree sharpened cutter (I find it reduces chatter)
-set it at a low angle to get very fine feed as with a "shear tool"; see here:
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/thre...cold-rolled-steel-on-lathe.44487/#post-380087
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/thre...ni-lathe-shear-tool-win-do-you-know-it.42510/

I used to have an old Barnes lathe with only one slide; the angle could be adjusted, but it was a little limiting.

If you did not get the manuals with the lathe some are available on the "little Machine Shop" site:
http://www.littlemachineshop.com/info/4100MiniLatheUsersGuide.pdf
http://www.littlemachineshop.com/gallery/docs.php?type=ug

In particular see the bottom of page 33 and top of page 34 in the model 4100 pdf document above.

Have fun and post back with any problems or questions.

-brino
 
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Hanswork,

That is all the cross slide moves. If you need more then you have to turn the compound and back it off or turn it in depending on which direction you turn the compound to get more distance.
 
Hello and thanks for your comment. Yes, the tool post needs to be rotated.

My main question is about the cross slide, shouldn't it be able to move farther to the right in my photo?

Currently the farthest it can move away from the center of the chuck is about 1.5in. Is that standard for a mini lathe?

For example, if i wanted to turn a piece of 2in stock there would not be enough space between stock and tool holder.
Oops- I missed the whole point of your question lol. Like others have said, you need to change the angle of the compound. I believe you have to remove the compound to change the angle on a mini lathe.
 
When the lathe specs say it can swing 7”, that’s the maximum diameter it can swing when away from the carriage. And that's all it means. It does not mean you can easily move things around and turn the OD of that 7” though. Yes, I understand, it’s a little bit of false leading advertising. You will need to get creative in your tooling and set-up to achieve larger diameters of work in your lathe…Dave.
 
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When the lathe specs say it can swing 7”, that’s the maximum diameter it can swing when away from the carriage. And that's all it means. It does not mean you can easily move things around and turn the OD of that 7” though. Yes, I understand, it’s a little bit of false leading advertising. You will need to get creative in your tooling and set-up to achieve larger diameters of work in your lathe…Dave.
Swing over the ways is 7", swing over the carriage will be much smaller, swing in the gap if so equipped will be much larger. This is not misleading at all merely common nomenclature.
 
I actually use the setup in the op's picture with the tool holder on the out side, to turn large diameters
 
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