Mini lathe vertical slide attachment

vimes1984

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Aug 17, 2018
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Hey Guys,
I'm trying to decide what to do, I'm looking to do some small milling on my mini lathe and wondering about which vertcial slide attachement to buy?
Does anyone have any experience with this?
Chris
 
I bought one from Warco a few years ago to use on my little Sieg SC2. I also got a small milling vice to go with it and an er32 collet chuck to hold the cutters.

Overall I wasn't impressed. Lots of chatter unless I did the cross slide gibs up tight, then had to fix the carriage wheel to the cross slide to make it easier to use. Also it was tricky setting the z axis cutting depth as there's not much room on the mini lathe for a dial indicator and no scale on the carriage.

I ended up buying an sx2 mill, which I used for a couple of years. It tò had its limitations but was much better than milling on the lathe. I sold it to make some space in my workshop (I caught the bug for buying old machines and renovating them). I've still got the mini lathe, which is a good machine - after a bunch of improvements - for turning, but not milling.

Just my opinion. YMMV.

Rob
 
Yeah I don't have the budget for a mill at the moment and I want to do some killing.. I think the only option I have is the vertical slide
 
Do you still have the slide and collet? Would you be interested in selling it?
 
I still have the slide and collet. The collet chuck is now in use on my Harrison lathe - I modified the dog drive plate to mount it as I use a collet more than I turn between centres.

The slide is collecting dust - I kept it just in case but haven't used it since I got the SX2, so yes, I'd be interested in selling it.

Rob
 
If like me you prefer to make your own gear why not have a go at building one.
Be aware they do chatter so only light cuts but definitely better than not having one.
Just my attempt from bits and bobs.
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/a-vertical-slide-for-a-9x20-lathe.49724/
It works ok and I've done a fair bit of work I couldnt do before.
For a simple version I would buy an angle plate and bolt that to the cross slide then bolt a small machine vice to that. Limited vertical movement and plenty of horizontal movement.
 
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