SB 10L production cross slide question.

[Jim_cellarshop]

Hi, I saw a pic of one of these production cross slides (sorry I don't have pic). I think it has a lever to move slide back & forth. I am not sure how these work, but it does not look like it has a lead screw feed for it. Could I add one? I have been looking for a 10L to buy & it looks like I may have to dip into the mill budget for now. So I was wondering if adding something like this would make it easier to mill small parts on the lathe? I have seen the palmgrin (sp?) type that mounts to the compound slide (I saw the setup to go straight on the cross slide, nice idea!). Would it be worth the trouble, would I need to scrape the cross slide in (never scaped & would prefer to not have to). 60% ish mill parts are smaller than an apple. Thanks! Jim.

 

[yugami]

Production cross slides are slid to a spot and clamped down. They're often fit with cuttoff and or form tools to cut a single specific thing in 1 spot.

If you used one with a mill adapter you wouldn't be able to advance the part with a fine feed as (you said) they don't tend to tie into the leadscrew.

A send somewhat similar option, one I have on my logan, is a dual tool cross slide which doesn't have a compound but had a bunch of T slots. This has all the bells and whistles of a normal carriage just no compound and its easy to secure random things to it.

Besides that those production things are typically lever activated so your cross direction feed on milling would be coarse with no repeatability

 

[8ntsane]

Hmmmm, not sure if he is describing a capstan lathe, or turret lathe?
But for small milling jobs you could use one of those Palmgren milling attachments. The ridgity of your lathe will depend on how well you will get along with a milling attachment. As long as you are willing to take the time to set this up, and take it easy with the depth of cuts, you can get er done.

Having a milling attachment may not be ideal, but is better than not being able to mill at all.

Paul

 

[Jim_cellarshop]

The production slide I saw was suppose to be for a std 10L. I saw the MLA cross slide w/ t-slots, looks like it would be great! But I am not sure how I would mill the kit with just the lathe, it looks like a rather large piece. I also saw an offset piece that moved the compound pivot in some to better center the milling attchment. I am intersted in this because all of the 10Ls in my orig price range ($1500) seem to be in need of more than a little work so I may have to dip into my mill budget & put off the mill for a while. I have a back log of items I want to make so I don't want to get a lathe that needs an immeadiate rebuild. Plus I just got the go ahead from my better half, but that usually comes with an expiration data. Thanks for all your help!! Jim.

 

[Jim_cellarshop]

The production cross slide I saw has 6 T slots in it, no round hole for the compound slide. I had thought that I may be able to adapt it to the lead screw instead of the lever to provide a T slotted cross slide for lathe & mill work. I just wondered if any one had done this. I am not sure there would be clearance for the cross feed handle or even a good place/ way to attach the lead screw nut. An MLA cross slide would be nice but I need to figure out how I would mill it. I am in the process of aquireing a 10L. Once I have it for a bit I can see better what my options would be. I will most likely just start w/ a std mill attachement. Thanks for all your help! Jim.

 

[Jim_cellarshop]

Thanks, I will look into the MLA cross slide. Once the 10L arrives, I will better be able to see how much cross slide travel I will have. It looks like the compound slide mount hole in the cross slide would not traverse much past the center of the spindle, but perhaps I am wrong. I like the idea of mounting the mill attachment directly to the cross slide for ridgidity. I will probably buy a mill attachment first & see how it goes. Thanks for all your help. Jim.