Tail stock

http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/offset-tailstock-center-65965#post105972 by user old_toolmaker Setting the tailstock over to cut a long taper between centers can be a process in its own right, but realigning the tailstock to a zero taper condition when finished can test ones patience. I thought there must be a better way to do this. So I designed this offset tailstock center to fit the mini lathe #2 Morse taper tailstock socket as an attempt to solve this perennial problem. With this attachment the tailstock need never be offset. The attachment neatly fits into the tailstock barrel and is indicated in to a true horizontal position..The offset is set on the attachment itself and therein lies its utility. Most of the machining can be done on the lathe. In fact all the machining can be done on the lathe with a milling attachment if no milling machine is available. The plan includes detailed drawings and a step by step description to aid in building.

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carriage lock I had a need to divide a micrometer dial into 360 divisions so I built a worm drive dividing attachment to fit my 7 X 16 mini lathe. This design is a collection of ideas gleaned from the internet and re-engineered to suit me on my CAD system. It has an 8:1 ratio and the steel worm meshes with an idler gear (a plastic mini lathe change gear) which in turn drives the standard metal 45 tooth spindle gear. The index plate has three hole circles having 35, 40 and 45 holes With this arrangement it can index for most all divisions I am likely to need including 360 degrees which is why I built it in the first place. The worm is canted at an angle to better mesh with the plastic idler spur gear. A worm wheel would certainly be better than the plastic spur gear but for a low speed and seldom used device it works well enough.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr83cOXLQL4 centering tail stock

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Kv2QG9DXf8 The next modification project on the Mini Lathe is the tailstock. There are two main things to do here: first adding some fine adjustments for easy aligning the tailstock on center and second modifying the tailstocks clamping mechanism.

This first video is about making an extension for the upper part of the tailstock. This steel square bare holds a fine adjustment screw with which the tailstock can easily be adjusted sideways for bringing it on center - or off center for turning slight tapers as well. For this I had to modify the base of the tailstock and the upper part slightly to fit the new design which is once more following the professional lathe models. In addition to that, I changed the clamping of the tailstock on its base plate so that the clamping screw is now accessible from the top and not from the underside as before. Now it's absolutely easy to clamp the tailstock in it's position after it's correct alignment. To do this, I needed the homemade reverse counterboring tool from the previous video. https://www.youtube.com/@WeCanDoThatBetter

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