Gallery, Projects and General > The Design Shop
Mini Lathe T-slotted X-slide
PeterE:
Ever since reading the Mini-Lathe start pages in MEW I have been thinking about how to get a T-slotted X-slide. It seems like a very useful item and having seen how many work tasks that are simplified and/or possible just by utilizing the X-slide, it is almost becoming a must as a mod.
The main problem is the balance between swing over X-slide vs thick enough X-slide to harbor small/large enough T-slots.
The item for comparison will obviously be the Myford which have the same center height (90 mm) as the Mini-Lathe. The main difference here is that the Myford X-slide is 125 mm (5") wide compared with the Mini-Lathes 68/70 mm. The larger footprint is of course an advantage, but if the small Unimat machines can have a T-slotted X-slide, why can't a Mini-Lathe have one?
Having thought long and hard, I have reached the first sketch-like drawing which I attach below.
It shows the outline of what I am thinking of (please do not trust all the measures yet - they are in some cases just copies to be adjusted and therefore wrong!)
I am aiming for about 200 mm in length (suits a slice of 200 mm square CI from CES) and I will make it 70 mm wide instead of currently 68 mm. My main issue has been how much material shall be left untouched between dovetail and T-slots to maintain proper strength of the whole slide??? As calculated now the slide is set to 20 mm thickness giving 5 mm untouched material in the center which I hope will be enough.
The original X-slide is 16 mm thick so I will lessen the swing over X-slide with 4 mm from 57.5 to 53.5 mm, something I certainly can live with.
The T-slots have the same height as the Myford slots which seems to be strong enough since there have been nearly no comments on them that I can find. The difference is that I standardize on 8 mm T-slots for all my machines and hamemade tooling so the slots are 2 mm narrower than the Myford.
So, my question to you knowledgeable people on the forum is; Have I done any major errors in my design or is there anything else that I may have missed??? I know this question has been up on the ME-forum but I felt I should ask here as well so I hope you don't mind.
BR
/Peter
mklotz:
Have you given any thought to an array of tapped holes in lieu of T-slots? Tapped holes would offer almost as much clamping flexibility and might be sturdier than thin-lipped T-slots.
Just a thought.
andyf:
Here's a fabricated one, Peter http://mikesworkshop.weebly.com/tee-slot-cross-slide.html .
Mike, who made it, is a member of the ME forum, so if you posted there he may already have referred you to it. I've seen his mini-lathe, and the cross-slide certainly looks the business.
I suppose the maximum diameter you can turn will reduce slightly with any design of tee slotted cross-slide, but turning 7" diameter is probably a big ask for a mini-lathe.
I'm on the lookout for a Myford cross-slide, because one can be fitted to my non-Sieg/Real Bull 7x12 lathe, as shown halfway down this page: http://andysmachines.weebly.com/steves-improvements.html
Andy
PeterE:
Hi Marv and Andy,
Yes, I have thought of using a pattern of tapped holes, but perhaps discarded the idea a little too quickly.
What I think is the biggest risk with tapped holes is that they offer too big a chance for swarf and other debris to get below the X-slide and into the slideways which then will be difficult to keep properly clean. Of course some sort of plug would solve that quite easily.
Hmmm, some more thought on this is needed I think :scratch:
Then about the thin-lipped T-slots. I have tried to find as much info as possible on that particular subject, but have not found much. One thing though is that there is a great difference in force if the pull on the T-slot lip is unsupported (bending) compared with supported (shearing). the only thing making me think about thin-lipped T-slots is that the Myford T-slots are thin-lipped and have "survived" through so many years to date. Other than that I really do not know. :scratch:
Looking at the boring table of my X1L mill, the table is much thicker (+10 mm compared with my sketch) giving the T-slots more material on the lip (measured to 8 mm).
Then I just had to measure the T-slot on my Unimat clone as well, and that T-slot is also an 8 mm slot with the same measurements as I have planned for a new slide. That makes two major machines going for thin-lipped T-slots! :bugeye:
@Andy; Yes I posted at the ME forum (the post was a bit different though but the subject the same) and got some valuable comments there as well. Sounds good to hear that Mike C's design works well. That makes one tick for T-slots.
7" diameter might actually be attempted as I have had thought on making a new faceplate with T-slots (well here they are again :bugeye:) instead of drilled through slots as the spindle fastening method "steals" much of the clamping facilities.
Oh, I need to think a bit more on this before deciding the way to go. My "major" is in electronics and nowadays I am only working with computers and information, thus having little knowledge in mechanical dimensioning. So, being careful and wanting to do it right, I sometimes get a little lost as you perhaps can see (read).
All input is most valuable!
BR
/Peter
doubleboost:
I used to own a axminster bv lathe i drilled and tapped the x slide in a pattern of 8 mill holes did the job great
This is the only picture i can find
John
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