The QCTP turned up at last and is now fitted. I don't know the correct way to fit one of these so I just copied what was on the original. It's basically a long bolt with a flat disc 21mm in dia on the bottom, the disc fits in a recess. But the original was too short and thin to be used on the new one, so I had to make my own. I chucked up a piece of 28mm dia steel and using the steady in the tailstock I turned down to create the disc, 21mm dia by 4mm thick. Then came the laborious task of taking the rest down to 14mm. When I came to thread it I found the thread on the new QCTP was 14mm x 1.5, is this a strange thread size? I couldn't find a die with the same pitch, only 2mm. I have never cut a thread with a lathe before, I have made several attempts on the old Clarke but never pulled it off. So after a quick google and a good read in here I pulled out the change wheels and spent an hour figuring out how they worked and how they went together. Then disaster!!! The bolt that holds one set of gears on stripped its threads. I found a shoulder bolt that was just about ok to use as a temporary measure, so I swapped all the gears again, cut off the crap threads from the bolt and after putting it in the chuck I faced it off, drilled and threaded for M6. I loctited a stainless steel screw in place and cut to length, then went for a coffee while waiting on the glue to cure.
Back to changing the gears again and my temporary glued in bodge worked a treat.
I must say that I thought cutting a thread was going to be really difficult if not impossible for me, but thanks to all the reading and some patience I managed to cut my very first thread
I was really pleased with it, and myself! Next I had to remove the topslide and drill out the hole to 14.1mm to take the new bolt. I also drilled a hole in the disc as per the original and then drilled through to the topslide to fit a roll pin and stop it turning when tightening up the nut. Once fitted together and squared up I drilled through the underside of the topslide and into the new QCTP, again I fitted a roll pin to stop the QCTP from moving off square.
Everything was then cleaned up and all swarf removed, fitted it all together, mounted on the lathe and checked with an indicator
I was having a think on what to do with the original 4 way tool holder and then remembered a project that I never got round to starting. Problem here is that square things don't go in 3 jaws very well, and I had never used an independent 4 jaw chuck before. Oh well, you'll never learn until you try. So after fitting the chuck I spent the next hour trying to square the old tool post in the chuck, AAAAGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Back to google and 20 minutes later I was ready to start making swarf. Turns out to be quite easy as long as you follow a set procedure instead of going round in circles.
Sorry for the poor pictures, only had my mobile to hand and it doesn't take a good picture.
I had some 12 volt LEDs left over from another job and kept them aside thinking they would be handy for something. I rigged them up to an old laptop power supply and heatshrinked the soldered joints, stuck them on with some double sided tape and now I can see better
New toolpost
old toolpost ready for modding
Can you tell what it is yet?
Best thing is I have learned two new skills, both of them essential in my opinion, more so the independant chuck. I can see that staying on the lathe until I can use it quickly and without thinking.
