clarke cl500 improvements

Not really a paradox. Like monkeys writing Shakespeare. Given enough monkeys and a huge amount of time, it can happen!

I have seen other CLM 500 Ms that really were dreadful, makes me wonder if the good one was a special, sample touting for orders maybe?

Andrew.

Whatever machinery you have, it is always best to make the most of what it is able to produce. A good machinist can get better results than I could with any machine.

Well done John!

I too have been busy adding a few mods to mine, I added a variable speed brushless motor and also made a reverse lever for the leadscrew.

It is very satisfying to make improvements. I like the tail stock mod you've made, could you pm me the details of how you tackled that please? I do find the lack of reach a bit frustrating on mine

Thanks Stuart

...here's a couple of pics of my mods

There was an article in MEW maybe 10 years ago which described one persons take. I did it slightly differently. The main casting is reversible on the bed, and the barrel bore is plain, so the barrel can also be reversed. You will need to substitute some M10 or M12 left hand thread (easy to get on ebay) to keep rotation of the tailstock handle in the same sense. The barrel clamp is moved to the top by adding a square block to the back of the tailstock housing and drilling a through bore down at the interface. You will need to lightly skim or file the casting flat where the block attaches. If you dismantle your tailstock, it should all be clear. Photos follow.

Pictures show the block for the barrel clamp, and a spare screw which I made for a colleague with the same lathe, but havn't delivered due to lockdown.

john halfpenny on 29/01/2021 09:05:33

Edited By john halfpenny on 29/01/2021 09:07:34

Edited By john halfpenny on 29/01/2021 09:11:13

Thanks John, that's very helpful! I will give it a go and see how I get on. Just out of curiosity do you find you have less rigidity when the tailstock is at full reach? The only reason I ask is there is obviously more overhang from the base of the tailstock.

Thanks Stuart

Not noticed any change in rigidity - mostly drilling, so no problem. It's a worthwhile mod if you lose some clearance due to a DRO, which you can see in my pics on the tailstock side of the saddle. Also, you may want to adjust the length of the screw to get full barrel travel - I pushed mine up from 35 to 50mm. I recall needing to fiddle with length of the screw to get the barrel zero mark aligned with the mouth of the bore when the barrel is fully reversed - not absolutely necessary, but satisfies my ocd.

Stuart, you will also need to reposition the key which prevents the barrel rotating. Simply drill through the casting to the bore, and make a small hole on the opposite side to suit the key stub. The axial position is not critical, and you can see where I have plugged the hole with a button oiler. A second new oiler lubricates adjacent the handwheel, the originals being now redundant.

Thanks John. I will probably have some questions when I get time to have a look, hopefully I can call on you if I do?

Many thanks

Stuart

That mod is OK as long as you don't want the full length of the bed for machining between centres...

It’s all a compromise.

Its a good point! but for me it's not a forseeable problem.

Thanks NDIY