Myford Vertical Slide on to Colchester Student

Going to fit the above to the cross slide and seeking advise from anybody who has done same or similar. My first thought is to drill and tap the cross sllde and bolt straight on to it. My second thought is to manufacture a plate to sit on the top slide mounting bolts/spigot which would allow me to rotate the vertical slide. Any ideas?

With respect to the vertical slide what are the benefits in tilting tables and also those with rotary chucks. I would say I am inexperienced and do not wish to be purchasing something that will be outwith my abilities

No one seems to have replied to you Hamish - probably because no one has tried this on a Colchester Student.

Well - I haven't either but I have fitted vertical slides to all of my lathes via the use of adaptor plates. This was partially because none of the vertical slides being used would fit directly to the cross-slides (even on the Myford S7 my Asian V/S didn't match the T-slots) - so the plates meant I didn't have to hack the lathe or slides about.

However, the other reason (in one case where I could have used the top-slide mount) was that the slide would have been off-set too much and I wanted the slide to be in the centre of the cross-slide movement. Once you have made the plate, you may also find other uses for it (mounting a travelling steady, drill/angle plates etc.)

One other benefit of using a mounting plate on "lighter" lathes is that bolting up accessories 'tight' doesn't tend to distort the cross-slide quite so much either (which was the case on my smallest lathe) - although this probably wouldn't be a concern on a Colchester.

Anyway - some things to consider. Hope this helps

Regards,

IanT

PS - my largest vertical slide does has a "rotary" base (but no tilt) but I cannot recall needing a tilt facility. Generally I am more concerned about getting the vertical slide square to the cross-slide movement. As another comment, I also feel that my Asian-made vertical slide is a lot more robust (e.g. solid) than the smaller Myford ones I've seen - so unless you already have the Myford vs, I would certainly consider other alternatives  

However, I do have other machine tools available these days, so a rotate/tilt facility on the vertical slide might be more important/useful to anyone in a strictly lathe-only workshop. As always depends on what you need/want to do.

Regards,

IanT

Edited By IanT on 22/12/2014 10:43:02

Thanks for all the suggestions. My initial thoughts were to make a plate to sit on the top slide mounting and that has now been confirmed. Will look for a suitable piece of thick plate and start filing. Thanks again.

Hamish, it may be a bit late if you have started, but I imagine your Student has a pad and holes for mounting a rear toolpost at the rear of the crosslide like my Bantam does. Maybe these could be utilised to mount a suitable plate and even give you a bit more room.

Chris Gunn

Thanks for that suggestion Chris. Yes there are four taped holes at the rear of the cross slide. Unfortunately i do not consider they will be any use for mounting the vertical slide as to far from chuck centre line. Yes I could mount a large plate to come forward but do not think it would be a good idea. Still looking for a suitable bit of plate but at the moment mounting 125mm, 3 jaw and 4 jaw chucks to back plates to suit the work I intend to do. Regretably the holiday period has curtailed this as possible sources closed for festivities.