Compound Slide Locks

Are all lathes supposed to have a Compound Slide lock on them? Mine doesn't have one but, it does have one on the Carriage Slide.

When I asked the question of the Distributors in the UK about this I was given the answer that the lock on the Compound slide was only for use during transportation. Also he said that if the compound slide was moving when using it to machine across the face of something, ie at 90 deg to the bed, The cutting tool wasn't the correct shape or was blunt.

What do you all think?

As the Operators Manual is what is known as a generic manual, I guess they mean it covers different lathes and sizes of lathes.

My manual that I have shows a picture of the Compound Slide lock but, it is for a different machine to mine. My lathe is of the Chinese variety. Overall it is a good lathe apart from mistakes in the manual.

I did the (George Thomas?) mod on my Myford which adds a Locking screw with a little lever knob between the gib adjustment screws on my compound slide. I allows me to lock the slide without changing the setting of the gib and does give a little more resiliance to the tool post.

regards Martin

A small Chinese lathe probably isn't made to have one.

Judging by the spin on the situation you were given I can guess which that company is.

If you use the compound handle to take up the backlash you will probably not even miss a clamp screw.

Mini lathes are so small that the tool can push off when facing by pushing the saddle back. I just drop the screwcutting lever on a stationary leadscrew.

Most small / hobby lathes don't have cross slide or top slide locks and never have had. Even saddle locks are not universal. Mostly people found they didn't need them, or when they did they just made an extra hole or used one of the existing gib holes. Don't think many amateurs were ever prepared to pay the extra for fripparies they could add themselves for peanuts.

As Bazyle says - they are a rare breed on lathes though usual on milling machines. That's because in normal use most cuts are applied in directions unlikely to cause a slide to move unexpectedly.

Most people who worry about such things just nip up a convenient gib-screw, or like GHT and his Myford, they add one. The minimum you need is a suitable tapped hole and a screw with a neat end on it.

Neil

Quite a few of the far eastern lathes will have say three gib adjusting screws with lock nuts and one screw without, this one can be nipped up with an allen key when required, mine does on both the cross and compound slides. My Austrian Emco before was the same.

Your WM250 should be exactly the same as my 280

J

Edited By JasonB on 10/06/2015 19:56:29

Again, thank you to all, for your responses. I think I will try JasonB Idea, as he says, mine is the same as his.

Speaking of compound slide locks - do you think al lock in vertical direction, pressing on the non-guiding part of the stationary slide, is a viable idea? Reason is on my lathe I installed a Chinese scale on the front of the topslide, and now the adjusting screws are partially hidden and there is not enough room for a lock screw between the scale and the slide. I hope this description is sufficiently clear to see what I mean.

If that's a bad idea, why?

Regards, HansR.