lathe

hi I have a chester b8vs lathe the cross slide and tool slide has movement on the hand wheel of 12th how can I remove most of the play this is my 1st lathe any advice would be greatfully received thanks dave

I think you are looking at 'backlash'. This is the clearance/wear between the nut and screw which means that you should only read the divisions on the handwheel when pushing the tool/crossslide towards the work. Or away from the work if you are using a boring tool.

There is not much you can do to eliminate it altogether without some surgery to the nut/screw.

Really its a fact of life if you use any well-used machine.

SteveW

Hi David

The play could be in the leadscrew if it's worn (or made that way), but it could also be in the thrust bearings, ie the bearing arrangement where the handwheel is.

These are usually adjustable, or sometimes a bearing that can be changed. Suggest you have a look under the cross slide and see where most of the play is.

If its the leadscrew, it's probably the nut that's worn, which could be made on the lathe (out of phosphor bronze), which would be a nice project to get to grips with internal screw cutting.

Will

Check to see if the cross slide nut has any backlash adjustment, My warco is similar to the Chester DV11 and ther are two grub screws that widen a split nut to reduce backlash.

J

There are also 2 more adjustments you could look at
1. Under the crosslide there should be a locking nut check this out for either slackness or even being
loose.
2. Jib strip adjustment grab hold of the variose parts of the cross slide be quite brutal and push backwards an forwards to check if any movement. if so adjust the grub screws
I hope thit is of some small help

Bob