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Finally got tired of swaping the tailstock wrench

Kelly McLaughlin

Kelly McLaughlin

Well-Known Member
Been making a bunch of parts for the mill project lately and got this idea from the inheritance machine videos. So far it seems to work really well and surprisingly smooth. The bearing is a 51102 off amazon that I used on the table of the mill. 5 for 16.00 so if it doesn't work out no big deal but so far so good : )
 

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I added needle bearings to both my lathe tool post as well as the three clamping bolts for my round column mill. All I can say is if you have a round column mill order a few needle bearings because they are a really worthwhile improvement.
 
slow-poke said:
I added needle bearings to both my lathe tool post as well as the three clamping bolts for my round column mill. All I can say is if you have a round column mill order a few needle bearings because they are a really worthwhile improvement.
Click to expand...

What is this mod? What three clamping bolts? Please post an image.
 
David_R8 said:
Some mills have two, some have three.
The bearings reduce friction allowing more clamping force.
Click to expand...
Yes , the head clamping bolts and I have three.

Lifting/lowering the head before this mod was a PITA partially because access on either side of my mill is somewhat constrained space wise, so I was typically reaching in a somewhat narrow space while either torquing the clamping bolts or cranking the lever. I used a large wrench for the clamping bolts and dropped it too often because of the awkward position.

The first improvement was to replace the hex nuts and wrench with long handles for more leverage alleviating the need for the wrench. The combination of more leverage and reduced friction because of the needle bearings, allows one modest tap with my palm to loosen the nut and then even just back of the hand pressure to rotate 90 degrees to fully loosen.

On the other side I replaced the hand crank with a small motor so no more cranking, just flip a toggle switch and wait a few seconds for the desired height.

It changes the task of lifting the head from a PITA to a pretty trivial affair.
1593EBF3-367D-4DE7-94B0-5B241F95DF22.jpeg
 
Kelly McLaughlin said:
Been making a bunch of parts for the mill project lately and got this idea from the inheritance machine videos. So far it seems to work really well and surprisingly smooth. The bearing is a 51102 off amazon that I used on the table of the mill. 5 for 16.00 so if it doesn't work out no big deal but so far so good : )
Click to expand...
I like it! I currently have my oldest and most beat up combination wrench where you have that space age lever. I think I feel a project coming on. Would look much better with the brass handles I made for the lathe than what I currently use.
 
Hi Steven! I cleaned it with 99% isopropyl and used Birchwood Casey gun blue. several coats to get an even finish. then after dry a top coat f wd 40 easy to maintain, may need to be touched up after a few years but matched the tool post well enough : ).
 
Kelly McLaughlin said:
Hi Steven! I cleaned it with 99% isopropyl and used Birchwood Casey gun blue. several coats to get an even finish. then after dry a top coat f wd 40 easy to maintain, may need to be touched up after a few years but matched the tool post well enough : ).
Click to expand...
I used to do cold blue on firearm and shop related items. Its fast but the end result is meh.
I since adopted the rust blue method, Not exactly slap on and walk away. But the result is top shelf!

 
I tried installing a thrust bearing on the front of my Record vise. Seems to work fine but I’m not sure if helped hugely, although in theory it should. A bit of a pain getting the vise apart and back together — not quite as simple as I originally thought :-).
 
I'm not sure a vise is the correct application for a thrust bearing. In the case of the tool post as you apply tension it quite often will rotate from the increase in drag which is what the bearing cures. In the case of a vise the tendency would be to crush the thrust bearing as the pressure threshold is "I think" well beyond what the bearing is designed for. Rotation isn't an issue because of the way a vise is designed. We'll see how it stands up over time. You'll need some test instruments to see if it helped : ) Keep us posted with your findings!
 
Some styles of vises have a thrust bearing where the design has the lead screw thrust opposite of the force the vice applies. Could be plain bearing or a roller thrust bearing. For example Kurt style milling Vises.
 
Kelly McLaughlin said:
I'm not sure a vise is the correct application for a thrust bearing. In the case of the tool post as you apply tension it quite often will rotate from the increase in drag which is what the bearing cures. In the case of a vise the tendency would be to crush the thrust bearing as the pressure threshold is "I think" well beyond what the bearing is designed for. Rotation isn't an issue because of the way a vise is designed. We'll see how it stands up over time. You'll need some test instruments to see if it helped : ) Keep us posted with your findings!
Click to expand...
Agreed Kelly, non-standard for sure. I saw this idea on a University of youTube course one day so thought I'd invest $5 on some genuine Chinese thrust bearings. The screw needed to be cleaned and relubed anyway so I thought it was a good time to give this a try. I can always take it off if the bearing croaks in the future. It is made up of 30 x 1/4" needles rather than ball bearings, so lots more contact surface. I'm currently saving up for some test instruments.... My lathes are outfitted with the 40 position Multifix toolpost/holder systems, so once I get them to hold a tool at 90 degrees to the spindle axis I rarely have to adjust the post angle. Cheers, al.
 
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