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Carriage play on Atlas Lathe

Hi all,

I just ordered in a new Phase II quick change toolholder. Man I had no idea what I was missing. I was working last night and just loved it. However after setting it up I was checking my 10 Atlas lathe over to be sure all the gibs were tight and noticed that I can lift up slightly on the front of the carriage. There seems to me to be to much play. I can actually lift it up and slide a .003 feeler gauge under it. .004 won't go in. Is this too much play? The manual just mentions that there are shims under the carriage but not what the play should be or how to adjust it. Looking under there I can see the small pieces that hold the carraige down but I can't get a screwdriver near it if I wanted to remove one. I think I'd have to remove the lead screw to get at it and lift the machine up off the cabinet.

Doug Kent Bridge Ontario

Reply to
Doug Arthurs
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Can you remove the right hand lead screw bracket and crank the carriage off the right end of the ways, after removing the tailstock?

RJ

Reply to
Backlash

There are two gib plates under the carriage, that ride against the bottom of the bed. They are held on by two screws each. There are laminated shims under the plates. Removing one shim lamination should tighten things up by .004", which is probably too much. You can make thinner laminations from aluminum foil (about .0015"). When replacing the gib plates, make sure the screws don't pinch the shims, or they will crumple up with accordion pleats.

I have used offset screwdrivers to remove and replace the gibs, but it may be easier to remove the leadscrew and roll the carriage off the right end of the bed.

Jon

Reply to
Jon Elson

I'll have to see if I can get the gib plates off with the offset screwdriver deal. I wasn't to sure about the whole shim thing but laminations make good sense. Hopefully there's still some there to be removed. Thanks for the insight.

Doug

Reply to
Doug Arthurs

Well I ended up removing the tailstock and carriage last night. Turns out there was a 10 tou and 4 thou piece of shim under the gib plates. So I first tried removing the four thou but after cleaning and reassembling I found there was still too much play. So I took the 10 out and put in the four. This was too tight. I ended up putting just the 10 thou in but I can still slide a 4 thou feeler under the carriage. I'll have to buy a piece of shim now. I'm thinking I'll buy some 6 thou and see how that works. Any comments or suffestions are welcome.

Reply to
Doug Arthurs

Get .002. Then you can have .004, .006, .008, .010 settings.

RJ

Reply to
Backlash

Get an empty soda can. Cut out a strip.

Pete

Reply to
Pete Logghe

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