This sounds like a very good conversion, but is a future project. First, I will get the lathe going in its present form, and use it for a while, for the experience.
The pictures (plus the text of this email) would make a nice addition to the dropbox.
That said, the bottom shaft on the variator does wobble badly, and I bet it needs that famous plastic bushing.
I would certainly be interested.
Thanks,
Joe (Grease-Face) Gwinn
Even with good bushings the small shaft that retains the piston block will wobble somewhat, mine did and I believe those bushings to be OK. They looked pretty new when I stripped the original stuff out and there was a spare set that came with the machine, I think somebody bought two sets. Anyway, if you end up needing them, and I can find them, I'll send them your way as I don't think I'll need them anymore.
BXA is the correct size for this machine, and the Phase II I have has been more than adequate even though it's the (GASP) dreaded piston version. It works just fine, if you just have to have the wedge style go for it but don't be afraid of the piston type. I've used a genuine Aloris 'D' size and it was quite nice, this on a much larger lathe than mine, I also have some experience with an 'A' size wedge type (I don't know what brand) and found it to be somewhat lacking. I'm pretty sure it was not an Aloris but which import I couldn't say.
DoN gave me some good advice back when I got the Phase II which is to replace the tool bit clamp setscrews with a decent USA brand, I bought a box of 100 Holochrome brand and replaced them all. The original ones were certainly of lesser quality and prone to stripping or splitting the socket. I've made a couple of tool holders over time, the knurled thumb nut is available from MSC, but I made a batch of my own. The jamb nuts I purchased. I used imperial size fasteners for the homemade ones.
The lathe came to me with the familiar four position tool post, and was adequate, just not convenient. The wedge post is for sure better.
Regards Paul
I may well need those bushings, so I'm putting my dibs in. Thanks for the kind offer.
I bought the manual from Clausing, and it should arrive this coming week. Then, I will take the wobbling assembly apart, and will see what I will see.
All reports point to BXA as the correct size. Given the small price differential between Aloris and the knockoffs, I'm leaning towards genuine Aloris, but had not really thought about piston versus wedge.
I guess the piston approach is more-or-less equivalent in mechanical solidity to the Dickson, despite the differences in mechanical setup, and the Dickson is also reported to be adequate.
Yes. Steel and tempering quality seems to be a weakness in all Chinese and Indian machine-tool products.
I'll be replacing all the clamp screws on the Dickson-style toolpost holders that came with the lathe, probably with Holochrome. I gather that the Holochrome cap screws have been adequate on your Phase II holders.
I also got a 4-side screwclamp holder, but with no attachment hardware whatsoever. Who knows what it was to fit, as it seems a bit undersize for the lathe.
Joe Gwinn
That differential can be a lot larger if you luck into a sale price on the Phase-II toolposts. (Unless you discover that they no longer offer sale prices on the wedge style.
I believe the Dickson to be more rigid than the piston style toolposts.
The wedge style pulls the dovetail holder into firm contact with the wings of the dovetail on the toolpost, thus giving a fairly wide base.
The Dickson style toolpost pulls (via the T-slot and cam-driven T-bolt) the widely separated V-ways into firm contact, giving similar support.
The piston style, however, pushes the holder *away* from the toolpost, so the only firm contact is on the angled part of the dovetail, and the center where the piston presses. The "wings" are separated by a gap between the holder and the toolpost. To my mind, this leaves a little more give possible.
Also -- a second thing to beware of with the piston style. If there is no tool holder on either dovetail, the locking lever can rotate a full 360 degrees, making it possible for the ball handle to come into interference with the moving jaws of the chuck. I have read (here) of it resulting in the ball handle being turned into shrapnel. Even aside from this -- the angle at which the handle locks up the holder shifts by
90 degrees when you move from the turning station to the facing/boring station.All in all -- I am much happier with the Wedge style, though at the time I did not know of the lock-up lever angle changes.
They have in mine. FWIW, I wound up putting in imperial screws instead of the metric ones. It *is* possible to re-thread them -- but those holders are hard. The advantage to re-threading them is that I use the same T-handled Allen wrench for both the Aloris and the Phase-II holders. The Phase-II screws are 8mm, and the Aloris 5/16" (very close in diameter), and the thread pitch is pretty close, so you don't have much work to do until you are near the bottom of the threads in the holder. I used a HSS gun tap for the purpose, and then replaced it with a new and sharp one. Don't try it with a carbon steel one -- you will almost certainly break that in the holders. :-)
Just make another T-nut and tap it for a center post of the proper diameter. I've got one -- which came from a 13" Jet, and which I used for the very short time it took to get the Phase-II set. (Yes, it was on sale at the time.)
Enjoy, DoN.
FWIW, the Royal collet closer on my 5914 also has no specific part number on it anywhere.
Are you getting the closer manual from Clausing or Royal? Last I heard, Royal was about to stop selling manual closers in favor or automatic versions. If that's true it could make a lot of sense to get all of your questions asked (and replacement parts bought) now. In time the supply of parts and availability of knowledgeable tech support will disappear.
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