Ever seen a lathe with replaceable ways?

I've owned three. A Jones & Lamson 7C turret lathe with rectangular ways, a Rathbone chucker with round ways, and a Taiwanese copy of a Hardinge HLVH which has a single full width dovetail fastened to the base casting.

Recirculating ball linear ways are common on CNC machines.

Ned Simmons

some colchesters have replaceable ways

but with hardened ways miost last longer than the other parts , if well cared for

i have a 1946 monarch that was one of their first with hardened ways , and they look new , and machine like it

Hi all,

Today I spent an idle moment pondering the design of machine tools. It occurred to me that the thing that often kills the accuracy of old lathes is wear to the ways at the headstock end. So I thought, why not build a lathe with replaceable ways? Either precision ground bars which screw onto the casting, or a simple set of ways which bolt onto the headstock at one end, and perhaps a pair of mounting feet underneath? And the best solution would be if all the manufacturers used the same dimensions of replaceable ways for each size of lathe...

Anyone ever seen a lathe with intentionally replaceable ways?

Best wishes,

Chris

LeBlond used replaceable ways in their contstuction at one point in time. They were rectangular as I recall. It's been many years since I last saw one..

Harold

Christopher Tidy wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@cantabgold.net:

All kinds of them...they are called 'Linear way machines'. They use linear bearing ways, which are replaceable. Typical of about any real machine tool manufacturer out there.

LeBlond Regal and some models of Lodge & Shipley have replaceable ways. The L&S that I seen was built in the late 40's or early 50's. LeBlond Regals that had replaceable ways I think were from the 60's on. At least the Regals that I have seen and used. I always wondered who in the area had a surface grinder with long enough travel to grind the ways. I would imagine that a planer with a 5 HP compound grinder could do it.

Richard

According to Christopher Tidy :

Yep. Look at any old Unimat (SL1000 or DB200), and the ways are steel rods.

And they have too little rigidity, so cuts which should be no problem cause the ways to flex, as they are supported only at the end.

There is a Hardinge which has a full-length dovetail way which is replaceable -- but it is bolted to a full-length casting, so it is much more rigid.

The Taig (a nice small desktop machine) has a steel dovetail which bolts onto an aluminum framework filled with concrete to control vibration -- it is a little bigger than the Unimat mentioned above, but

Jeweler's (watchmaker's) lathes often have only a single foot, under the headstock end, and fairly long ways onto which you mount the headstock, the tailstock, and the cross-feed -- all can be mounted anywhere you want.

As for the headstock bolting onto the ways -- just about any reasonable size lathe has that. The headstock casting is mounted on an extension of the ways -- and can be supplied with various lengths of ways, depending on the whims of the manufacturer.

The bed casting tends to have the feet to mount to the table or the chip tray as part of it. It makes it more rigid than having them bolt on as an afterthought.

Enjoy, DoN.

The Taig Micro Lathe has a replaceable bed. It's similar in construction to a jeweller's lathe. The replacement only costs $62.25, but it a rather small lathe, and is a bit under half the cost of the complete unit in kit form.

Leon

Christ> Hi all,

The Taig Micro Lathe has a replaceable bed. It's similar in construction to a jeweller's lathe. The replacement only costs $62.25, but it a rather small lathe, and is a bit under half the cost of the complete unit in kit form.

Leon

My 18 X 54 L & S It is like new. I am the second owner. It was made in '71 and it is a joy to use. It is so good they went out of business in the 80s. Think about it. Steve

Thanks for the information. I'll keep an eye out for the machines you've mentioned and perhaps sometime get a chance to take a close look at one.

Design of products which can be repaired and maintained is a big interest of mine. In fact, I'm working on a website about it at the moment, but progress is slow. I'll let you know when (if) it is finished.

Best wishes,

Chris

What about regrinding the ways?

Hardinge HLV beds can be replaced for about $1500 (last time I checked).

I worked on an engine lathe a long time ago that had a section under the head that was removable to accomodate a larger swing. I don't see why you couldn't replace that section if it became worn from use. Although, I'm sure the rest of the ways were ground to match