Tailstock throw too short

[hewunch]

Ok, so I have a metal lathe mill combo machine. It was my Grandpa's so it was free to me. It is a nice machine with plenty of clearance. BUT, the throw on the tailstock is super short. ~1". It is hard to drill with a feed that short. Any ideas on how I could increase the length?

 

[bluwolf]

I've never seen one with a travel that short. What machine is it? I'm going to ask a stupid question. Are you losing any travel because the morse taper shaft is longer than it needs to be and would self eject if you backed the quill up any farther?

Mike

 

[GoatRider]

The Taige micro lathe tailstock only goes about an inch. I usually drill blanks by chucking the drill bit in the headstock, and clamping the blank in the milling vise, then I get the whole travel of the carriage. If I drill from the tailstock, then I drill an inch, stop the lathe, move the tailstock an inch, and drill another inch. Or just drill by sliding the tailstock after the first inch- the hole will keep it centered the rest of the way.

 

[BRobbins629]

My 7x12 is not much longer. I think there are some mods to make it quicker to loosen and tighten the nut. That may be one way.

 

[Haynie]

Mine is that short and the Morse Taper for the drill chuck is about an inch longer than it needs to be. I have been thinking of shortening the MT. I have drilled a few blanks on it and I get by. Wish it was longer though.

 

[hewunch]

Mike it is a Grizzly Combo Machine. It is about 8 or 10 years old. And the ejection is not an issue.

 

[PenPal]

Hans,

No pics applies here the last time I tried to help was difficult for someone else because the detail was lacking.

To drill on the lathe for pen blanks is a vex question. What is needed really another question. Why does one have to drill ie blanks on a lathe.

Of course drilling on a metal lathe is fundamental.

Your lathe came free, does it have limitations? cant tell cant see.

Everything depends on the nature of the tailstock, how it is held on what rails, the distance from the headstock and tailstock. the distance is reduced a lot when a drill chuck or head stock chuck etc are fitted, how long is the bed??????????

You have asked how long is apiece of string?

Now some old old pics of mine showing how long I have been drilling on a dedicated drill press with an x y adjustment , fitted with vee jaws horizontal and vertical, a pic of my original step drill reamer (must be twenty years or more old in continual use today). One pic of the vice shows one blank horizontal for reaming another for drilling, one pic shows a 1/2 inch squared Corian blank drilled in my dedicated drill press years ago.

Have success and solve your problem, I notice you number your friends that you visit it seems to me many of them have metal lathes and possibly in your own town engineering people also the multitude of metal lathe forums abounding on Google.

Kind regards Peter.

 

[MattTheHat]

I was thinking of extending the travel on my Grizzly G0602's tailstock. An extra inch of travel would really be convenient. If you download your machine's manual from Grizzly, you'll have a decent exploded view of the tailstock assembly which will help you plan the mod.

In short, I figured I'd have to turn a longer lead screw, a new quill, and two barrel extension blocks: one for the front of the tailstock and another for the rear.

Lead screw:
On mine, there is the leading threaded part, followed by a shoulder, then a mostly unthreaded portion which is only threaded at the far end for about 1/2" at the very end. That *could* be replaced with a long piece of all-thread using a fender washer and nut to substitute for the shoulder.

Quill:
You'd obviously need to turn a new, longer quill and taper the ID to match the original taper on your machine. Oh, and finally, tap the end to match the lead screw.


Barrel Extension blocks:
You might just get away with on for the front. Or, you could add a second on the back portion of the tailstock. Mine is mostly square shaped, so it would be trivial to machine the blocks from some .75" or thicker aluminum stock. (There's enough room between the square shape of the outside of the barrel and the round quill bore to drill and tap a mounting hole each of the four corners of the extension block.

The front block would need to be bored to clear the quill taper, or included in the taper bore (prettier). The rear spacer block only needs to be drilled to match the existing lead screw exit hole.

Oh, and you'll probably need to mill a keyway in unthreaded portion of the lead screw since your quill wheel probably requires such.

-Matt

 

[KBs Pensnmore]

Hans
I had the groove recut so that it was longer by about an inch and only holding on the screw thread by about 1/2". Pull the tailstock apart, install the thread the distance you want in and measure overall length then deduct original length which should then give the extra distance. You could also redrill/tap the guide bolt further forward to give extra length.
Kryn

 

[MattTheHat]

I moved the set screw on the top of the tailstock on my G0602 and it definitely extended the travel a bit. A pretty effective mod for the cost of a set screw.


-Matt