Lathe Cross Slide Rebuild | Machining A New Lathe Cross Slide With T-Slots

[@artisanmakes]

G'day, I hope that you enjoyed this video. It has been in the pipeline for a very long time, and I jumped at the opportunity to make it as soon as I got the new mill. A few things that I wasn't able to cover in the video: 1- Addressing the use of mild steel: Mild steel was not my first choice of material, and in have concerns about galling (though i won't have to worry about this for a while) but given the small amount of material I required, I just couldn't find a local supplier that stocked what I needed. With my state now in lockdown, this supply was issue was compounded. However the mild steel seems to be performing well. Good lubrication should help reduce galling. And the added benefit of using mild is an increase in tensile strength, compared to the cast. 2. The fly cutter, whilst doing a great job is flawed. I mistakenly machined it with the bolts on the wrong side, so the bolts are pushed against whilst it is machining. Long Term, i will have to fix this.

[@Joe_Bandit]

I have been looking around for cast iron stock too and the best I've found is weight plates from Kmart. Looks like you'd be able to get a decent 20mm piece from the 10kg. Not sure the quality of the castings though.

[@HM-Projects]

@@Joe_Bandit Primehyd in WA stock cast iron flat bars. Not cheap though.

[@artisanmakes]

@@Joe_Bandit Funnily enough I have actually torn apart a scrap 1kg weight from Kmart to machine the cast iron it is made of. Not the greatest castings but they worked fine as small flywheels for the project I did. The only thing that I might have to look into about these is what type of cast iron they are made from. typically you would want to use a grey cast iron for machines.

[@Joe_Bandit]

@@artisanmakes good to know, thanks!

[@timplett1]

Regarding the fly cutter as it is, you should be able to flip your cutting tool and run the spindle in reverse, at least to verify whether taking the time to fix/remake it will make a difference.

[@jakubkopec9313]

For heating small parts you can put them in a small ceramic flower pot. They will heat much faster, as placing them on metal sucks heat out of them.

[@trashes_to_treasures]

Great tip!

[@qwertyu19951]

I am amazed by the things you manage to do with that small milling machine!

[@barryfitch6920]

Great addition. Please put more gibb strip screws in place for smoother action eg. 5 or 6 gibb strip screws, with perhaps just one screw as a lock G screw only. This will definately improve your lathe. Keep the chips flowing!!!

[@tylerhogg2241]

Bro, you need a bandsaw asap!! It would make your life so much more easy/efficient in the shop

[@antonmursid3505]

Antonmursid🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🇲🇨

[@amanofmanyparts9120]

Failing that due to _poverty,_ a decent angle grinder and a few 1mm cutting discs would do the job much faster. For greater accuracy an angle grinder based 'chop saw' attachment is advised.

[@TheDistur]

Hacksaws build character.

[@TalRohan]

its his daily work out and good for his biceps leave him alone :0)

[@ev_dyno743]

buy him one then

[@KaneDesign]

It’s nice to see that, at least in the comments I’ve read, that everyone seems quite positive. Too often on hobbyist machinist channels the comments are overly negative and provide next to zero constructive criticism. Love your videos as of late man, keep it up👍

[@artisanmakes]

Cheers, always open to feedback, I find it very useful.

[@bmacpher]

I'm with you all the way on the cross-slide T slots - I wouldn't have considered making my own cross slide for my lathe, so thanks for another project to add to my list 😁

[@artisanmakes]

Best of luck. Cheers

[@andrewcullen3235]

Have really enjoyed your channel since subscribing. Keep rocking the hacksaw the frustration about it in all the comments cracks me up. Cheers

[@artmckay6704]

Wow! Nice work! I can definitely see that you'd have a much more rigid setup than before. You'd think it'd be a no brainer for manufacturers to supply machines with your mods already in them. Thanks for sharing this! :)

[@henrydando]

There are compaines who do, and they don't get customers as the customers pick the cheapest machine 9 times out of 10

[@artmckay6704]

@@henrydando I've learned the hard way that it's always the better way to just bite the bullet and pony up for the quality option. Today, I even buy top of the line paper towels because they so outperform the cheap crap. It's the same with machine tools - one should buy the most expensive tool that they can afford because it'll outperform 10 of the garbage machines. It pays to buy the best that one possibly can. Imho.......

[@arenspringvloed9020]

Aaaah. :) Feels so much better watching you breaking chips when tapping. Glad you managed to work around the broken tap!

[@tonyandjackieholmes9546]

Thanks for another great upload - if nothin else I'm in awe of any bloke who can hack saw straight :)

[@vginfo]

When you have skills, knowledge and the wright tools, you can do magic

[@mrplow3874]

Like a pencil?

[@vginfo]

@@mrplow3874 depends on the hands that holds it

[@Brian18741]

Great improvement 👍

[@GBWM_CNC]

I find it so satisfying to watch those fly cutters cutting 😍

[@CandidZulu]

Well done! I think it will be accurate enough as is w o scraping for almost anything you will do in a home work shop.

[@BedsitBob]

When cutting T-Slots, it's a good idea to cut the initial centre slot 5 thou deeper, than the depth the T-Slot cutter will be set to. Doing it that way, reduces the tool pressure.

[@DuRöhre4711]

aaand the T-Slot Nuts will ride much better even if you ruined the bottom once with a too long of a bolt :)

[@ourtube4266]

That’s great advice thank you.

[@williamweesner1191]

You do some great work you’ve helped me make a decent machine out of nothing.

[@artisanmakes]

Glad to hear it

[@lennarthoek8392]

Great video! Being a machinist myself I do have a few questions/critiques: are you planning on getting a better vice for your mill? Drilling vices often lack rigidity and accuracy and I can't imagine it being fun to use. I also noticed you use climb milling as well as conventional milling, I think considering the rigidity of the machine it would be better to make most cuts with conventional milling, or at least the finishing cuts. This should improve the stability as well as the surface finish a lot! Climb milling is often better for the tools, but just isn't viable if there isn't enough stability. Last but not least: when making a piece of material square and parallel in the mill, the best method is to cut a side, turn this side to the non moving jaw make another cut, turn again , cut again, turn again and then you should have 4 square sides. I hope I don't intrude to much and these tips are actually of some help, and for what it's worth you're doing way more and better stuff with a mini lathe then I ever did!

[@jsublettusaf]

That was an informative comment for me. Thanks! I've been doing it to the bottom of the vise thinking it was parallel to the table. I've also been doing climb & conventional on a mini mill only learning the difference yesterday. Good comment!

[@ryebis]

Do you mean taking rough cuts with conventional and then using climb for finishing passes ?

[@lennarthoek8392]

@@jsublettusaf that way you indees get two parallel sides, but if your vice is bad or there is a bit of dirt there's a big chance you get a parallelogram. But if you want the full explanation there are some really good video's om yt explaining it better!

[@lennarthoek8392]

@@ryebis normally yes, but if there is too much vibration or instability in either the set up, table or spindle. The mill could start "biting" into the material taking away more then it should and leaving a worse surface finish. You can actually see this a bit in the video, caused by I'm guessing a combination of all three factors, but two can maybe be fixed: trying another set up, like putting the material directly on the table, and clamping all the axis down, except the moving one ofcourse (but maybe he's already done that, in that case my apologies)

[@artisanmakes]

Thankyou Lennart, feedback is always very helpful. I am indeed planning on upgrading the vise. The vise was just a freebie that case with the mill from the supplier. Credit where it is due, it is probably one of the better drill press vises that I have used. Though I will be replacing it soon. The plan was to replace it ASAP, but my state is unfortunately experiencing a COVID lockdown, and my supplier is currently closed. My preference is to always check out the product before I buy it if I am able to. Currently looking at just grabbing an import one for the time being. As for the climb milling, to be quite frank, most times I did it just out of laziness, not wanting to move the table back so I could conventional cut it. Had to change up the when climb milling though. As for getting the part square, I have to conceded that is the proper way. There was a lot of shenanigans off camera that I had to do to check that everything was all square. Many thanks for the advice.

[@gary851]

Please make a patron account so i can donate for a portable handsaw - my bone marrow hurts when i see someone cut stock by hand!

[@Barronohbeefdipp]

I was just typing this haha. Make a bandsaw you have a lathe and mill. I love the videos but I cant take the hack saw cutting it sets me off haha.

[@alliwantedisapepsi1492]

This looks like my garage, only cleaner. Good job. Cheers.

[@philoso377]

Nice production and excellent idea. I have been thinking of this upgrade but never get started. This video triggers me of my next upgrade to go.

[@jster1963]

Outstanding Sir, outstanding!

[@artisanmakes]

Thankyou

[@homemadetools]

Excellent as usual. We shared this video in our homemade tools forum this week :)

[@paulthomas3782]

Great Idea thanks for sharing

[@billofalltrades2633]

Brilliant idea! Nice job.

[@scooby8567]

FANTASTIC man😎👍👍👍

[@slakjawnotsayin5451]

This is exactly what I need to do with my huge old very early 1900's Lodge and Shipley engine lathe, so I can add a milling machine head to it, and reuse that enormous cross slide that it has. I have an old brake lathe I was going to try to use for the Milling Machine head, as it's super beefy and sturdy, but I'll have to see if I can make it spin fast enough to use fly cutters and milling ends in it. Those brake lathes are kinda slow unfortunatly, and they might not handle the speeds required for this, but I'll see what happens and if it breaks down, I'll somehow modify it to work I'm sure... As far as I'm concerned, that's what makes this hobby even more interesting than it already is! LOL

[@ARIFINLATHE]

You are very professional and I am very inspired by what you do on your manual lathe sir💯🤝🤝🤝🤝🤝

[@yeagerxp]

Excellent 👍👍👍. Thanks for sharing

[@futuresonex]

I'm impressed with the mini-mill. Those were some serious cuts!

[@daveys]

Lovely job!

[@ajdogcurr1]

good job. I plan to do the same thing including building a new tool post.

[@fna-wrightengineering]

Fantastic work! This is a great idea, and you made an awesome job of it. You should consider another M4 tapped hole between the front and middle gib adjusting screws, for a slide locking bolt. This also helps rigidity quite a bit. I made a very similar fly cutter (I also had to make it twice, due to putting the set screws on the wrong side the first time). If/when you make another, you don't have to make the tool slot at an angle. You can just make the bottom of the fly cutter flat, as well as the offset slot, because the tip of the carbide insert sticks out past the tool holder shank. That's how I did mine. Anyways, keep up the great work!

[@artisanmakes]

Didn't think of that, I'll have to do that, thankyou

[@jaivigo]

17:50 as usual on your videos, awsome job, thanks again.

[@kieranh2005]

I got a spray bottle with a nozzle that allows stream or spray and filled it with coolant solution. Spray as needed to cool/lubricate as my lathe doesn't have a coolant pump fitted. If you were using a lot, hook a catch bottle under table drain to recover fluid for re-use.

[@metalmanglingmariner]

What a great project. I must do this for my C3

[@andrew051968]

Great job! I was just going to say - you really need a power hacksaw - then I saw all the other comments.

[@dannymerry1786]

Get some rocol RTD cutting oil. It really improves finish when drilling reaming and tapping holes. Will make your drills last longer too

[@kyleteodecki7478]

ive considered doing this myself, given access to a "real" mill. was curious if you considered goin with a smaller mating dovetail and thinner gibstrip to reduce the rotational deflection.

[@DaleepEngineering]

Great 👍

[@Andre-pe9mm]

Great video 👍

[@giovanbattistatiepolo2517]

GOOD WORK

[@MattOGormanSmith]

If you made angled brass slugs to go under the gib adjusters, they'd spread the pressure on the gibs and you could use shorter grubscrews

[@artisanmakes]

I didn't think of that, ill have to look into it, thankyou.

[@sukandigunawan207]

I Love you Job brother

[@dev-debug]

Cool project. I always wondered why they don't include T slots on cross slides, wouldn't cost much to do. You really need a small bandsaw, was one of the best investments I ever made for my shop :)

[@artisanmakes]

Absolutely a worthwhile addition. The t slots are a very useful addition to the lathe. Hope to have a workshop one day where I can have the space for a proper bandsaw. Cheers

[@georgescarlett2320]

Amen! As per my suggestion as well!!!

[@madmodder123]

@@artisanmakes gotta get a portable bandsaw and a hercules vertical/horizontal stand

[@Festivejelly]

I need to do this. I dont using a compound anymore. So the cross slide can be higher and have t nut profiles. Ideal for my CNC conversion.

[@lyteyearz5810]

Fly cutting is so satisfying to me idk why lol.

[@JesseSchoch]

Seems like a tapered gib would have been worthwhile here. Thanks for sharing it!.

[@artisanmakes]

That is certainly something I'll be working on, but I thought it was just outside the scope of this video. Cheers

[@bhein67]

You are getting far superior results to what I get on my mini-mill. What depth of cuts & feed speed are you using? I don't have a power feed so I struggle with consistency. I really enjoy your channel and the projects you do! Cheers from Canada

[@artisanmakes]

I think I was doing a 1.5/2mm depth of cut here at around 800rpm, the motor develops a lot of torque there. It is less than optimal but it works

[@donmittlestaedt1117]

Thank you.

[@dmw_cutlery]

I love your work by the way. what dovetail cutter did you use and what kind of cutter did you use to make your T slots. I would like to make the same modifications on My lathe. thanks

[@brianmoore1164]

Fantastic video and a great project. As a long term small lathe and mill owner I have a tip that should help you. You can keep your taps happy if you keep them really wet with cutting oil. The wetter the better. I would also recommend a different cutting oil. I have tried a bunch and by far my favorite is the Rigid clear. I use it for everything except aluminum and stainless. For aluminum I like WD-40 and for stainless nothing beats Moly-D.

[@multidomar]

A before and after pass on material would be cool to see the improvement

[@artisanmakes]

Thankyou for the feedback

[@TheDistur]

Looks real nice. I'd like to make a riser block for mine to "delete" the vise the tool post is mounted on.

[@philmenzies2477]

Very nice work. That broken tap could probably have been removed by EDM. I have seen some successful home made units.

[@lookingbehind6335]

If only I had a mill.

[@rickpalechuk4411]

Very nice! I may do the same to mine. The slots sure add a lot of versatility. Thanks for sharing, Cheers

[@motari6249]

amazing work love how you used the mill to upgrade the lathe keep up the good work.

[@carramba86h77]

Nice job! That last clip was very satisfying

[@WeCanDoThatBetter]

Awesome work and a really cool improvement project! I thought about this too but too much other projects at the moment:) Thanks for sharing, the result is really amazing.

[@artisanmakes]

Thankyou. Really enjoyed watching your channel too. Especially the compound slide mods. cheers

[@JustinTopp]

Nice work! You need a bandsaw! Even just a portaband with a work table. Keep up the great videos

[@christianpaulroldan4010]

Nice. .

[@kentuckytrapper780]

Great job man, that's alsome.

[@artisanmakes]

Thankyou

[@everpastrana8354]

Donde puedo conseguir ese tipo de brocas. Excelente video

[@Tinman97301]

💯👍

[@iamtheomega]

8:32 steveohdee said he likes to hole the part in the other hand (rather than in vise) to get a better feel and avoid breakage....

[@davidrivaz]

I was looking for something like this on Littlemachineshop, but they only have it for the compund slide at the moment. Why not make it even larger? Maybe able to fit gang tooling.

[@artisanmakes]

If I would make it longer I'd need to modify the cross slide leadscrew and the carriage to have extra travel to make use of the longer slide

[@termlimit]

Excellent video as always. If I could pick your brain, what dimensions did you use for the t-slot size and spacing? I'm doing this mod as well and I wondered if there is a standard I should opt for. Thanks again as always.

[@artisanmakes]

These are m8 size t slots. There are charts online that should give you the exact dimensions.

[@termlimit]

@@artisanmakes Brilliant thank you.

[@melgross]

Be careful with the holder for the post. It’s thin on top. I made one similar for my smaller lathe. At some point the top, with the screws, just broke off. The next one was made with a thicker top.

[@nathanquinlan2719]

A link to the carbide flycutter would be great. Seeing it perform it looks like a good purchase.

[@artisanmakes]

Cheers but the fly cutter is a joke made job that I made on the lathe and mill from some high carbon steel and a spare lathe tool.

[@Windows-gi6sh]

i can relate to this channel... i am a hobby machinist on a budget

[@steveforbes8287]

Very nice and quite well done. I am of the opinion that if you were to use a lubricant when tapping you would not have broken your tap. I saw no evidence that you used a lubricant when tapping and that is just asking for breakage.

[@YooProjects]

Great job mate! Waiting for your next project 🤩😁⚙️

[@mauriziopagnotta8873]

Bel progetto! Una domanda lo spessore a coda di rondine che hai effettuato in ottone va bene anche alluminio o meglio ottone? Perché a casa ho tante barre in alluminio e gli spessori di serie fanno veramente schifo. Grazie

[@AlIce_FPE_offcial]

I'm curious to how it is performing after a few months? I have a project I'm planning that's including this. Just waiting and collecting material until then.

[@artisanmakes]

I can certainly say that after adding tapered roller bearings to the lathe, this is the best upgrade I have done to the mini lathe. The t-slots come in handy all the time and make the lathe very versatile. And the extra mass is noticeably more rigid. Even though its made from mild steel I have not run into any issues, just keep it well oiled and it performs perfectly. Cheers

[@backyardmachinist]

Have you found the steel you used for the cross slide to have caused any ware to the cast iron dovetail of your carriage?

[@artisanmakes]

Not at all, keept oy nicely oiled and I've had zero issues with it. Cheers

[@pirminkogleck4056]

hey Gday , can u tell me wich insert and holder u used here? and i want to know have u ever tried the sharp chrome inserts wich are usualy for alu ? i use them with a .4 nose radius and they work great even on steel, razor sharp

[@tinker5349]

Hello, very well done! keep up the good work.

[@IsMaCR63]

Hi, Big upgrade!!. what are the measurements of t slot?

[@artisanmakes]

These are standard m8 t slots, dimensions can be found online, but if you make the t slots and nuts yourself, you can make them any size that fits your needs.

[@mealex303]

Needed lots of oil b4 assembly but excellent content and love your vids

[@shaunkrawitz]

Awesome work. looks like a huge improvement. Where do you buy your metal from? I just bought a mini lathe and am struggling to find a place to buy blocks of Alu and Steel. Any help would be much appreciated. Cheers

[@artisanmakes]

Might not be much help if your outside of NSW but I buy my stock from a material supplier called edcon steel. They have scrap bins of steel that they sell at discounted rates. Before I used them I bought most of my stock off eBay. Shipping is expensive though.

[@shaunkrawitz]

@@artisanmakes Thanks for the reply. Im in Sunshine Coast, so might be a bit far to get to your supplier. eBay is pretty expensive, but i might have to resort to it for now. Really enjoying your videos. Thanks!

[@TABE-O]

Carbide fly cutter looks good. Where that from please?

[@artisanmakes]

I made it on the mill and lathe from some 1" high carbon steel rod

[@Ordog213]

I have the same lathe and the smaller mill from Paulimot, the local dealer for the SIEG-Brand. I made the new retainer Strips for the Lathe and now thanks to you i know my nex project. In return i have maybe an idea you can use on your machine for indexing parts on the lathe. and i would like to send you a drawing for use on a 80mm 3 Jaw Chuck if you up for it. ;)

[@HM-Projects]

Nicely done and it looks pretty solid. Eyeing a Surface grinder for Christmas ? 😜

[@artisanmakes]

I would love to but I don't have the space for one and I probably couldn't justify the price for one. Cheers

[@HM-Projects]

@@artisanmakes I think you may be able to rig a diamond stone + arbor on the mill to make a surface grinder not sure how true it would be.

[@i2c_jason]

Great job!! I like the possibility of gang tooling...

[@gavlanthedwarf7544]

I really like that upgrade. I bought myself a mini lathe as well and I gotta do these upgrades too btw I enjoy your videos

[@TABE-O]

Thanks for sharing. Where do u get cold rolled steel from in Australia? I’m in Sydney.

[@artisanmakes]

I have been given some scap here or there in the past. I have found some luck with edcon steel recently. Great for hobbyists since they low a low minimum order and a great online portal.

[@SimJackson]

What sort of vacuum are you using as a shop vac? Been trying to figure out what the best sort would be for the hobby metal working shop but not had a lot of luck so far.

[@artisanmakes]

Just a 20l ryobi shop vac. I was given it as a gift in early 2019 and I have never had any issues with it.

[@MJPilote]

The cheap ash vacuum cleaner that has the silver color bag / filters work very good for chips and stuff you need to vacuum off your lathe or mill.

[@DavidHerscher]

How is the cold roll cross slide working out for you? Have you noticed any increase, or difference at all, in vibration/chatter with this material? oh, also forgot to say it, great job! looks fantastic!

[@artisanmakes]

I doubt that the old cross slide did much in absorbing vibrations. The new one is just a huge improvement. The increase in mass and tensile strength is a huge improvement. Plus the t-slots are so handy to have. One of the best upgrades I have done to this lathe.

[@DavidHerscher]

@@artisanmakes that def makes sense, glad to hear it works as good as it looks! 👍 Thanks for taking the time to respond. I love what you've done with your machines btw, really turning em into quality tools that fit your needs perfectly. Inspiring stuff!

[@TysonClancy-Jones]

Hey mate What size dovetail and is it 60°? Also, what size T slot cutter did you use?

[@artisanmakes]

Just make it the same dimensions as the cross side dovetail you are intending to replace. For me this was a 60 degree dovetail

[@TysonClancy-Jones]

@@artisanmakes thanks mate 👍

[@mattwyeth3156]

Did you make the layout fluid or is it a comurshial product

[@artisanmakes]

It's a home made batch made from methylated sprites and a soluble dye.

[@mattwyeth3156]

Thanks i might try to make some myself as it seems to work really well

[@artisanmakes]

Also forgot I had to add shellac flakes to the layout fluid too, and some people suggest using isopropyl alcohol instead of methylated spirits for a quicker dry time, though I have not tested that yet

[@bobweiram6321]

The mill seems less chattery this time. What did you do?

[@artisanmakes]

Better feeds and speeds, still learning the mill and it's limited, but getting better at it.

[@DittersGustav]

I know its been 2 years, but what dimensions are these t-slot cutters? 18mm x 6?

[@artisanmakes]

From memory my one is a 18mm diameter by 3mm tall, the t slots are probably 5 or 6mm tall. If you search up M8 t slot standard size on google it will give you a bunch of dimensions, which I probably copied from

[@davidrivaz]

Planning on putting them for sale?🤔

[@juhavuorinen3945]

Why you don't make taper adjustable gib when you make whole slide new?

[@artisanmakes]

You could but for a mini lathe it really isnt worth the effort

[@Simon67316]

Do you sell these parts? I’d buy the brass gib you made as I don’t have a milling machine as my carriage which looks identical to yours is not ridged to say the least.

[@marcusplanlos2037]

This video convinced me that these little milling machines can do more than I thought after all. Now I guess I'll have to buy one too. Great video. May I ask what material you would have preferred for this project?

[@warbirdwf]

Your forearms must be HUGE with all that hacksaw work! I need to get a bandsaw myself. However, I use an angle grinder with a thin blade to cut parts a bit long. I then mill or lathe them to the correct length. It's much faster than using a hacksaw. Your new cross slide looks great. What makes it even better is the limited amount of tools you used to build it. I'm enjoying your channel and all the chips flying. Keep up the good work!

[@andrewbarney5503]

I'm planning on building myself a power hacksaw. Should still be cheaper than a bandsaw and less work than using my own arms.

[@NOTSOSLIMJIM]

Lol, I'm rebuilding my tailstock right now

[@AndrewSmith-qj5zv]

What does dropping heated parts in lindseed oil do?

[@artisanmakes]

It gives the part a rust resistant coating. It's similar to seasoning a cast iron pan.