How To Make a Lathe Cross Slide Leadscrew | Clausing 6900 series lathe

How To Make a Lathe Cross Slide Leadscrew, I build a new Cross Slide lead screw/shaft for a Clausing Lathe 6900 series. The leadscrew for this Clausing Lathe 6903 model is very worn. This is a common problem with older machines. This is showing cutting a lefthand ACME thread and complete shaft construction.
Check out other videos on shafts builds and repairs: • Shaft Making & Repairs...
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Randy Richard In The Shop
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[@davidnerge9792]

Just like Grandma used to make it. She too was excellent in the shop.

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thanks you David.

[@Gary.7920]

Nice job Randy. Hope the fires are not too close to you. Gary 74-year-old Home shop machinist

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thank you Gary. We are very far from the current fires here in CA. So all is good. We are already having the wood stove fired up in the evenings.

[@Gary.7920]

Great news Randy, Thanks

[@127069]

very good, a new crossfeed screw can turn a nasty lathe into a good lathe

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Well worth it. Now almost zero backlash. Thanks Dan for stopping by.

[@dineshmk250]

very precise work mr.richard

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Came out good, thank you.

[@RGSABloke]

Randy, as always a Master Class in machine shop work. Thanks for sharing. Kindest regards. Joe.

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thank you Joe.

[@duobob]

Very good machine work and video documentation, Randy. Textbook...

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thank you Bob. Worked out well.

[@jasonburns1407]

More great work randy Thanks.

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thank you Jason.

[@reideichner8597]

Very nice Randy!

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thank you Reid.

[@bcbloc02]

I appreciated the home made shear pin. As always excellent work!

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thanks Brian. Should work just fine.

[@shawnmrfixitlee6478]

very cool randy , Great work ! Thumbs up ..

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thank you Shawn.

[@rchopp]

Yes sir, nice work..

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thank you.

[@pierresgarage2687]

Nicely done...!!! The follow rest is something I rearly use, nice to see someone using it sometimes... ;)

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thank you Pierre. Yep, this was the perfect job for one.

[@scottlundy257]

Taking the old lathe up to warp speed . nice job I may add.

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Getting there, right now still in space dock.

[@malcolmtill]

Lovely Job Randy. Thanks for sharing your time and your skills.

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thank you Malcolm.

[@ReignOterror]

Usually I just hit the thumbs up for your vids but had to comment on this one. That was excellent Randy!

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thank you Joe.

[@PhilsProjects]

Like a BOSS MAN! great job Randy.

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thanks Phil.

[@j.r.3330]

Really nice job, Hope you and yours will stay safe from the fires.

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thank you J.R. - I think here we are done with fires for the season. The rest of the state is another story.

[@OldIronShops]

Randy you make it look to easy

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Behind the scenes, there is a lot of thinkin and planen goin on. Thanks Chris.

[@jimmilne19]

Wonderful work, easy to digest videography and pleasant presentation. Much enjoyed; much appreciated.

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thanks you Jim.

[@markgrevatt4867]

Wow Randy such great work. Perfectionists after my own heart. 👍👍👍👍

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thank you Mark. I just keep trying. I sent you an email.

[@markgrevatt4867]

Randy Richard In The Shop thanks Randy got yoir message mate and just replied thanks again 👍👍

[@AmateurRedneckWorkshop]

Love to watch you work. Great job of machining. Thanks for the video.

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thank you Harold.

[@josephmagedanz4070]

Very nice, Randy. Well done. Didn't want to throw Clausing a bone on this one, eh? (like Keith Rucker said for his new apron gear...) Thanks for sharing. Joe

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thanks Joe. My pile of bones to throw is not as vast as Keith's.

[@ChrisB257]

Inspired work Randy - lovely to watch. :) Hope the fires are staying away from you.

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thanks Chris. No fires for us, The other part of the state is another story. We had our fair share this summer.

[@EastCoastWoodworking]

Very nice job Randy.

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thanks.

[@mikenixon9164]

Very nice work Randy

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thanks you Mike.

[@danmetzger5583]

Damn nice work Randy!!!

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thanks you Danny.

[@johnstrange6799]

Nice.

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thank you John.

[@hilltopmachineworks2131]

Good job and coming together nicely. :)

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thanks Tom.

[@outsidescrewball]

Nice build Randy....enjoyed

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thank you Chuck.

[@dickmick5517]

Just guessing but I believe you used a lot better grade of steel than Clausing used. I have repaired them by adding Acme threaded rod to the original handle section. Drilled like it was 12L14. Did the print give a material specification? As always enjoyed the video. Maybe next time I will try building the complete screw like you did. Thanks for the tips. Wonderful job on the video, they are not easy to do.

[@RRINTHESHOP]

For sure way better grade. I do not have a print for the part. Thank you Dick.

[@critic482]

First comment :) great video

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thank you and congrats.

[@1970chevelle396]

My dads house burned down in the Napa fire on 10/9 along with his early 40's Logan lathe. It happened so fast he was barley even able to put his clothes on and run outside .

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Ken, I am sorry to here. I hope he is well.

[@1970chevelle396]

If the Next door neighbor hadn't climbed over the fence and banged on the door at 4am. My dad would have died. As he was driving up the driveway he could hear all of his ammo that was in the closet exploding.

[@docpedersen7582]

As a friend of mine once said: "Perfect is okay....".

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thank you Doc.

[@philbar9094]

Excellent work and video! I can see the sharp Acme threads on the old lead screw, about mid section. I'm curious what the old backlash was vs. the new lead screw?

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Almost 0.100". Thanks you.

[@zumbazumba1]

If you put a spring in between those keyed nuts you would have anti backlash nut.

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Something needs to be solid to absorb the forces.

[@zumbazumba1]

Usualy in backlash nut one peace is solid ,and other one is connected with solid one by some kind of guide.Spring between them keeps the tension and eliminates backlash.With a little modification you could still do it.

[@RRINTHESHOP]

I have thought about making one side solid.

[@davedigs]

came out really nice Randy when you did the thread is there a reason why you had the compound rest at 90 degrees instead of 14.5 as some machinists do thanks for showing

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thank you David. Acme thread, you want to feed straight in. I have been using my lathe this way for a bit.

[@billdlv]

Looking good Randy, nice job. You said you used hardened 4140, by chance did you get this from McMaster-Carr? If so was it what they call tight tolerance or was it the hardened one? I'm going to be making a new cross slide shaft for the southbend here.

[@RRINTHESHOP]

I used Pre-Hardened 4140 ground rod, got it from MSC. But you can buy Acme threaded rod for this type of job. I have less than $75.00 into this.

[@MaturePatriot]

I may have to do this on my ENCO 1340, but I will have to use the ENCO to make it, as I don't have a second lathe. Being new at videos, I find it somewhat distracting to narrate while I work, and ensure the work is in the center of the frame. - Very good video. Great Job turning those threads on that long slender shaft. It's a lot easier to turn those threads with pre-ground carbide cutters. Great work all around. Hope that pin in a blind hole doesn't come back to bite you.

[@terrycannon570]

Randy I did not hear you say what diameter the acme thread is. What is the diameter of the thread. Thanks.

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thanks Terry, 5/8" stock, Thd. 5/8 - 10. If you want a print send me an email. HT.

[@than_vg]

Hi Randy, thanks for the nice vid. I was wondering: at the middle of the video roughly, where you turn the 0.5" part with the follow rest, if you had the tool running closer to the chuck than the follow rest, would you have avoided the 2 though smaller diameter in the middle of the part? I assume that, since that part was a bit thicker from the first turning due to flex, follow rest setting would not be correct for the whole portion, so it would be best to set the follow rest right of the tool, to match the already turned OD, right?

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Thank you for watching. The reduced dia in the middle of the shaft down to .5", not sure right off why this was done on the original shaft. I will have to look at that to figure out why they did that. It does provide thread relief for insertion of the cutting tool. I had to have the tool to the right of the follow rest for clearance on the exit end very little space near the live center, so the tool left the piece before the rest. The threaded portion of the shaft the dia. is not being reduced so the rest only had to be set once for the operation. I did get a small amount of bottom chatter is one area, I could of had just a bit more pressure on the rest. The center portion of the reduced dia could of been just enough for the thread relief, then after cutting the thread turned to the proper length.

[@than_vg]

Hi Randy, thanks for the reply. Let me clarify. I am talking about you measuring fat in the middle at around 14:17 and deciding to use the follow rest. Then, after using the follow rest you measure thin in the middle at 16:00. I think this is because you set the follow rest leading the tool but the bar was fat in the middle, so when follow rest reached the fat portion it pushed the shaft towards the tool more than it should have. That's why, me thinks, you got a bit thin exactly where you were fat before using the rest. I think that follow rest should touch on true and consistent OD if you want to end up with a true and consistent OD, right? (of course I get the clearance problems with the live center, this is theoretical talk) Hope you can comment here. Best regards, Thanos

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Yes I agree. Theoretically. In most cases your rest is going to lead the tool if you are reducing the Dia. Other wise you would need to set the rest to follow on the reduced dia, which is a pain. Then there are all of the clearance issues. Thank you.

[@MrLukealbanese]

Lovely job, what is the insert you are cutting the Acme thread with? I need to buy one!!

[@RRINTHESHOP]

From MSC, www.mscdirect.com/product/details/53439899

[@dickmick5517]

@@RRINTHESHOP The link shows a RH insert. Isn't a LH required?

[@BlueFlameOfLife]

I have a 6300 and my cross slide is getting sloppy , do you pick up odd jobs ?

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Email me [e-mail].

[@SolidRockMachineShopInc]

Nice job Randy. Is that an older Buck 10" chuck? Buck made the best chucks years ago then they sold the company. I believe the original owners of Buck now have a company called Kalamazoo Chuck and they make their chucks to the same quality as the older Bucks. At my full time job all we use now is the Kalamazoo Chucks. I alter the Jaws on them so that they will go down to 3/8" with all 6 jaws and if you remove 3 jaws you can go all the way down to 1/8". On the hard turn lathe I make custom CPM 3V hard inserts and once they are trued they will out last the scroll without needing to be re-trued. Steve

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Yes Steve this is an older Buck, was NOS when I got it. Great chuck. I have been thinking of modifying the jaws. I would like to see your mods. Thanks, Randy

[@cliffordfender1159]

I grew up in Kalamazoo and knew many people who worked at Buck chuck when they were still operating, back in the day.

[@SolidRockMachineShopInc]

Hi Randy, On our next video we plan on going over the chuck jaw alterations I talked about. I will use Fusion 360 to show what to do. Steve

[@SolidRockMachineShopInc]

Hi Clifford, Do you know the owners of K&M Industrial Supply, Larry and Pat B.? Steve

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Can you send me the file?

[@somebodyelse6673]

Do you still have your drawings for this? I got a Clausing 4912 that doesn't have the cross slide screw - nut - handle at all, I'll need to make them. It was set up for some goofy industrial process, pneumatically operated cross slide and tailstock...

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Yes.

[@brianfansler3625]

Hi Randy , where did you get the gear at and what is the part number ,thanks Brian

[@RRINTHESHOP]

I will have to figure that out.

[@brianfansler3625]

Thanks that would be nice Randy,i have to make the screw for my clausing 5904 thanks BRIAN

[@brianfansler3625]

Randy i watch your video over and over and figured out the the numbers and maker so don't waste your time looking thanks again Brian ,

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Great.

[@brianfansler3625]

I found it on ebay , Martin S1614SB 3/8 for 9.25