Mini Lathe Cross Slide Improvements

[@jeanyvespochez]

The extension of the lead screw at 2:24 is pure genius ! thanks for sharing.

[@brianwarburton4482]

By the time you have finished all your improvements you will have a top class lathe. Very interesting viewing.

[@mackk123]

If only the lathe makers in china thought at all about any of this. I doubt any of them even use the products.. sherline makes sherline lathe parts with sherline machines. These mini lathes are just a tad worse than hit/miss. I had to go through 3 to get a working one, first had a major defect in the bed, it was knife thin on am inside section and snapped when l clamped the tailstock, had to pay $15 restock fee. Second one, the spindle runout was terrible, chuck was mounted within 20 thou, another $15 restocking fee. Third one has minor versions of these two problems but l figure l already wasted money, the threading feature is outright useless, slop all over. I have a very old and beatup unimat that is about as clapped out as a new mini lathe. Their qc department is more interested in bat guano flavored bubblegum and sticking their peckers into dead freshwater fish than pushing through true lathes. I hope their business tanks and out of its ashes other lathemakers pop up. Their quality is a joke, a product should not require that much modification just to work properly, guess this is the chinese way..

[@bwhog]

@@mackk123 That's the thing... if the quality were consistent, even if that meant consistently short, it'd be a lot easier to deal with, but they're not. Every lathe has a different set of problems and that makes every lathe a project lathe and that's not what hobbyists need. Yes, you need to learn about all the things that can go wrong with a lathe, but not because it is so bad that you have to correct a good portion of this before you can even start using it.

[@leiferickson3183]

Wow, I really liked this video and would have liked to seen a bit more of the process. I am so glad that you made it instead of just leaving the footage on the shelf! This is very inspiring, Thanks!

[@ussweeneyd]

The recreated gib is a great idea that I’m going to do after the holidays. I have a phosphor bronze bar that should work. Thanks for the idea!

[@georgewolf7063]

Wow! You've done some things I might be copying on my lathe! I have most of the same problems, although it took me hours to get my cross slide to travel all the way without either binding of having serious backlash. x.x I'm dreading ever taking it apart again!

[@Forexfox99]

Amazing effort dude. I took the other route and upgraded the whole machine. Now I’m fixing something bigger!

[@donmittlestaedt1117]

Very good ideas. Your planning, preparation, and presentation of the project and especially the video are excellent. It demonstrates your consideration for the value of viewer time. Very neat. Great job.

[@MaxMakerChannel]

Thank you for these tips! I have a shitty mini lathe too and everything has slop.

[@cristian6766]

Wow! What a briliant job! The anodizing is amazing.

[@donhos1698]

Great job, these little videos are always a big help.

[@kubikkonrad]

Finally found myself a new clicksprings

[@bustednuckles2]

Now that you mention it..... :)

[@Jaxter1137]

My lathe really sucks expecially after watching you upgrade yours. Awesome.

[@smashyrashy]

That intro is honestly so cool and btw I found your channel today, it's a good day

[@mmpiforall5913]

After all the cool improvements for my mini lathe, I forgot what I originally wanted to make when I bought it!

[@brandontscheschlog]

I like your extension to the cross-slide leadscrew. Great idea

[@NeverRest300]

Your videos are perfect and the detailed explanations are on par to TOT and Stefan Gotteswinter. Just awesome!

[@unclebobsbees4899]

Excellent ideas that prove how much you have studied your machine. Glad I watched.

[@tinayoga8844]

I need to do some work on my cross slide. This video has encouraged me to do it.

[@matthasaname]

$5 says he'll have a DRO on it by New years. Very well done sir. I guess I now know what types of projects I'll be doing if I ever buy a mini lathe. More parts for the lathe.

[@yak-machining]

Your voice is very soothing

[@Thiswasmeanttobeeasy]

Great video. One of the best I have seen for mini lathes.

[@TigerCarpenter]

simply brilliant! I'm probably going to make all of these improvements

[@edsmachine93]

Very nice work. Thanks for sharing.

[@homemadetools]

Excellent, subscribed. We put your video on our homemade tools forum this week, and it was appreciated :)

[@JohnHawkins92]

Very nice. 🙂 I appreciate the imperial approximations of your dimensions. Metric is better, but I don't have an intuitive feel for it. Just one caveat, though - thread pitches are almost never close enough to approximate. Best to leave those captions out.

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

Thanks for the comment 👍 The pitches (and other sizes) aren't supposed to be direct equivalents, they're just to give someone who isn't metric-familiar a rough idea what they're like.

[@Gigator]

@@TheRecreationalMachinist I very much appreciate that as well as US Americans doing it the other way around. I'm a metric German and found many US and UK machinist channels well worth watching and always appreciate when they do metric conversions of their imperial units (be it audio or visual). This was a pretty great video overall, I'll have a look at your back catalogue now. :D

[@Customsmaker]

What a great video and ideas! Cheers from Argentina

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

Thanks for watching!

[@danielabbey7726]

Just subscribed. Really solid ideas for improving a mini lathe, or any small hobby lathe!

[@jimsvideos7201]

Thank you for the ideas; I do believe I'll pinch several of them.

[@billdavies6463]

Some very nice improvements, RM, many thanks. Just for info, as a Brit to Brit, the English pronunciation of "gib" is "jib". I've never heard the US pronunciation in in my employment in British engineering firms.

[@NightsReign]

That's quite intriguing. Being an American, I had no idea there was another pronunciation for "gib". 🤔 I suppose I never questioned it because I'm used to the German pronunciation of "gib" (Deutsch for "give".) How do you pronounce "jib" then? (Nautical term) Seems a bit like a recipe for confusion, in such an instance where both words would be used in the same sentence.

[@richardquebec5850]

Wow Great video! 💯

[@ianviljoen9036]

Nice! Superb work. I feel inspired

[@theamateurmachineshop2150]

Great video! These little lathes are a nice to have but need a lot of improvements! Thanks for sharing, will definitely be incorporating some of your ideas!

[@joemulkerins5250]

Another excellent video. Thank you.

[@gordonjones1516]

Superb docmentation of the mods. I'm going to do all these. The anodizing should be entertaining. Cheers.

[@Smallathe]

Very cool upgrade. Thanks for sharing!

[@Mister_G]

I did the same thing to the dials on mine - those 0.025 units drove me mad. (I made the dials and scribed the divisions on the lathe - turned out pretty well). I also had the same problem with the gib strip - flattening the mating surface helped, but it also needed the places where the screws bear facing off flat. Now it sits in position OK.

[@nardaoeletronica]

Excellent work.

[@benjaminshaw80]

I made a puck that took the place of the compound. It’s the weakest part of that machine and is not necessary for most operations. It made my machine much more rigid.

[@bigmikeh5827]

Great video and improvements. Thank you for sharing

[@rengankrishnaiyer6912]

I have implemented some of your ideas. Thank you for your contribution and knowledge sharing. Cheers.

[@Johnholt73]

What a great little video.......just found you on here so hope there are more like this.

[@mikebryan544]

Videos are so well made, brilliant nice and clear

[@leedale4008]

Very nice job 👍

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

Thanks 👍

[@spenmac]

Nice work fella.

[@redsteve2]

Amazing work..... I have Vevor lathe and the gib setup is awful, exactly like the one in the video. I'll have to make new ones. Thanks for a very informative vid.

[@johnkoba9979]

You got me with the banana on the granite block

[@grahameblankley3813]

Very easy to follow videos & interesting to watch, thank you, 🇬🇧from Coventry in U.K 👍.

[@eddietowers5595]

Never trust a man who's eating a banana while staring at you. These are some awesome mods. Thanks for sharing.

[@HansFormerlyTraffer]

Excellent ideas and very well executed...I wish I could do that good of work.

[@paulfennema8204]

very good thanks!

[@fredmorton1631]

Good practical Home machining rather than the precision engineering approach. Most times minute accuracy isn't worth bothering with. Some of the stuff I've done 'in the field' has surprised me by lasting much longer than expected.

[@davidparker3346]

Loved your video. You do great work.

[@BellaVita100]

Well made video and ideas

[@drpipe]

Superb start to finish.. do find the mini lathe just slightly limited size but great ideas

[@mandem9319]

those are some amazing details on those ideas! Makes me excited to start working on my own lathe... !

[@miguelangelsimonfernandez5498]

Moglice is apparently very useful for improving ways, bushings and accuracy

[@ChrisHarmon1]

I've been tempted to make tapered gib strips and tap a couple holes for the tension nuts.

[@mackk123]

Go for it, one thing that helped a lot on mine was lapping down the tool marks. The surface finish was so rough on the cross slide it was like sliding two dull files across each other. It would skip and jump around, literally makes me feel bad for people in china. After cleaning up the tool marks, surface finish improved a tad, gibs brass, the "stainless steel" one in there had speckled rust on it and had tool marks as deep as a trench. Lol _chinese century_

[@rickpalechuk4411]

Great stuff man, thanks for sharing. Cheers

[@dihskursiv]

Very well done...inspiring!

[@robertwright2668]

great ideas thanks for sharing

[@kellywatts248]

It’s fantastic. Robert, how are you.

[@shawnmrfixitlee6478]

spot on , Great work man !!

[@paulsotheron710]

Great stuff, l just wish I could come up with the ideas let alone do the engineering. 👍

[@troyam6607]

Fantastic mate!!

[@edpopelas2844]

Well done video I stopped and subscribed just on that fact alone. Great ideas I may add to my lathe. Looking forward to more inspirational videos. Thanks for sharing.

[@pdrg]

I'm amazed how much work these cheapie lathes need, fascinating to see.

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

That's part of the fun of ownership! Once I've got a nice, tight, accurate machine I'll have nothing to make with it! 😂

[@reiniertl]

@@TheRecreationalMachinist Buy an old new bigger one and start all over again using the the tight accurate machine to help you. Lots of fun guaranteed.

[@craigtate5930]

Nice improvements, plus a lil bling :-)

[@lrita7179]

Excellent video - thanks. I’m going to try some of your ideas. "I switched to the ‘power’ feed [uses hand drill] 😆😆😆." What make/model mill do you use? I want to buy a hobby mill but not spend more than $1300 USD.

[@SuperGleep]

What's the name of the cutter you used to mill the brass gib strip? It's like the opposite of a dovetail cutter. Great video. Love the small upgrades presented.

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

That shape they seem to be called inverted dovetail cutters. They're not especially common, it took me ages to find a second hand one that was still useable, but worth the wait it's really handy for breaking corners on things without having to set the work or the machine at an angle. Smaller ones get called chamfer mills, and are more like countersinks. Not quite as useful, but easier to find. Thanks for watching 👍 🇬🇧

[@hosseinsoleimani6341]

Hello thanks

[@jadymulqueeney]

Brilliant, thank you

[@abuelitojuke8595]

Excelente tutorial y muy bien explicado , todo me será de mucha ayuda muchas gracias , un saludo grande amigo ¡!!!!!! 👍

[@jorgerostagnol3602]

Muy interesante. Gracias.

[@hugosantelices4276]

Muy bueno para fabricar herramientas

[@latheadventures1390]

I have just got my lathe and this is the perfect thing to get mine sorted altho I don’t have a milling machine :(

[@TigerCarpenter]

Can I make the replacement cross slide wider than the original? I'm a total noob as just bought a mini lathe and the cross slide dovetail cracked when I was tightening the tool post.

[@logotrikes]

Well, it looks like you've got this lathe working like a proper one, unlike mine, which is the same lathe, but works like a toffee apple. They need a serious amount of work to get them to perform properly... Some excellent ideas young man.... BTW, I'm a retired mechanical fitter, whom I've heard is just a boilermaker with his head bashed in. Thousands of an inch? How about the nearest 1/8th of an inch....?

[@JulianMakes]

Awesome!!!

[@Jeanbond2990]

Les chiffres a l'envers ça fait pas trop mal a la tête ?

[@ibiufos]

The Gibb on my lathe has been milled where the bolts adjust to so that it's held in the centre to keep it pushing straight without kicking.

[@Mac-mu9cs]

How do you find all the correct bearings

[@RagsdaleCreek]

Awesome job! God bless Stay safe

[@claeswikberg8958]

nice!

[@maxwinfield8388]

May I suggest a steel cover for the Oiler so that it can be easily removed with a magnet.

[@fredfarnackle5455]

Exactly what I thought when I saw the brass disc go in.

[@davebarratt10]

How did you adjust the friction on the dial now you have silver soldered up the access hole to the delrin centre ?

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

The friction is fixed. The drag of the silicon lubricated o-rings against the brass end covers provide the friction. They've not needed any attention since I made the modification. Thanks for watching 👍 🇬🇧

[@bmalovic]

How did you acheived that white line on 2:37? If part is anodised before the white paint is put in to the grove.. how did you acheive that there is no smear aroud? And if it is put before, what kind of paint will survive sulfuric acid and sodium hidroxide? I'm looking for method to put black lines on the dial, and anodise it (not blackj, just simple anodising natural silvery colour of aluminium, so it will be more durrable) but lines are very, veeeery thin, so I can not put black paint with brush.. however thin the brush is... Of course.. one possible solution will be to laser etch them, but I'm lookng for something that I can do in my "shop" (and I do not have laser :(

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

The line's not white, it's the silver of the aluminium under the anodise. I chucked it in the lathe and used a sharp tool to cut / scrape the line using the lathe carriage. Thanks for watching 👍

[@bmalovic]

@@TheRecreationalMachinist Thanks for clarification.

[@davidperry9426]

Brilliant thank you so much for sharing I noticed you made some mods to the tailstock also do you have any details on how they work ?

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

The base of the factory tailstock was hopeless. I binned it and replaced it with a piece of cast iron I machined up. I've lost the ability to move it over to cut tapers, but it's such a faff to setup afterwards I avoid doing it anyway. The brass-capped centre clamping screw on each side is through drilled (as I did on the cross slide mod) as an oiling point. It's a long way off perfect but infinitely better than it was.

[@davidperry9426]

@@TheRecreationalMachinist ohhhh Isee good thinking i will try do something similar. Many thanks for taking the time out to explain

[@firstmkb]

That was phenomenal. I'm trying to figure out how I can make any kind of carriage and slide for an old turret Hardinge that was the wrong machine for me. Does ANYBODY ever finish one? I'm not expecting commercial quality, but I'd like to make some round things, ya know?

[@750triton]

Does the gibb need to be parallel to the opposite side for any reason? I'm wondering if the adjuster side would be better square to the adjusters? It might then slide across rather than tilting over

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

I had the same thought actually. There's very little real estate to accommodate modifications of this type, and at the time I took the path of least resistance to get the machine back up and running. If I ever re-visit the gib (the brass one from the video is still in service and working ok) this is something I'll consider. Thanks for watching 👍 🇬🇧

[@hamish7759]

Hi could you do a video on all the upgrades you’ve done to your mini lathe (just got one so would really appreciate it)

[@sonoflocksmith]

how about improve for backlash of apron hand wheel ?

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

That's been on my list since day one. I'll get around to it eventually...

[@Ordog213]

I was watching the Video, but i have one question. What in the angle you cut on the Brass Gibbs???

[@GoPaintman]

Great video. Just curious about your use of the small bearings on the cross slide. My cross slide doesn’t have that recess. Did you machine that in?

[@finecutpost]

Really good video, have you listed the bearing and Oring sizes anywhere? I can seem to find it. Cheers from Oz Dave

[@minimechanic3611]

How you changed the colour to black

[@besenyeim]

This is a relatively old video now. Any info on those bearings? How many times did they need to be changed?

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

18 months on, the bearings I fitted in the video are still in use with no issues so far. Thanks for watching 👍 🇬🇧

[@Pushyhog]

what does slide nut design look like nowdays?

[@drdomestos]

How did you fill the hole in the dial that you did not need? Did you just fill it entirely with silver solder, or did you part fill it with a piece of threaded rod first, then solder?

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

I fitted a steel screw in the hole, silver soldered it in place then dressed it back. Thanks for watching 👍 🇬🇧

[@drdomestos]

@@TheRecreationalMachinist Thanks. I've done a lot of electrical and some amount of plumbing soldering in my time but never silver soldered...

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

It's useful stuff, though it needs a very much higher temperatures than tin / lead solder. It produces a really strong joint and can be used with dissimilar metals. The high silver content makes it quite expensive though.

[@joell439]

👍😎👍

[@hynekfuchs1378]

👍

[@RpSKhaira]

How does a Gib Strip work? I need to make one for my lathe, any tips/warnings?