Hey, Bob Warfield....

[TheAndroid]

I have the exact same lathe as you but I am putting a CDCO piston type toolpost on mine. I am to the point where I also need to bore the bottom of the block. Before I begin setting up for boring, I'd like to know something.
I put the inner sleeve of the block over the toolpost which is already on the compound. When I place the block next to it, the sleeve appears to be much taller than the block. On your website, you don't mention having to turn down the inner sleeve. Did you have to?
Also, did you lap the dovetails on your lathe. It seems to me the gib face which is against the dovetails on mine is very roughly finished. I can easily feel the ridges with my fingertips (it looks like deeply brushed aluminum). Would it be better to lap this in?
Finally, how did you get the compound knob off to do the ball bearing upgrade? Mine is double nutted on with what feels like 400+ ft/lbs of torque. I'm not sure how to hold the screw without marring the threads.

Thanks.

[BobWarfield]

I'm away from the shop for a few days but will try to help from my iPhone.

I trust you found my website entry on adapting the toolpost. Its all there. I didn't turn down the cylinder at all, but I've no idea whether the cdco might require it as mine was a phase 2.

I did not lap my gibs, but they weren't nearly as rough as you describe. If you have a mill you could make new ones easily else consider lapping.

lastly, I had no trouble on my compound. It wasn't nearly so tight.

Best,

BW

[TheAndroid]

Bob,
Thanks for updating your website so the drawing for your toolpost plan appears. I have read this over, over and over.
I have held my toolpost in my hands and simply could not wrap my mind around one problem: Boring a 20mm hole to fit over the boss on the tool post stud would not allow a 14mm sleeve to press down on the new QTCP block to hold it in position.
Then, while wrestling with this in my mind just before going to sleep, I finally got it: The inner sleeve is larger than 20mm in diameter!

Don't you love it when your brain does that?

So, I started looking around the 'Net for pictures of other QCTP installs and sure enough, fignoggle.com shows the inner sleeve over the mounting sleeves on the tool post stud. Much larger than 20mm!

Yes! No more lost sleep! Now, if I could get out of NYC and to my shop, I'd be in business!!

Thanks!

[BobWarfield]

BTW, if you were considering making a new set of gibs, I would be very tempted to consider tapered gibs. I like them a lot better than adjusting all the individual gib screws.

This fellow here shows how to do it on a mini-lathe:

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showth...229#post433229

It would be a pretty serious project, but boy would it be nice to have tapered gibs! He says it's a lot more solid, and I don't have a hard time believing it.

Best,

BW