A new small project: Crosslide for the Boley

[J Tiers]

I acquired (bought) a crosslide which will fit the Boley watch lathe, from another member here (Thank you!). So, it arrived today. It looks like a fairly fast little project, so I put it ahead of working on the Rivett, and ahead of re-organizing the whole shop, my favorite project ;-) .

It's in decent shape, but could use a good cleaning, so that's what I started this afternoon (it's about -15C, and I have no work to do outside).

The item as-received. Looks good, a little UPS ding on the one handle, no huge deal:


First thing is to disassemble and have a look at it. (It looks considerably better in person than it does in the rest of the pics). The unit with out the toolpost. I do not know what the threaded hole is for.


Topslide and crcosslide base slideway removed. For the topslide, unscrew the two screws holding the typical feedscrew nut (top left), take out the gib screws,unscrew the topslide feed, moving the nut out the end, remove it, then pull off the slide. The gibs on these are pinned, so they pull out straight across the slide, and do not slide out lengthwise or upwards as you look at the bottom.

The base slideway simply unscrews via the crosslide feedscrew.



The crosslideslide feedscrew and bracket unscrew from the end of the crossslide way. The handle is secured with the pin you see near the two screws. The scrap of copper foil is for grabbing parts with pliers, so as not to mar them, and the fat round thing is a small bench block for driving out pins, etc.

[J Tiers]

Next task is to separate the crosslide from the topslide way. This looks tricky, but actually, the lock piece pulls put from the topslide way, which releases the swivel pin, both seen above the topslide way and base. The lock is a slight eccentric which goes through a hole in the pin, drawing it tight.


Neither feedscrew wants to come out, the lock screws for the dials are stuck. The dials have to come off to release the screws to slide out away from the handle end.

So for the moment, the screws and some other parts are in oily solvent to hopefully loosen up


Meanwhile the handle bugged me, so out came the brass anvil, and the bronze hammer again. A bit of judicious tapping got it to an acceptable place, and that's all that's to be done until the screws loosen up in the soak. Hopefully they will, as I expect they are an odd size that I'll have trouble sourcing or making.


An essential thing for these projects is to keep parts and hardware from each portion of the item together. So I keep some multi-compartment plastic boxes around for the smaller parts. The little dot in the leftmost compartment is a small bronze set screw, which I thought was holding the crosslide screw in place. (It wasn't.)

[BCRider]

NICE!

Among or shop sort I've found that most of us find it rewarding to cleanup and tune older stuff like this. I tend to get much the same feeling of accomplishment from a good re-build or restoration as I do from a new from scratch build. And the fact that we're preserving a bit of history at the same time is just the icing on the cake.

[J Tiers]

Yes, it's nice on several levels.

After a few hours, I went back to see if the solvent and oil had done anything useful. Nope, nothing is loosenable, although most of it is cleaner!

I am considering the options at this point. I may just heat up the parts (with a hot air gun) and plop them back in the solvent, with the idea that they may suck in some.

The only difficulty is really the size, and of course the fact that they are slotted screws. Standard issues with jeweler's lathe stuff. It will turn out OK eventually.

[J Tiers]

I finally got one of them apart. Not by loosening the screw, though. Since I was pretty sure that the screws would have a copper or similar pad under them so that they would not mar the threads that mount the dials and adjust the end play, I just put the sheet copper guard around the dial and turned it until it came off.

The other one would not respond to that. It seems to still be stuck tight on its screw thread, as well as having the screw stuck.

I figured once I got the one dial off, I'd have no issue with the set screw, but even though the dial is off the feedscrew, the set screw is not movable. I may be drilling that one out if soaking in Evaporust does not do anything.

I did need to disassemble, though, they parts are dirty although the plating has kept the rust down to a minimum. No issues, it will eventually come apart OK and be cleaned.

[J Tiers]

So, pic of the parts that were separated today. I also soaked the dial for a few hours in Evaporust, along with some other parts. After that I did manage to get the setscrew to come out. The other one is so far not co-operating, but it's in the Evaporust, along with the remaining uncleaned parts.



The dial and setscrew. The numbers on the dial appear to be about 0.75mm tall, if that, but the pic is a bit overexposed due to flash, and you cannot see them. The first pic actually shows them, there is a "5" right in the middle of the reflection on the dial.



A pic of the now-cleaned topslide, with a "cute" and possibly actually useful 4-way toolpost that came with the lathe. The pic still looks dirty, but in actuality, the evaporust cleaned the stains on the plating so that the parts, including the topslide, are in fact rather shiny. Somehow the camera picks up a stain where there is not much of one, if any. The 4-way toolholder is about 26mm square.

[JRouche]

I loved the presentation Jerry. Very nice... I like to see the process, right. JR

P.S. The slide looks to be a very nice one. You took it apart jest as any top quality lathe carriage would be built. I like it. JR

[J Tiers]

Well, I got the dial off. Same procedure as the first one.... soaked it in solvent and oil, plus Evaporust, and unscrewed it relying on there being a copper plug to protect the threads. There was, on this also.

It needed to come out, as there was dirty oil exiting from around the dial when it was turned. Much dirtier than the cleaning solution of oil and solvent. The pliers were cutting through my copper scrap, so I had to go to a piece of aluminum scrap to grip the dial with, seen off to the right.

The screw is still being a nuisance, it won't come out, or move, so I have the dial soaking in Evaporust again. We'll see if a few hours allows that to be disassembled, or if it will need more violent means... I hope it comes out nicely, I already had to fix one of my good screwdrivers, which had the tip chipped by the first one.

The separated parts of the topslide screw so far:


I have re-assembled the base, that fits on the lathe "shoe", cleaned it all up, oiled it etc. The post in the middle is the pivot for the topslide, as well as also being the locking means. The eccentric goes through the hole in the pivot stud.
Again, it is much cleaner than it looks in the picture. I'm not sure why the camera is picking up discoloration at any angle other than almost straight-on. Part of it is when the flash does not go off automatically, but even then it is not always a good representation. Must be an automatic aperture or shutter speed deal, the camera allows only minimal adjustments. I was hoping to get a DSLR, but so far I have not found one at a price I want to pay..



The base needed just a little in the way of dings removed to fit on the shoe perfectly. The existing stud on the shoe needed just a little adjusting to fit, but now it fits both the crosslide and the other shoe attachment, which is a graver rest.

There are some mystery holes, which someone may be able to explain:

On the base, there are two in-line across the portion that fits over the shoe. I do not know if they are for a stop, for some kind of "rise and fall" setup, for possibly holding the crosslide assembly in a specific place, or what. There is a hole which you can see out of focus on the other side as well as the one in-focus.


On the crosslide itself, there is a hole in the end, threaded, purpose unknown. Perhaps a stop?

[J Tiers]

More mystery holes:

Again in the crosslide, there is a hole under the rotating topslide. That hole has a countersunk portion on the bottom


Finally, there is a set of three in the topslide itself, all apparently the same:

[J Tiers]

So, I ended up drilling out the setscrew. It was an M2.5 screw, with a small copper piece under it. I'll have to make another one of each. Drilled out on my handy-dandy little drill press that is on the bench next to the work area. (no idea who made it, everyone and his dog seem to have been making them back then).


I don't need that setscrew in order to re-assemble the unit, so I did reassemble and oil it, and mounted it on the Boley, where it fits. The little 4 way toolpost seems to be at about the right height, although that will depend on the tools. The lantern post I have not tried, but one or another of the three or so I have for this should work if the one that came with the slide assy does not.

The unit on the lathe, with the stereo microscope over it.


Close-up of the slide assy with the 4 way on it, as-mounted.


I don't think this is a Boley crosslide, I have no idea who made it. The only markings on it are the number "57" on all the major parts.

[gld]

Excellent job Jerry. Look like a perfect fit.

Gary

[Tundra Twin Track]

Very Nice Tiers,that’s a cool little Drill Press what capacity is the Chuck and what hp is driving it.

[J Tiers]

It is, as far as I can see, a perfect fit.. Opens up some more possibilities with the old Boley!

I've made some small things on it, and this should help with some others that are not as easy to do correctly with just use of hand held gravers.

That drill press is about 16" tall, and the motor is an old sewing machine motor! I have no idea of the HP, but probably in the 1/20 HP range, I don't know if those little motors are even rated in HP. It is probably pretty powerful for its size when running on full voltage and top speed. I run it (and the lathe motor) from a variac to provide variable speed, and neither has been at full voltage for anything I have done.

The motor on the lathe is physically bigger, and is intended as a Jeweler's lathe motor, but I don't know if it is any more powerful. It is a much older design. I'm headed down there now, and I will see if either has any info on them.

[J Tiers]

Well I could not stand leaving it for "some other time", so I made a set screw before I quit for the day a while ago.

I didn't have any M2.5 screws in stock, but I DID have an ancient laptop hulk (due for electronics recycling) that was put together with them, so I stole some. I filed the end of one flat, cut a slot in it, , then cut it off at the right length. A small piece of copper sheet was cut to fit in the hole, and it now has a set screw. Sorry for the fuzzy picture, the camera was refusing to focus on the screw, it persisted in focusing on something out past it. This is the best I could do.

[J Tiers]

Forgot to check.... but now I did.....

Very Nice Tiers,that’s a cool little Drill Press what capacity is the Chuck and what hp is driving it.

Capacity is about 1/4" or a bit less.

The little sewing machine motor is 1/15 HP. The belt slips before the motor stalls.

The motor for the lathe is 1/12 HP.