I upgraded my compound clamp and installed a Shars quick change tool post with adjustable stops so your tool is always centered. It looks like your QCTP is made for a bigger machine. I used some 5/8 plate I had laying around. I have a G0752 and the upgrades have made this little lathe a beast. Better finish, deeper cuts and runs alot quieter when cutting which I attribute to greatly reduced deflection.
Thank you for taking the time to publish. I'm soon to be in the market, and have selected this lathe since I don't look like being able to get the g0750g I wanted any time soon after all.
I must congrtulate you on your modification to obtain more rigidity on you tool but what u did is replace the rigidity that you didn't have with the original set up because of improper fits but hey that baby is not moving now ..you did ok
I have same lathe with the QCTP and don’t have height issue. Are you using 1/2” tool shanks? Not that anything you did was a bad idea nor more rigid tools, just curious why the difference in my setup vs yours. I did the 6 bolt compound conversion, but something you touched on I am considering pursuing. That space above compound and 6 bolt lockdown would be better omitted. If the compound say on top of everything, much less flex on that stud the top post bolts to. What forum do you belong to? Nice to have you with us as us G602 ers need to stick together!
Nice modification. Were the steel plates that you used presurface-ground? If you had a milling machine, would you have made the first mod out of one piece instead of two?
The plates I used were cold-rolled steel with the factory finish. I touched them lightly with a file to make sure there were no burrs. You could certainly use a single piece of steel for this by milling it. That would give you the ability to have it at the exact height you would like. I made mine so the tool holder is about in the center of the vertical adjustment on the QCTP.
Most of you guys are giving this man the wrong advice take it from a 74year old machine rebuilder who has worked on lathes ten feet long and many bridgeport mills plus dozzens of screw machines
i have the same lathe and the same tool post. i went with milling the tool holder bottom off. i also did a video on making cup oil fill for in. check it out
Your contact points on your compound crosslides are poor you need to scrape them in... I had same problem i am retired machinest with scraping back ground. Also your tool post needs to be checked for contact ITS Off. I had same problem
Mike,I noticed you added a street elbow to the oil fill hole on your lathe.Was there room to do the same on the drain hole, facing down of course?I am seriously considering the purchase of the G0602 and this looks like a better way to do the oil changes.
+Bill rouleau On mine the distance from the casting to the back side of the change gear is about 1-5/16 inch. So a standard steel street elbow like I have on the fill side wouldn't fit. A machined brass elbow might be short enough to fit but I don't have one here to measure.
You have the wrong Quick change tool post holder, it's too big! It appears to be a BXA which is designed for a 12 inch lathe. Your lathe requires an AXA.
Question--- At time 9:35- Why not use longer bolts to secure the 1" plate to the lower 3/4" plate and keep the 1" plate same length? Also- could the all bolt holes for all 1" plate be drilled through the 3/4" plate and into the compound holding plate? This set up would have less bolts and more of a mating surface as well as a bit more "mass". Didn`t catch the rationale if it was mentioned. thanks,
There is no reason you couldn't do it the way you are talking about. I just used what I had on hand. On the upside, this is still much more rigid than the original compound. I live in a small town with no industrial supply house anywhere near me, so buying socket head capscrews locally, especially in metric isn't an option. For that reason, I keep a few of the more common sizes on hand that I order by the box online.
Remember a little loose here a little loose there equals a lot of LOOSE.. Your tool post is not sitting properly then your compound then your crosslide it all ADDS up to a bad machine..remember they look nice but if you only knew how poorly they are machine and fitted
Get some Prussian blue and check ur mating surfaces they will be off.guaranteed... But u need a surface plate to do that so you can scrape one and use it as a master..my 8x12 harbor freight lathge is soooo much better.
I just finished scraping in a lil lathe for a friend never seen it before looks good fellas let me tell you wat a piece of crap nothing on this lathe was good the gibs wow to flat plates with set screws to pivot the plates I made new gibs out of alum stock the ways had more waves than alke on a windy day. I don't have enough space to tell you.he gave me a rock and a gave him back a jewel man oh man 3 days on that piece of shit
