Crosslide nut

I should probably change out the nut on my cross slide, lots of slop in it. Lathe is a Jet, 12x36PS. Where can I get the parts.

Jim

That's one part I have never bought for a small machine. I always found that when I got the bug to change one I always found it was going to take 2 to 3 weeks to get one and a couple hours to make one. I generally got the bug to change it when I was board. So I have always made em. Run the cross slide out and measure it up. Get a piece of bronze or brass. They generally require 3 holes and 3 threads, drill press or cordless drill and a lathe with a sloppy cross slide and 4 jaw are required to make one.

If the lathe is as old as I think it is, you can't get parts from Jet. You will likely need both a nut and a shaft. The shaft can be made on your lathe unless it's a metric thread. A new nut can be made by following this thread: Making Acetal leadscrew nuts the easy way

RWO

RWO said:

If the lathe is as old as I think it is, you can't get parts from Jet. You will likely need both a nut and a shaft. The shaft can be made on your lathe unless it's a metric thread. A new nut can be made by following this thread: Making Acetal leadscrew nuts the easy way

RWO

Click to expand...

That is actually for making half nuts out of plastic for those C1 and Unimate can openers RWO. Fine I suppose for those little machines if you need something temporary and can't cut a thread, but I don't know that I would try it on a cross slide nut on a light to medium weight bench lathe. Maybe you grabbed the wrong link. I think parts for that machine should still be available from Grizzly or Harbor Freight. Although it probably is a special order and would take a month or more.

Rod, Read this thread again. It works real well. The sleeve that goes over the two halves that have been sort of melted together provides the strength needed. Delrin/Acetyl is surprisingly strong and slippery. This can be done in an evening if the screw is usable.

boucher said:

Rod, Read this thread again. It works real well. The sleeve that goes over the two halves that have been sort of melted together provides the strength needed. Delrin/Acetyl is surprisingly strong and slippery. This can be done in an evening if the screw is usable.

Click to expand...

Crosslide nut



Most cross slide nuts I have seen have 1 or 2 bolts less than 1/4 inch that hold the nut on to the cross slide. There are usually only 4 or 5 threads holding them. I don't think it would last very long. What the guy in that thread is using them for is for a full nut on a lead screw on a C1 or Unimate or similar sort of can opener. Its a little bit different application and I think the plastic threads hes made are probably held inside some sort of metal sleeve. The entire pressure of the cutting tool is taken up on a cross slide nut and I don't know how long that would hold on even small .050 cuts. A while I suppose. Maybe I'm just a big chicken but I certainly wouldn't want to try knurling with such a fix. LOL B O O M !


ADD NOTE:

Maybe we are talking about 2 different things here but this is a cross slide nut on a 14 x 45 machine. His 12 x 36 machine should be very similar. I suppose you could drill out the old nut and glue the plastic sleeve you made inside but I don't see it staying there very long. I can see using 1/2 of a plastic nut on my C1 mini lathe lead screw for a temporary fix but I would make a new brass or cast iron one like it came with as soon as possible. If there was any flex in the plastic the tool could take a notion and dive into the work piece with a positive rake tool. To scarey for this little-black-duck!

A couple quick thoughs for the OP. I made one of these for a jet 12x36 I had years ago, grind a small acme threading tool for internal threading and fire away. A second option if you can find the right dia and pitch is to buy some precision acme rod and the nut from Mc Master Carr. Fabricate a new screw with the threaded rod. Make a "holder" for the nut that will bolt in place of the present nut or modify the present nut to accept the new acme threaded nut. I repaired a tailstock quill on a Logan like this and it worked out perfectly
Here are a couple of links for you to view
McMaster-Carr
McMaster-Carr

I presume you have determined for sure that the "slop" is indeed screw to nut clearance; the nut could be loose or the end play of the screw could be excessive. I have seen both and although I am old, I do not have the experience of several of these other guys. I'm just saying that my limited experience has found both of these conditions.

Rick

One thing to keep in mind is that the Acme thread standard contains some allowances that make for looseness in the fit of leadscrew and nut. If you are trying to minimize the play in the system, it would probably work better to add a second nut and tighten it to the original nut until you have minimal play along with full travel of the parts. Once that is achieved, pin the nuts together to maintain the relationship.