A place for my base, handy mod for the 9”

I was always fighting for a good spot on my little lathe to stick a mag base, not wanting to scratch up the paint and hating to put it on the ways, I wished I had more room like on the big lathes, so I came up with this, about 8” of channel, I ground it on all 3 sides to pretty it up and make it flat then drilled the holes to bolt on where the taper attachment was intended to go. I now have a nice place to stick indicator base, plus I can stick a flat back indicator on it if I want to use it for feeding my cross slide!

Thought I’d share, it’s a simple project and has proven very handy, I’m considering even making a few and putting them on eBay.

If your cross slide is drilled and tapped for a taper attachment, All you need to do is to bolt a piece of angle iron in that location. Now you have a shelf for your dial indicator. One thing I would never do is cut off my cross slide like that. There's a reason why it was made so long, it protects the feed screw from chips. You could also remove your thread dial, and mount a dial indicator bracket there. This would place the dial indicator closer to you, much easier to read.

Stay safe and have fun.

Joe.

Id have never cut anything off, that’s how it came to me -the rust and +a bunch of cleaning, repairing, stripping and paint. I added the channel iron and yes a plain peice of angle would do, but I had the channel so I used a peice

No holes were drilled or tapped in the machine that weren’t already there and nothing has been cut off of it while in my ownership. I actually never gave the cross slide slide a thought until you mentioned it being a cutoff taper type, makes sense, and it’s unfortunate that someone in the past did that.

I really didn't think that you cut it off, and yes it is unfortunate that someone did. Unfortunately when you buy a used machine, You have to take it The way it comes. When I bought my 9C, someone had drilled a large hole in the middle of the cross slide, about where yours was cut off. First thing I did was put a piece of tape over it to keep chips off the screw. I have since replaced it with a MLA cross slide. It was just an observation. maybe you can figure out a way to repair it in some way. It really needs to be covered.

Stay safe and have fun.

Joe.

A PO put a dovetailed plate on my cross slide. Comes in handy (cross slide milled for it to fit).



Lamp and cutting oil brackets are also bolted into taper attachment holes...

John

Nothing was cut off. He is missing a rear piece that bolts on. It is part of the taper attachment, so whoever stripped off the TA took that as well.
Lathes without the taper attachment have a different, shorter leadscrew cover that bolts on there.

He said it was a 9". I remember the machine, it's a 9A. And 9A, B and C does not use that type Cross slide. Or at least I've never seen one that did.

Stay safe and have fun.

Joe.

If he does not have the taper attachment part that bolts there I think it's just a cover that is missing.
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...87406-my-other-south-bend-42296nkr9-image.jpg
Hard to see in the pic.

I think you need to look at the parts manual for the 9/10K . You will see that that lathe does not have a removable cover. Instead the entire cross slide is replaced for use with the tapir attachment. It is an integrated part of the tapir attachment. On that machine you disengage the cross feed nut, when using the taper attachment. The cross slide is directly connected to the taper attachment. Your thinking about the "Heavy" 9/10, Not the 9/10K.

Stay safe and have fun.

Joe.

That's an interesting resting place for your indicator and base. Just let me ask if you've ever had a workpiece come loose from a chuck while rotating? Your indicator and base will certainly protect the wall behind the lathe from damage but you'll be looking for a new instrument. It's not a good idea to have stuff that close to the "action center."

promacjoe said:

I think you need to look at the parts manual for the 9/10K . You will see that that lathe does not have a removable cover. Instead the entire cross slide is replaced for use with the tapir attachment. It is an integrated part of the tapir attachment. On that machine you disengage the cross feed nut, when using the taper attachment. The cross slide is directly connected to the taper attachment. Your thinking about the "Heavy" 9/10, Not the 9/10K.

Stay safe and have fun.

Joe.

Click to expand...

As joe said. This is my 9 inch without a taper attachment. So if I wanted a taper attachment I would have to find the proper cross slide casting. The carriage is tapped with the two flats to mount a taper attachment.
My 16 inch had the cover I was thinking of.

No dog in the discussion of the butchery / not, nor the add-ons / not, but...

A pair of these little Devils - quick release recommended - instead of a Vee block wanna-bee, (got some of those, too) and I'm never all that challenged to find a place to park them - for use, OR for storage:

Mighty Mag(R) - Westhoff, Inc.

Made in USA, even.... Imagine THAT for under fifteen bucks apiece, brand new, and direct from their maker!

Lol I actually forgot I had one of those mighty mag bases, I did some digging and actually found a number of bases I forgot I had stashed, including an Erick magnaholder, time to start playing with them I guess.

Best I can determine my cross slide is either a former taper model or someone simply cut the regular one a bit short for some reason, I’ll probably never know for sure, I was thinking I’d put a peice of leather belting on there for a chip guard, that way I can easily lift it for cleaning and oiling, there are two tapped holes for attaching some kind of guard to the end that’s now long gone. The MLA cross slides are very nice, perhaps I’ll get one when I have my planer up and running, would be a great project for it.

As to leaving bases parked on the lathe while machining it wasn’t ever the plan, just a good sturdy place to stick them when dialing in parts was the goal, however I don’t think it’s a big problem if I left it there once in a while, after all if you’ve got a habit of parts coming out of your chuck at high speed then it might be time to re-examine your setups or perhaps find another hobby, play dough is pretty safe.

Did a similar "deal" on mine, smaller and is limited to the left side of the saddle.
Because the 9" cross-slide isn't flat on top it doesn't hold mag bases well, having a flat pad for the Nogas is really helpful, I also park the magnetic base for my lube/coolant pump there when I'm using it.