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Bearing stack on mini lathe lead screw?

kjkrum

Plastic
Joined
Apr 4, 2021
I'm new here, so I hope this is the right place to ask this. I'm also pretty inexperienced with lathes, my only training being a basic safety and operation class required by my local makerspace. (Which is still restricted for the pandemic, or I'd just go and ask someone there.)

My mini lathe came covered in grit and grime, so I took everything apart and cleaned it. I did a pretty good job of bagging and labeling how everything went back together, except for one detail.

The tailstock end of the lead screw passes through a block that's screwed to the bed. The block has thrust bearings on both sides, each consisting of ball bearings in a sheet metal holder sandwiched between two races. On the tailstock side of the block, the bearing stack is compressed by a threaded cap. But on the headstock side, the bearing stack is compressed by a short tapered section of the lead screw.

And here's the detail I failed to note: there's an extra bearing race that has to be included somewhere in order to compress both bearings. I put it on the outside of the headstock side, moving the lead screw slightly toward the headstock. Does it matter? Or, what should I look for to figure out whether it matters?

IMG_20210404_101200389.jpg
 
You need the documentation for this lathe. For which you will need maker name, model number, and serial number. This unit sounds like a hobby lathe, and so belongs on the hobby sites, where you will find many other people with the same lathe.

Be aware that unlike the spindle, the leadscrew cannot be much compressed axially, despite changes in temperature, so typically the headstock end fixes the axial location of the leadscrew, and the tailstock end is allowed some axial float, to accommodate changes in relative temperature.
 








 
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