CVA MK1A Crunchy Cross Slide Pinion

Hello there gentlemen,

Thank you for letting me join the forum, I've often read things from this forum but I've never joined until now. I'm from the UK, the West Wales region, bandit country . I'm a joiner/wood machinist by occupation so I don't know a hell of a lot about metalworking, I do enjoy making dead woodworking machines come alive again and that usually involves a little metalwork.

I've got a CVA MK1A lathe (I've had it about four years now) which is similar to the Monarch 10EE you have in the states and I've got a small problem with the cross slide in that it has been getting progressively more crunchy when the handle was being turned so I decided to take it apart which was a bit of a palaver, I got to the pinion gear which seems to be where the noise and feeling is coming from, it sits inside a bore and meshes with another larger gear a hole into the apron. At some point, somebody has put three o-rings on the rear of the pinion and looking at the parts manual I think there should be what's called a "felt retaining washer" and a "felt washer" on there and no more information beyond that.


So my question to anyone who knows, what is the difference between a "felt retaining washer" and a "felt washer"? Also, what kind of felt do you reckon is best for this kind of thing? Or is there a much better alternative I should consider? Maybe o-rings ARE the better alternative?


Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of the part, I reassembled the carriage without thinking about taking a photo of it. I'll probably take it back apart at the weekend to measure up the part and I'll take a photo of it then.

Here's a picture of the lathe, for what it's worth.

I think it's just a matter of semantics. A felt washer isn't going to retain squat except for oil. I think they mean a felt oil retaining washer. MSC sells felt.

https://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tn...MIsunKtdT55gIViJOzCh2vEg99EAQYASABEgIhw_D_BwE

You can also get it as a washer from a good carburetor repair shop. They are used to exclude dust from throttle plate and choke shafts.

I think your crunchy action is more likely to be the thrust bearing. Since your machine is a copy of the 10EE you should find the support block and bearings at the far end of the screw.
The front part I'm guessing you accessed by removing the handle support and you pulled the telescoping bush off the end of the screw? Cal's excellent photo-essay of dismantling the whole assembly should guide you through removing the rest. There may be some slight differences but it should be essentially the same.

Square-dial by Cal Haines | Photobucket

+1 on it being the thrust bearing. Mine was due to someone tightening the thrust bearings at the far end of the screw until they fractured.

This was on a taper turning equipped CVA, the non taper version does not have thrust bearings at the far end of the screw.

The felt washer is a felt disc between 2 steel washers. The O rings show someone has been in there before.

Right, I've had the carriage apart today and I've got the pinion back out and took a photo and some measurements. The teeth on the pinion look a bit pitted and rough but they're actually quite smooth.



Distance between washers: 6.05mm / 15/64ths
OD of Bore: 25.3mm / 127/128ths (Definitely wasn't an inch)
OD of Pinion between washers: 17.4mm / 11/16ths

So I'm guessing I need a felt washer that's 25.4mm / 1" in diameter for compression, with an ID of 17.4mm / 11/16ths and a thickness of 6mm? Someone suggested that leather would be a good alternative.

There's definitely no thrust bearings on the end of my screw, it doesn't have the taper turning attachment.