I have a Harbor Freight 9 x 20 metal lathe, very similar to the same size lathe made by Jet, Grizzly and others. I was having a difficult time getting a smooth cut on mild steel and after eliminating speed, cutter and other more obvious things, became convinced the tool post was rocking. I went through the tool post surfaces dressing everything down flat and smooth but that too failed to solve my problem. The entire tool post assembly is held to the cross feed carriage by a thick round disk with two hold down bolts, 180 deg. apart. While I could not detect any movement I concluded the assembly may be rocking perpendicular to the bolting centerline which would result in the cutter rocking in and out against the work piece.
On Ebay I stumbled on replacement hold down plate that was square and utilized four corner hold down bolts. They were available in a finished piece ready to install or a semi-finished piece, much cheaper, that I could machine myself. I bought one, machined it according to instructions, installed in on my lathe and had no further issues with rough cuts on work pieces. The four bolts cinch the tool post down tight in all directions against the cross feed carriage.
This is a great improvement to this size and type lathe and well worth the money either finished or unfinished. The Ebay seller is “raul1530”. That is raul, like paul, 1530.
On Ebay I stumbled on replacement hold down plate that was square and utilized four corner hold down bolts. They were available in a finished piece ready to install or a semi-finished piece, much cheaper, that I could machine myself. I bought one, machined it according to instructions, installed in on my lathe and had no further issues with rough cuts on work pieces. The four bolts cinch the tool post down tight in all directions against the cross feed carriage.
This is a great improvement to this size and type lathe and well worth the money either finished or unfinished. The Ebay seller is “raul1530”. That is raul, like paul, 1530.
