QUICK CHANGES MARTIN CLEEVE describes a permanent self-act feed which enables a lathe to be switched to or from screwcutting in a frac- tion of the normal time ably one of the most useful attachments fora lathe. T have one which is suitable for adaption to most lathes. One, moreover, which can be built in a single weekend. it is of a mon-reversing type and is made from materials easily obtained, No apology would there- fore seem necessary for describing it. ‘The possessor of a screwcutting lathe finds that much of the pleasure to be derived from cutting threads is lost in the considerable time spent juggling with oily gears, breaking down the compound train for self-act, setting up the simple train for the thread and, if there is any of the evening left, resetting for the very desirable slow feed—an outrageous imposi- tion, especially when only a din, length of thread is required on some odd pieces of work. The independent self-act box will eliminate these frustrations, and give close to 100 per cent. of the benefits of the more elaborate quick-change gear- boxes at a fraction of their cost. It is quickly made and should therefore appeal to those who would like the advantages offered, but whose chief interest lies in using the lathe for model building rather than in improving it. Immediate changes between self-act and any single Pre-selected screwcutting gear train become possible and change from one thread pitch to another can be made within one minute; this usually requires only the substitution of one gear for another on the Iead- T: INDEPENDENT SELF-ACT gearbox is prob- Below. Fig. 2: The numbers preceding. the names of the Parts are those referred 10 in the list of parts on page 694 ces) lens MODEL ENGINEER Fig. 1: The self-act box fitred to a Myford MLA. The banjo is set for 16 tpi screw, with a shifting of the idle gears into appro priate’ mesh. ‘The three (or four) step cone pulleys and the spring drive, provide slow, medium and fast feed rates, with instant change between them, With the installation of the box, most of the lathe change gears are unused, thus being readily available for indexing and other purposes, The tumbler reverse gears are not used for self-act, so noise and wear are eliminated. The leadscrew handwheel may be readily used as it will no longer be necessary fo remove part of a compound reduction train 10 make it possible to turn it. Before discussing some of the various aspects in connection with the construction and actual system of drive adopted, pethaps a few practical examples of the application of the box would be of help in indicating its possibilities. ‘The self-act box fixed to a Myford M.L. No. 4 lathe is shown in Fig. 1. ‘This shows the banjo set for 16tp.i. in the self-act position. By raising the banjo so that the first idle gear is driven from the 20-t. gear behind the self-act drive cone pulley 10 NOVEMBER 1955 692Fig. 4: The gearbox assembly; the part numbers are as in the parts list immediately makes the lathe ready to cut 16 tp.i. as the gear on the leadscrew is, in this case, a 40. ‘The arrangement shown in Fig. 1 is of a set-up typical of all those needed to cut threads from 12 t.p.i. 10.30 {-p.i, in increments of 2 t.p.i., with a 20-tooth driver; it is only necessary to alter the wheel on the eadscrew, to shift the idlers for a change of pitch, excepting in the two instances where either the 60 for the 40 idle wheel is required for definite ratio purposes on the leadscrew. I have a spare 60 and 40, thus obviating even that small bother. Fine feeds ‘On approaching the 32 to 60 t.p.i. range, the feeds do slow down a little but if such fine threads are being cut, the work will probably be of a small precise nature where the finer feeds will be appreciated ! Tt is worth noting that, with the M.L.7, the finest feed obtainable from the standard set of gears is 3.7 thou. per rev.; and to get a feed of 2.5 thou. per rey. requires the purchase of a 95-t, wheel. ‘The self-act box gives feeds in this region with all the other advantages thrown in. In designing this particular self-act box (the third of a series) a ratio of 15 1 was chosen for the gearing, but if it is thought that the overall range of feeds are too slow, they may easily be modified by substituting for the second reduction (20 : 25) any 93 10 NOVEMBER 1955 SIMPLE TRAINS For leadeerews of 8 tpi only Tale Wheels Iramediage elf act, Theend| Dave | Fine | Sgeond | bende Sind | SStcg? | screw | stow | ted. @ | | % | a4| ss O | 38 | 23 | 47 & | % | 26] oh 2 | 8 | 23) 32 | 20) 33 8 | is | 30 & | 13 | 27 6 | ts] 35 m | ts] pe td Bs =e 8) |S & | % | 20] 33| $3 ° | ss | ta] 3a | 42 se | o | | 2] 4a S| S| re] 2s | eo wm | 1s] 23 | 38 ws | 4 | 32 | 35 Firat | _ Second Stud lca ace fees sud i}000‘'n ‘per Eis: | This [Driving _| Lead rer of work ‘Tai Driver]Driving] | Whee EGRSSSBRh Eeeeeccesl Showing the three feeds obtainable from the sel use "mide of te before, im between or ater ‘fen ny even sereweuting train onthe fle, the ate line, are immediately sa ing 9 theta ‘onthe ah, Thbte oy smovementof the bao. pair of gears which add up to 70 teeth, such as 25 : 45, ‘The substitution may even be placed outside the box, to the left, so that they could be inverted if the feed was found to be too slow. ‘The fact that the table is incomplete does not mean that threads not shown cannot be cut or that the Fig, 3: The gearbox base | 3 4 HOLES Ya BSF & 1, }+ 2 GEAR BOX BASE ‘MODEL ENGINEERQUICK CHANGES.... same principles do not apply. Indeed, the applica- tion of the box does not require any alteration to the lathe and as, by the loosening of the screw at the base, the box may be adjusted for height or entirely removed, it can never interfere with any likely set-up. Tn cases where the screw thread to be cut is un- usually fine or where some other factor intervenes, such as the lack of some of the larger changewheels, it becomes necessary to introduce compound gear trains, a good example of which is given in Fig. 8. Here ‘the banjo is shown set for cutting 32 tp.i, and ready for driving from the tumbler reverse geai The actual gears used are shown in the table under “compound trains.” Fig. 8 shows the same gear train set for driving from the self-act box. In this Position the feed rates obtainable would be 1.3, 2.0, and 3.3 thou. per rev. of the work. To illustrate an example of this, let us suppose that the banjo is geared as in Fig. 8 and it is desired to change from 32 tpi. to 26 t:p.i., the procedure would be as follows : (a) Remove the 50-tooth wheel and spacing collar from the leadscrew; (b) loosen both studs and push the 60 and the 40 and 25 away up the banjo; (c) put a 65-tooth wheel on the leadscrew; (@) bring ‘the 60-tooth and the 40-tooth (now as an idler) all into mesh with the 65 on the leadscrew. On completion of those four operations, all. will be ready for use with the exception that there will be 4 25-tooth wheel on the second stud doing nothing. In practice it will be found to be an advantage to ‘MODEL ENGINEER try to keep the banjo geared ready for cutting your favourite thread. It has been suggested that 26 t.p.i. is the one most used by model engineers; if this is so, then the set-up illustrated in Fig, 5 might well be referred to as a standard setup and one from which any other requirement may be readily assembled. ‘The adoption of this system will have many obvious advantages: ‘As can be seen from the various illustrations, the design has been kept as simple as possible and no difficulty should be experienced in building the gear- box. The drawings give all the essential details. The general assembly drawing, Fig. 4, details the various parts which are listed below. Unless stated otherwise all the parts are from bright mild steel. Detail No. Name of part and quantity required Flats and square 1. Main base plate. 3 in. x 2 in, to finish 5 in. Jength. Gearbox base. 2in, x Jin, to finish 3 in. length. 3A. Right hand side plate. 3 in. x } in. to finish Gin. length. 3B. Left hand side plate. 3 in. x } in. to finish Gin. Iength, 5. Fixed base stem. 12 in. diameter to finish 12 in, length. 6. Moving (height adjusting) stem, 1 in. dia- meter to finish 2 in. length. Left. Fig. 5: The banjo geared ready for cutting a thread Of 26 t.p.i. This has been found 0 be the one most used by ‘model engineers Below. Fig. 6: The driving sideplate and baseplate. Care should be taken over the spindle locations for the correct ‘meshing of the gears HOHE Af can soe PLATES ‘ Base PLATE 10 NOVEMBER 1955S. FIXED STEM 2 6. MOVING STEM 4. DISTANCE PIECE Fig. 7: The distance piece, fixed and moving stems 7. High speed bearing housing. 1§ in. dia- meter. 1} in. length. 8A. Driven cone pulley. 2 in. diameter. 1 in. length. Bore tin. 8B. Driving cone pulley. 2in, diameter. Tin, length. | Bore 8C. Driving “pulley spigot’ (to finish) 3 in, diameter, 3 in, length. 9A. Cast iron bush (to fit part 7). in. ofd., Zin. length. 9B. Cast iron bush (to fit part 7). Fin, o/d., ein. length. 10A, Output gear boss. All. from 10B. Final reduction gear boss. | about 1 in, 10C. Intermediate gear boss. length of 10D. Collar for output shaft. Fin. dia. mss. 11, Input spindle. Silver steel, + in, diameter. 2£ in. length. 12, Intermediate ‘spindle. s.s. or ms., # in. diameter. 34 in, length. 13, Output spindle, ‘s.s. or m.s. # in. diameter. 34in, length. G.14. First driver. Bond’s 20 tooth, 40 pitch, 5/32 in. bore. G.15. First reduction, driven. Bond's 120 t, 40 pitch, # in. bore. G.16A. Final reduction driver, Myford 20 tooth G.16B. Final reduction driver, Myford 20 tooth G.17. Final reduction driven, My- ford 50 tooth Spring. 4, in, diameter. 23 gauge, 12 in. length (Terry's). a 10 NOVEMBER 1955 20 pitch 8.18, 695 Fig. 8: The introduction of compound gear trains; this is necessary where larger change-wheels are missing or another factor enters, The banjo is set for eutting 32 t.p.i Below. Fig. 9: The bearing housing piece and the pulleys 7 BEARING HOUSING Cre) craw eae MODEL ENGINEER