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Project C08 - Saddle Upgrade
After some time of using my C3 I noticed that swarf tended to get into the saddle handwheel gears and make movement difficult. In addition the handwheel had also become loose and sloppy in general so something had to be done. So when the lower half of the half-nuts suddenly dropped off I knew it was time to do something about it.
So, off with the saddle to fix what is needed. The first job was to make and attach a protection for the handwheel gears. Now there is no risk for swarf to get into the gears. The picture below shows the new transparent cover attached.
Fig 1: Rear of the C3 Saddle
I had to shave off both gears a small amount so that they will not foul the cover.
Fig 2: Setup for drilling the hole for the gib strip stop pin
In Fig 2 we can now see that the two washers uthat were holding the gib strip in place has been replaced with a longer keep plate. A small hole for a guide pin is drilled to prevent the gib strip from falling out if the set screws loose grip.
To finalize the upgrade a new feed handle was fitted. This time it is a metal handle that also is provided with a scale ring. This will no doubt enhance working to better tolerances.
Fig 3: The renovated saddle re-fitted with its new handwheel and better function.
Here is the re-fitted and now well functioning saddle with its new handle. The diameter of the new handle is slightly less than the old one which in reality is a good thing as the risk of moving the setting of the cros slide handle is less. In addition I think a metal handle in the same colour as the lathe also looks much better.
This upgrade made a great difference to the better.
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