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El-Cheapo tail stock to go with my indexer

Janger

(John)
Administrator
Vendor
Hi @johnconroy John
I've been studying your design - I'm thinking about making one too. I notice yours is perhaps 2.5" wide. Has that proven to be wide enough? Any tendency to rock? I always overbuild.

I see there is a pocket in the side rails at the bottom - was that already in the source stock?

Did you harden the center or is it just as is?

Thanks John, Nice photos.
 

John Conroy

member
Premium Member
It gets clamped down to the mill table and the side plates taper from 1/2" thick at the top to more than 3/4" thick at the bottom. The pieces are bolted together at the bottom with three 5/16" bolts and 4 at the top so there is no flex or tipping possible. The source of the steel was old railway track plates that hold the rails to the ties (like in the attached picture). I bought 3 of them from a scrap dealer. The square holes were in them for spikes to pass through. I didn't harden the center but nothing turns against it so I didn't think it necessary.

railroad-ties-and-spikes.jpg

This is the design I used as a template.

tailstock.png
 

kevin.decelles

Jack of all trades -- Master of none
Premium Member
My dividing head and rotary table each came with a tailstock, I said to @Janger that i would post picks for general dimensions

This one is from the rotary table (busy bee)


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And this one came with the shars dividing head
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Overall I like the castings on the first and the mechanism for the centre adjust on the second





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Janger

(John)
Administrator
Vendor
Thanks for posting those pictures. One the second tail stock/foot stock Kevin - is the quill threaded inside the block? and at the left end there is a bolt at the quill axis - does that go into a keyway on the quill?
 

PeterT

Ultra Member
Premium Member
Is this an optical illusion of is the point non-concentric by design?
 

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kevin.decelles

Jack of all trades -- Master of none
Premium Member
Some pictures of the quills removed

Tailstock that had threaded quill (from shars dividing head)


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Quill from bb rotary table.

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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

PeterT

Ultra Member
Premium Member
Why is the dead center point at an elevated axis that the middle? Maybe allows machining on the end of the part without interfering with the cone? (kind of like those slim nose cnc live centers?). Inquiring minds need to know!
 

Janger

(John)
Administrator
Vendor
@kevin.decelles There is some subtle magic on the Shars quill. I like that design. I don't quite follow how the nut handle moves the quill back and forth. Turning the knob would just move the threaded bolt/nut part in and out of the quill unless it is held in place somehow? The BB one has that notch which pushes the quill back and forth with the nut rotation. I don't see how that works on the shars one?
 

Janger

(John)
Administrator
Vendor
My own progress. Hope you don’t mind John that I’m adding to this thread.
 

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Janger

(John)
Administrator
Vendor
Interesting diagram Johnwa - seems to show more detail. Thanks for locating this. It's still a little hazy to me how the quill action works.

Part 60 & 61 have to be held in place in line with the quill to push/pull the quill. That could be done 3 ways maybe. With A) set screw 55 sliding into the groove on 61, B) with a roll pin Kevin mentioned in the end of the holder - two small holes circled - pin going into the groove on 61, or C) with set screw 52 somehow but I think that just holds the knob 25 on to 60/61.

tailstock.png
 

YYCHM

(Craig)
Premium Member
How does one cut the pinch slot in the dead center carrier?

FOOTSTOCK1.JPG

That will be my next operation once my mill is up and running again.

John, how did you do it? My experience with a slitting saw on my mini mill was less than favorable.
 
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YYCHM

(Craig)
Premium Member
I used a slitting saw. Low rpm and WD40 as lube.

Darn….. I was afraid you were going to say that. I'm going to attempt it using the band saw in the vertical.

Is there a rule of thumb as to how deep to make the pinch slot?
 

historicalarms

Ultra Member
years ago I had to cut the same type of slot in some pipe and the bandsaw worked fine (the same kind as the one as you just bought) I bolted an ordinary drill press vise crosswise to a flat bar and then bolted the whole jig to the bandsaw deck so that a pinched pipe that I wanted to slice was centered at the blade track. I could pinch the workpiece at the same angle as the blade frame came down at so that it could cut completely through the top without marking up the inside bore on the bottom.
 
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