SWO with new to me CX708

[Mennonite]

Good morning All! Names Waldo from south western Ontario (SWO)

love the fact theres something Canadian dedicated out here. most of these forums/anything really is all America based - which is fine, just cool we got our own thing going on up here.

been reading on here for a few weeks now. and purchased a lathe on Wednesday, setup and did some playing yesterday.

purchased a used CX708. had some surface rust but nothing i cant take care of.

a few concerns.

1st - its quite loud, almost sounds like bearing slop in the gear box. i removed the top plate to see and it seems to be chattering among the gears, is this normal? not sure if we can do videos on this forum or not, if so i'll take a video over the weekend and post up.

2nd - what increments are lines on the indicators? its clearly not inches which sucks really bad. made a 0.010" cut on a 3/4" bar and it took about 25 thou off.

3rd - the cutter was not center with the material, did not measure but eye balling it - it seemed to be about 1/16"-1/8" low...does this matter? it cut ok but its always been my experience to have all tooling run center to the material.

4rd - there are some what look like locking nuts on the dial - jam nuts - can anyone explain what theyre used for and how to properly use them?

5th - i could not adjust the cross slide indicator to 0 out?

looking forward to learning a lot from everyone on here on my new addition to the shop!

 

[140mower]

Welcome from Lillooet BC. I can tell you have been lurking and reading for a while now, as your first post came with pictures. It shouldn't be too long and those more familiar with your machine will chime in with the answers.

 

[Susquatch]

Good morning All! Names Waldo from south western Ontario (SWO)

Good morning from South of Chatham. If you are close to Chatham I could stop by next week and help you out. In the meantime, here are my first thoughts

1st - its quite loud, almost sounds like bearing slop in the gear box. i removed the top plate to see and it seems to be chattering among the gears, is this normal? not sure if we can do videos on this forum or not, if so i'll take a video over the weekend and post up.

Can't really add much. Plain gear boxes are noisier than oil bath. Don't know what yours sounds like without seeing it.

2nd - what increments are lines on the indicators? its clearly not inches which sucks really bad. made a 0.010" cut on a 3/4" bar and it took about 25 thou off.

The dial increments on the cross-slide are usually OD, but not always. Your might be radius. If so, a measurement will always be double what you dial in.

3rd - the cutter was not center with the material, did not measure but eye balling it - it seemed to be about 1/16"-1/8" low...does this matter? it cut ok but its always been my experience to have all tooling run center to the material.

For almost all operations, the cutting tip should be on center with the part. Search on "lathe height standard" on the forum. I usually highly recommend one as your first lathe project.

4rd - there are some what look like locking nuts on the dial - jam nuts - can anyone explain what theyre used for and how to properly use them?

They are used to lock the dials. You loosen the locks, turn the dial to zero, then tighten the locks. It's basically used as a way to zero or preset your dials.

5th - i could not adjust the cross slide indicator to 0 out?

Not sure what you mean. See comments about zeroing dials above.

 

[Mennonite]

Welcome from Lillooet BC. I can tell you have been lurking and reading for a while now, as your first post came with pictures. It shouldn't be too long and those more familiar with your machine will chime in with the answers.

Everyone loves pictures!

Good morning from South of Chatham. If you are close to Chatham I could stop by next week and help you out. In the meantime, here are my first thoughts

i'm in tillsonburg.

They are used to lock the dials. You loosen the locks, turn the dial to zero, then tighten the locks. It's basically used as a way to zero or preset your dials.

ah ok. my first pass they were loose and when i made a cut the dial slowly rolled back. so i tightened it a bit so the dial stayed where it was. i'll play around with it some more and post pics/vids when i have a chance.

 

[DavidR8]

Welcome aboard from Victoria.

 

[TorontoBuilder]

welcome

 

[YYCHM]

Welcome from Calgary.

 

[whydontu]

Welcome from Vancouver!

A few of us have this lathe, or the previous identical B2227L. Same as the European BVB25.

Noisy gears usually means time to check the level and/or replace the lube.

Cutters need shims to adjust tool height. Find yourself a quick-change tool post, you will love the flexibility. Any type is better than the factory turret post, I have a Multifix and it’s glorious.

 

[jcdammeyer]

Welcome aboard from Victoria.

And from me too.

 

[6.5 Fan]

Welcome from SK.

 

[ChazzC]

Everyone loves pictures!


i'm in tillsonburg.

ah ok. my first pass they were loose and when i made a cut the dial slowly rolled back. so i tightened it a bit so the dial stayed where it was. i'll play around with it some more and post pics/vids when i have a chance.

Welcome from Pennsylvania!

Sounds like you are referring to the gib adjustment screws since they have jam nuts. Here are some photos and a manual that should help (although for a Mini-Lathe, the principles are the same for your lathe):

Mini-Lathe Gibs at Cross-Slide & Compound:

Mini-Lathe Gib Screws:

Gib adjustment procedures start on page 12 of this manual:

https://littlemachineshop.com/Info/MiniLatheUsersGuide.pdf


You can fully lock the Cross Slide or Compound by tightening one of the gib screws, but it's better if you add an additional screw for locking so you don't have to continually readjust the gib screws:

This video shows the concept of adding a lock:

Blondihacks has a number of helpful videos for getting started with a lathe in this playlist on YouTube:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLY67-4BrEae9Ad91LPRIhcLJM9fO-HJyN&si=Fz6ghTTRV9I4MIjT


Have Fun!


Charlie