Customising a South Bend Lathe

摘要

My first change was a quick change tool post, then I replaced the three speed flat drive with four-speed vee pulleys and used a pneumatic cylinder to provide the belt tension. A normal tailstock makes life a bit tedious when changing from centre drill to tapping drill to tap, repeated umpteen times when making several identical parts. I remembered how simple life was when I was using a turret or capstan lathe for production work.The operation is more like a lever feed which gives some degree of feel, unlike a tailstock screw, especially with small drills.This led to me making a turret for the South Bend.