Once the magic smoke comes out, things don't work any more.

John Kasunich
jmkasunich@fastmail.fm
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Wed, 20 Dec 2006

Another problem

The reason I moved the machine from its original position against the wall was because I knew the table motor would stick out beyond the back of the bench. However, I didn't anticipate exactly how far it would stick out. Here are a couple photos showing the limits of table travel (with the tailstock removed, the saddle can move another few inches to the right.)

The photo below clearly shows the extent of the problem - the rear end of the motor sticks almost 10" past the back of the bench. That wouldn't be so bad, except I need to put some kind of guard along the back of the bench, to keep oil and chips from being flung onto the shelves and elsewhere. A guard that goes back far enough to clear the motor will seriously impede access to the shelves and cabinet in the corner.

Any brilliant ideas?

I've already considered turning the table around 180 degrees, and letting the motor stick out the front. In addition to being a nuisance to whoever is operating the machine, that also means that I'd need to insert T-nuts and other tooling from the back of the table, and scrape chips out of the T-slots in the back.

I also briefly considered turning the motor 90 degrees so that its parallel to the spindle, and letting it extend out behind the tailstock (toward the wall). That would require bevel gears or similar to drive the leadscrew, which would probably introduce significant backlash (as well as being rather expensive).

(posted: 20 Dec 2006 13:29) (permalink)