Saddle Gib and Saddle Lock, see Figure 54 The saddle is supplied with a square head bolt on the front right hand side of the slide. This bolt is used to lock the saddle in place for increased rigidity when making face cuts. Before making adjustments to the saddle gib, make sure that this bolt is loose by turning it counter clockwise.
It is important that the gib be properly adjusted. A loose gib will cause finish problems in a workpiece. A gib adjusted too tightly will cause premature wear.
Saddle Lock
Bolt
Figure 54. Saddle lock bolt and saddle gib
screws.
The gib for the saddle is located on the bottom of the back edge of the slide (Figure 54). The ten- sion on this gib is maintained by four set screws with jam nuts. By loosening the jam nuts and tightening the set screws, the gib will tighten. Loosening the set screws will loosen the gib. The gib strip is properly adjusted when a slight drag is detected while moving the apron. Do not over tighten.
It is important the four set screws are tightened evenly. When tightening the jam nuts, hold the set screw in position with a hex wrench.
Bearing Preload
This lathe is shipped from the factory with the spindle bearing preload adjusted. If the spindle ever develops a bit of
Adjusting the bearing preload requires using a spanner wrench or a punch and hammer. You can either purchase the spanner wrench at a tool store or fabricate one, using the diagram shown below in Figure 55.
Figure 55. Spanner wrench diagram. To adjust the preload:
1.Run the lathe for 20 minutes on high speed to bring the lathe to a normal temperature.
2.DISCONNECT THE LATHE FROM THE POWER SOURCE!
3.Remove the chuck, shift the spindle to neu- tral, then remove the outboard spindle cover (Figure 56).
Outboard
Spindle
Cover
| Figure 56. Outboard spindle cover. |
G4003G Gunsmith's Lathe |