Setting of compound angle on top slide of Grizzly/Seig C2 mini-lathe

[steamboat willie]

Hello! Like many others on this 'ere Forum I have a Seig C2 mini-lathe. It is good in many ways, but one of the most irritating features of it is the location and alteration of the setting (angle) of the topslide. This involves winding the cross-slide right out to expose two otherwise hidden allen screws that serve to lock the compound at the required angle. These are loosened, the compound slide moved to the required angle, allen screws tightened, then cross slide refed onto the top slide. It just strikes me as a very messy way to do it.
Has anyone had any ideas on how to improve the used friendliness of this aspect of the C2?
As an aside, the locking nut on the tailstock also irritated me, and I made a very successful mod to increase the ease of using the machine many times over. It was virtually non-invasive, only involving 4 small M3 holes to be drilled and tapped to hold a bracket on the top of the tailstock. My execution is not all that pretty, but it is function rather than the Vogue Machine International Award of the Year that I was after. It is so easy to use now.
Thanks, and a happy new year to all.
Bill
Canberra, Australia
(its the island just to the left of New Zealand).

 

[moerman]

Bill,
I've modified my topslide by drilling two big holes from the top so I can reach the hidden allen screws. Much easier! But this also involves removing part of the gib strip and dovetail. For the rest I added two gib screw holes and made a brass gib strip. The latests mod I made (today) was making 6 locking screws for the gib strip adjustment. These are screws which are run through a strip of nylon so they don't turn by themselves. So it is the screw equivalent of locking nuts. My own design and I feel very smart now! I can show you some pics if you want.

Wout

 

[steamboat willie]

Hello Wout!
Many thanks for your reply. I can envisage the solution that you have described, but I would be grateful if you could post a picture or two of the modification. I am presuming that the modification did not require the change from steel to brass gibbs, but that was something you did having the opportunity to do so - am I correct?
Many thanks again for your reply and assistance.
Happy New Year to you !
Cheers!
Bill.

 

[moerman]

I've taken pictures, but my PC won't behave and I can't get them from my camera. So that has to wait.
You are right that the switch to a brass gib strip was a separate upgrade and not related to the other improvements.
Today I replaced the knuckle buster allen screw on the top slide handle for a low profile screw with a traditional slot. Turning the handle is much more comfortable now. The only improvement I want to do is adding a ball bearing.

 

[moerman]

OK, I restarted my PC and now it seems to behave normally.

In the first picture you see the modified top slide. The self locking bolts are in a strip of nylon(?) from a wide tie wrap. I drilled 3.5 mm holes and just slightly tapped a M4 thread in it so the screws would engage in the strip. The screws itself are turned in the lathe to get a 45 degree tip. The tips are not super sharp but in the third picture you see that they leave a dimple in the brass.

On the top surface of the top slide you see the holes for loosening the bolts which keep the angle of the top slide. There are two other holes, temporarily plugged with two screws. These are for mounting a vertical slide but I prefer to put the vertical slide on the compound slide because of the extra rigidity.

Also visible are the lower profile screw for the handles.

The top slide is now almost rigid and definitely a lot better than it was. But it still is a compromise between a souple sliding action and a rigid tool mount. When I apply pressure to the tool I can just see movement of the oil film in the dovetail.

Wout

 

[steamboat willie]

Hello Wout!
Many thanks for going to the trouble that you have in taking and posting the photos. They are as good as your description! I will investigate this mod further for my machine.
It seems to be, along with the absence of a saddle lock, quite a major design oversight on such a popular lathe. I googled the lathe and any mods that had been made and posted about what I was contemplating doing, and was amazed by the number, detail and quality of the suggestions and refinements that this little machine has been subjected to. It obviously hit a spot in the market for owners who had the desire and abilities to improve their initial purchase.
Wout - you are a champion Sir!
Thankyou for your inspiration and kind assistance.
Cheerio for now!
Bill.

 

[steamboat willie]

Wout,
Following your advice I have successfully removed another of the design irritations of the C2 lathe. I drilled two holes and gave the gibb a bit of a nudge and it has all worked out fine. I even got carried away and made a special tool - a 3/16" allen key protruding from a knurled aluminium handle - that makes the angle changing operation quite seamless!
Many thanks for your help, advice and pictures.
Having amended the tailstock (with a rather provincial affair, shown elsewhere on this Forum), made a saddle lock, and now addressed the issue of the ease of altering the topslide angle, all that remains (at the moment...) for me to do is to equip the lathe with digital readout. Kits are sold for this, but they fit the cross slide and the topslide, and not the X axis of the lathe. I would find this arrangement rather annoying, as it would limit the use of the full capacity of the lathe.
I was surprised too to find that I was not the only sod who had a lathe with an unreadable tailstock scale. I had thought over all the intervening years that I was just unlucky, but on reading more about the C2 it was a problem with all of them, generating several solutions to its resolution. (Guess what's next on the list...!). I wonder whether the manufacturers were ever made aware of this failing in production?
Thanks again for your help Wout - it has been much appreciated!
Cheers!
Bill.