Subject: Tailstock turrets - any opionions?

From: [email-masked] (Skarsaune)
Date: 23 Sep 1996 22:09:12 -0400

I've been looking for ways to reduce tool-change time on low volume
parts on 
my manual lathe, and one thing I saw in a Grizzly Imports ad and also in
the
Penn Tool catalog was a beast called a Tailstock turret - basically a 6
position
round turret mounted on a Morse Taper shank.
  Any body have any experience with one of these? Are they worthwhile?
My main concern would be the indexing accuracy from one tool to the next.

Thanks in advance,
Chuck

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From: [email-masked] (PnP Nolan)
Date: 24 Sep 1996 23:47:22 -0400

>My main concern would be the indexing accuracy from one tool to the next.

I bought one from Grizzly and if you want it then pay $20 and the freight
and it is yours. The indexing is reasonably accurate and repeatable but
the tooling must be held in the six holes with adapters you need to make
yourself.

These holes range in tolerance from .623 to .628. This means you need a
seperate adapter for each of the six holes unless you are happy with 0.005
offset when clamping the set screws up.

The worst problem I encountered with it was that it was not 'on center'
with the spindle. 

It is a real pain in the ass to align the rotaional positioning so that
you can actually index the thing around without hitting the saddle or the
bed ways. Often I had to slide the tail stock off the end of the bed,
index to the next position and then repeat for each tool. Toooooo hard.

As well as all of that,  it was not very rigid as it hangs out a long way
>from  the tailstock.

Make my day and send me the $20+ and I will even include four or five
adaptors I made for various things from #8 tapping drills to #F clearance.

Peter