The cross slide is a large and heavy item and clearly not part of the original lathe - its just too big. however it is a solid piece of work and probably worth saving. The poor quality picture below shows its original configuration - complete with tool holder.

The cross slide was easy enough to remove and certainly needed a thorough clean. The cross slide was attached to the saddle by 4 very mismatched screws - but the holes in the saddle seem to be tapped 2BA. I hope to replace these screws and maybe I’ll retap them M5 which is only fractionally larger than 2BA - but much easier to find screws for nowadays.

The centre screw is a right hand thread just like the Wizard lathe - but unfortunately due to the way its constructed the handle moves the other way to get the slide to advance. The centre screw looks to be a good quality ACME or square thread type but is so badly worn it will need replacing. I’d like to use 1/2” x 20 tpi UNF threaded rod. This would give the same rate of feed as the one on the Wizard lathe but with a more heavy duty rod. However I’ll probably have a go using M8 threaded rod as although 8mm is somewhat less than 1/2” - the thread pitch is similar at 20.32tpi

Initially I just cleaned, lubricated and remounted the cross slide - but now I’ve completely stripped it down to replace the centre screw. I may also add a pair of gear wheels to change the direction of motion on the handle to make it the same as the Wizard lathe.

All text and images Copyright © 2000-2008 Roland Givan, unless otherwise stated. All Rights Reserved. Game artwork copyright their respective publishers.

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