Tag: compound bolts

China Lathe Compound bolts strip like butter

Posted by on October 12, 2013

China strikes again… I kept getting massive chatter on the lathe, turns out the compound nuts were not gripping with enough force onto the cross slide, well… a bit of force with a combined wrench and they stripped. To the hardware store!

lathe_bolt_1

Not even grade 2… I’m willing to bet they turn these out of rebar they’ve found on the streets in China.

lathe_bolt_2

Comparing with the grade 8.8 I got as replacements for now, decided to go with a bigger size (next up) Since it fits, and bigger is always better.

lathe_bolt_3

However, milling of the sides was required… Since I don’t currently own a milling machine, I improvised with a drill press a small endmill and a vise, sliding the work back and forth until the sides were faced down enough to slide through the T slots.

Now I’ve got less chatter and I’m not afraid to crank on those bolts. I’m going to make a spare set just in case though. You never know! — It turns out these two little bolts will cripple your lathe should something happen to them…

My suggestion for other import lathe owners: Replace as many nuts and bolts as you can, it will improve your machine.

It’s time to turn some metal, cheers!