Copy Attachment Project

Eric Patterson

Eric Patterson

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A few months back I had the idea of taking a few cross slides I scrounged up on ebay and making a copy attachment with them. The project isn't done but its getting there. The larger cross slide on the bottom is from a Hardinge tool room lathe and mounts 90 degrees to the way it would normally sit. I had a local machine shop make a dovetail base that allows it to be positioned on the bed. I still have to rig up a lever to allow the operator (me) to move it from left to right. The cross slide on top is off a Schaublin super precision lathe. It already has a lever that allows me to control the depth of cut. Mounted on it is a sweet little tool holder. I had a block machined that goes under it to bring the tool height to the lathe centerline.

Besides the bottom slide lever I need to make a stylus and a place to mount a half profile of the call I want to shape on the lathe. Most lathes use crank handles for cross slides and those are well suited to very small movement to achieve a specific diameter on metal stock. Levers on the other hand allow for rapid free motion and the stylus and template will guide them to the final shape. Ultimately I'll get repeatable call parts without CNC.

I won't have time to work on this set up until the fall but hope to complete it along with something else @Huntindave McCann and I have been brainstorming.

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P.S. I have totally revamped the lathe area of my workshop with a goal of getting tooling and accessories within arms reach. I was spending too much time walking all over the shop gathering stuff to work with and that has been eliminated. I'll get some pictures and post them.
 
Rick

Yes. With Dave's help the design is ironed out and I had a machinist make the cutter base. The next steps are to turn a barrel and insert and have them digitally mapped. A friend is helping me with this. Those files will go to another machine shop that has a milling station who will machine the cutters. This time of year I have so much hunting property and yard work I get pulled away from shop projects. But they are up there on the priority list and hopefully this fall I'll be back on them.
 
Eric Patterson said:
P.S. I have totally revamped the lathe area of my workshop with a goal of getting tooling and accessories within arms reach. I was spending too much time walking all over the shop gathering stuff to work with and that has been eliminated. I'll get some pictures and post them.
Click to expand...
While I was grabbing pictures of call-related stuff, I grabbed this photo of how I revamped last year to get things close at hand. The biggest win was putting turning tools above me. This decision was somewhat accidental and a result of not having enough space to the side - but the result is that I can easily see tool edges and pick the right one. The slanted shelf below the lathe, with small angle brackets, serves to hold active tools when I'm switching back and forth (eliminated my bad habit of resting such tools on the lathe bed... and knocking them off).

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Henry

There is some striking similarity between your set-up and mine. Your sandpaper rack is one item I totally missed in my shop. I don't know why I didn't think to relocate it from the sand paper drawer to near the lathe. That escaped me but now I know.
 
I love seeing other people's shops and setups - a learn ways to improve mine nearly every time.
Eric Patterson said:
Henry

There is some striking similarity between your set-up and mine. Your sandpaper rack is one item I totally missed in my shop. I don't know why I didn't think to relocate it from the sand paper drawer to near the lathe. That escaped me but now I know.
Click to expand...
 
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