-38-
G4003G Gunsmith's Lathe
Saddle Gib and Saddle Lock, see Figure 54
The saddle is supplied with a square head bolt
on the front right hand side of the slide. This bolt
is used to lock the saddle in place for increased
rigidity when making face cuts. Before making
adjustments to the saddle gib, make sure that this
bolt is loose by turning it counter clockwise.
It is important that the gib be properly adjusted.
A loose gib will cause finish problems in a
workpiece. A gib adjusted too tightly will cause
premature wear.
Figure 54. Saddle lock bolt and saddle gib
screws.
Saddle Lock
Bolt
The gib for the saddle is located on the bottom of
the back edge of the slide (
Figure 54). The ten-
sion on this gib is maintained by four set screws
with jam nuts. By loosening the jam nuts and
tightening the set screws, the gib will tighten.
Loosening the set screws will loosen the gib. The
gib strip is properly adjusted when a slight drag
is detected while moving the apron. Do not over
tighten.
It is important the four set screws are tightened
evenly. When tightening the jam nuts, hold the set
screw in position with a hex wrench.
Figure 55. Spanner wrench diagram.
Bearing Preload
This lathe is shipped from the factory with the
spindle bearing preload adjusted. If the spindle
ever develops a bit of end-play and the workpiece
finish suffers, you can adjust the bearing pre
-
load to remove the end-play and improve the
workpiece finish.
Adjusting the bearing preload requires using a
spanner wrench or a punch and hammer. You
can either purchase the spanner wrench at a tool
store or fabricate one, using the diagram shown
below in
Figure 55.
To adjust the preload:
1. Run the lathe for 20 minutes on high speed to
bring the lathe to a normal temperature.
2. DISCONNECT THE LATHE FROM THE
POWER SOURCE!
3. Remove the chuck, shift the spindle to neu-
tral, then remove the outboard spindle cover
(Figure 56).
Figure 56. Outboard spindle cover.
Outboard
Spindle
Cover
