Mini Lathe Carriage Gibs and Travel Handle Improvement

[jjr2001]

Similar to other mods of the Mini Lathe carriage gibs. I used 3/4" wide by 5/16" thick brass stock 6" long
to make the new gibs. Simple attachment using the original retaining bolts. I machined them to be undersize
and then used brass shim stock to get the proper fit with the screws snugged up. I have adjusted them once
since installing them. (about 2 years). All that was needed was to increase the tightness of the bolts.
With the added 2 inches in length over the standard gibs the carriage is less likely to lift or tilt. So far I like the
mod and find that my carriage is much more rigid than before the mod.
I still have to remove the carriage to adjust them but that is an easy process.

The carriage Handle: Previously I had replaced the plastic handle with steel which was nice but now, same as before but worse, the off balanced handle would cause a "jump" in the carriage travel when using the lead screw to move the carriage. This causes a flaw in the finish as the part is turned. To prevent this I added another steel handle to balance the first one and now the carriage moves smoothly. I like the extra handle for control of the carriage. My finish is now much better than it was prior to the mod.

Cheers, JR