Mini Lathe compound angle adjustment modification

My solution for the annoying mini lathe compound slide angle adjustment problem.
Changing the compound slides angle on the mini lathe is incredible time-consuming and annoying. You have to wind the compound slide back and forth to reach the screws underneath the top of the compound slide.
There are some ways out here to get rid of this problem, but none I found satisfying enough. Some just drilled holes in the top part of the compound, to reach the screws at a certain position through the compound, some clamped from the side and lose the little rest of rigidity the compound has, some built a complicated lever mechanism.
I wanted to keep things simple (which does not mean, it's fast to built) and decided to copy "real" lathes and go for a bolt and nuts instead of screws for clamping and mill slots into the compounds base for reaching the nuts from the side.
This way I can clamp the compound in any position easily and maintain hopefully as much rigidity as possible.

Keep in mind, due to very limited resources, I have to improvise a lot and go unconvenient ways which may upset some of the "real machinists" out here.
Hope - with some creativity - in the end come to good resoults anyway.

Hope you enjoy. Feel free to like and subscribe to the channel. Thank you!

[ThisIsToolman]

I watch a lot of machining projects showing how to build this, that, and the other. Invariably they use their CNC knee mill. The average DIY guy doesn’t have a mill so the DIY is limited to the 1% that does have a mill. That’s why I like this guy. He uses a drill press, a hacksaw, a file, a piece of emery cloth, and his mini lathe. Most of us watching this probably have that.

[Sally]

I know this is an old video, but I gotta say….you are the MASTER of thinking outside the box! I mean, who else here would consider dismantling their drill press to make a jig from those parts?!

[richkellow]

I think both you and me know how satisfying a deep clean can be no matter how long we put it off.

[robhillman]

You've done it again!!! Elegant simplicity, I have seen other videos which seem to overcomplicate this modification whereas yours is straightforward but very effective😊, regards, Rob.

[NilsJakobson]

This certainly is one of the best mini lathe improvement videos I have seen so far in my entire life. I am looking forwards to doing this mod for my pos lathe.

[rbmustang]

You have addressed many issues everyone who owns one of these lathes has to suffer with. I will be doing all the upgrades that you have done to my lathe. Thanks for sharing your fine work.

[joegrech]

It is people like you that I admire, not those with millions worth of CNC equipment, keep it up, time and imagination is all you need in this trade, and to learn from your mistakes, when you create something with the minimum of tools, the satisfaction if far greater,

[gjkozy]

Now you have a easy to set compound and a trued drill press table. Clever idea using the table and the project came out looking beautiful.

[BeaverInATie]

Its amazing to see what you are capable of with a more average man's workshop. Keep up the good work!

[Alwr]

I’ve just done this. It’s the best mod I have done so far. I didn’t loctite the studs because I need to remove them to set up the milling slide and my ball turning tool. Thanks for the tutorial. 👍

[ferrumignis]

Using your bench drill table as a vertical table is really ingenious! Hopefully it's stiffer than the table on mine, which has the rigidity of a wet noodle.

[knightrideruk]

Why didn't I think of that, you have solved a major fault on the mini lathe will be modifying mine this week end. I do have a mill which will make things easier. One thing I will do is engrave degree markings straight onto the top slide with a CNC router. Well done excellent work.

[danielabbey]

Excellent solution to the problem, Sir! And extra points for doing all of the milling on the lathe. I've never seen anyone use a drill press table as an angle plate before.

[girliedog]

What a perfect solution and what courage you have to mill your drill press table on your mini lathe, WOW!

[JoseSilveira-newhandleforYT]

That is the best solution I've seen so far. Hats off to your creativity!

[rainbowuunicorn]

First time i subscribe so fast. We need people like you. Please continue to do what you doing because i get the feeling u jumped directly in champions league.

[Sternhammer]

Excellent Mod - I am a very new machinist and I think it's great that half the jobs you want to do, you end up having to make tools for :-)

[eCitizen]

Nice modification. I especially like the way you cut your slot.

[MykytaKozlov]

Well done, got an inspiration from you to do the same to mine 7x tailstock and compound angle! The things I am thinking about are: 1) based on your experience I'd rather remove most of iron by drilling several holes of 2-3 mm diameter by pattern to some precomputed depth, and then use cutting mill to clean that up; 2) you've been using DTI to align center of mill, but, if have more time to fiddle with DTI and 4jaw chuck - I'd rather check that mill tooth are aligned, to make it cut in 'uninterrupted' way.

[drjwrg]

Great video and many thanks for thinking this mod out. I have now completed this mod but, with some minor changes that may be helpfull for others. I used 50mm x 3mm x 13mm slitting saw (cost £6.95 from ebay). I have a cheap vertical slide milling attachment that mounts on the cross slide and that just managed to accommodate milling the compound slide. I frequently unmount my compound slide and fit a solid billet for the tool holder therefore I could not have two 6mm studs permanently in the cross slide. The compound must attach using hex head set screws. On the existing design, if the two brass plugs are dispensed with you will find that a 6mm hex head set screw will pass through the holes that the brass plugs were in thus allowing the use of set screws. In addition if a saw draft is cut in the set screw heads for a flat end screw driver installation of the compound will be much easier.