I have just modified my portable demonstration Rose Engine lathe by installing a new cross-slide on it. I got the cross-slide from Arthur Kingdon, the President of the Society of Ornamental Turners as he no longer needed it. It needed a new lead screw which I got from Arc Euro Trade at a very reasonable price. I had to mill off two lugs from the bottom of the cross-slide to allow it to sit flush to the base of the lathe. I mounted it on a piece of 16mm aluminium plate that slides along the lathe bed and can be clamped at any position along the bed. I 3D printed two handles one for the compound and one for the cross-slide as they were missing. I fitted a quick change tool post that I had spare, I machined a new inner sleeve for this as the one that came with it was poorly finished and didn’t fit well. I made some test cuts on some scrap wood using both a drilling frame and a universal cutting frame that I already had for this lathe. The cuts came out very well with the cross-slide being much more rigid than the Proxxon cross-slide that it replaced. The new cross-slide has, however, increased the weight of the lathe and so will be removed when the lathe is moved to demonstration locations.
