The pictures were a great help! I see your problems and have a few solutions.
First of all I would call or E-Mail LMS about the holes that are not drilled and tapped and ask if they normally come with them ready to go. I would think that they should have been drilled and tapped for you. It wouldn't be to hard to do your self, but at $35.00 for the part your shouldn't have to. Also you will need the correct METRIC tap for the project which may cost you a trip to the hardware store if you don't have one on hand.
As for mounting the QCTP there are two ways to mount it.
The easiest is to buy a longer bolt and thread it into the compound rest. Looking at the LMS web site I see they offer two different versions of the compound rest top. I'm not sure which one you bought, but one is tapped with a 10M metric thread and the other is a 9/16-18 thread. It's hard to see in your pictures, but it looks like the hole is NOT already threaded on the compound rest top that you bought? If it's not you can drill and tap it to a size that will work but only if the hole is small enough other wise you will have to use the second method to mount it.
The second method is to make a stud similar to the one on your old compound that press fits from the bottom of the compound and is threaded on the top. The threads would stick out higher than the tool post and you could add a nut on top or make a custom threaded handle so you can tighten it with out having use a wrench.
I guess in the end, if it's not threaded on the top I would call LMS first and see if this is the best part to use, or if one of the other compound rest tops that they sell would work out better.
Dale P.  |