Colchester CNC 350 gib adjustment?

[Alfonzo]

Hi all,

Not a Tornado, but forerunner..


1991 Colchester CNC 350. Had a little 'accident' last week resulting in the tool turret out of alignment to the head. Nothing really serious, but needs adjustment. We slackened off the bolts to swing adjust the turret back into square with the machine, and in the process of doing so noticed that the saddle had so much play on the x axis slideway that it rocks a bit from left to right. I dug the manual out and discovered there's a screw to tighten up the gib plate which I duly did, it seems to have helped but there's still a bit of play - is this normal for CNC lathes? should any movement be absolutely minimal, or would you expect a little?

Although old, the machine has been working pretty well to date.

Any advice gratefully received.

Cheers all.

[Andreas_H]

You can tighten the saddle play screw real tight. If you have a x axis play after doing so, its probably the x-axis bearings. No big deal. I am about to change these bearings on my machine soon.