Change gears

[thesh111t]

Hello everyone, I'm new to this site. I have a few questions I hope you guys may be able to answer for me. I bought a new 8x12 (Or 8x14, depends on who does the measuring) lathe from Harbor freight last week. I know the 8x12 from Harbor freight is the same machine as the 8x14 sold my lathemaster, but the lathemaster unit comes with more odds and ends. I noticed that the lathemaster unit comes with change gears and the back gear. Does the lathe sold by Harbor freight also come with these gears? If it does in fact come with the same change gears as the lathemaster unit, how many gears are there and will I be able to make metric threads as well as inch threads? The metric stuff is not all that inportant to me at the moment, but may be in the future. Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you guys soon.

[Ed Boysun]

I assume you have ordered but not yet received your lathe.
The HF comes with the same assortment of gears as the other 8x14s do. Not sure what a back gear is?? It does have the reverse idler gear that enables left hand thread cutting. My lathe survived about two changes until the short threads on the gear spindles stripped out the threads in the head. I made a new spindle with longer threads and am in the process of making something a bit more elegant for changing feed directions.
Having a true inch lead screw, the HF can only approximate cutting real metric threads. I guess it comes close enough for most work though. Searching the web, I came up with a worksheet that someone put together that shows all the gear combinations and the thread pitches possible. There are many more than just those printed on the plate attached to the gear cover.
If you are concerned about the included accessories that come with the LM offering, I'd get on the toll-free number to HF parts and get this stuff ordered like I did:
Parts had the following accessories in stock and it took about a week to get them: Faceplate $12.42, Follow rest $16.57, Steady rest $17.63. 5" Four jaw chuck @ $58.50 is still on BO.
Ed

[thesh111t]

That is correct I ordered the lather, but it has not arrived yet. Thats what I was hoping to hear. I'm relived that the gears are included. I think I may have just stumbles upon the same spread sheet with all the gear combinations and threar pitches this morning. I'll be printing and lamination it for my "Shop".
This problem you had with the short threads in the gear spindle that eventally stripped out (Sooner rather then later), was it an easy fix to build a new spindle or was it something that was really involved? Can it be done with a lathe alone, or do I also need a mill (Because I don't have one...Yet)?
I have SOME machining experiance, but have not touched a lathe is about 8 years. And even when in my prime I would consider myself decent at best. Is there a link to a website that shows this stripped thread problem and it's fix? I am hoping to "Repair" all of the 8x14's weak points before they become a problem.
This is the first lathe that I have personally owned and wish to have it for many years to come. Is there any other weak points that you would recommend I look into taking care of on the 8x14? Your input has been greatly appreciated, thank you for taking the time to help a beginner. Talk to you soon... I hope.

[Ed Boysun]

See my post on the "Reverse Gear" in this thread:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26537
I am a complete rookie with a lathe and the pic is the beginning stages of the spindle I made. Basically just the same thing HF supplied, only more threads. I just ran a tap further into the headstock that cleaned up the bad threads and made more. I cheated and just used a die to cut the threads on my new spindle.
I am currently in the process of using the short thread original spindle that I replaced to make the improved version of the reverse gear deal. I'm taking pictures along the way and when I'm done, I'll post them and include a pic of the final state of the new improved long thread spindle. I did place an order for a gear and bearing so I will have a ball bearing gear for my mod. A guy could use the one supplied by HF, but it is just a bushing mounted gear and I feel more comfortable having a bearing on the gear, as it will always turn, albeit not under load.
Ed