Chuckguard Switch for mini lathe - how does it fit together?!

[HankMcSpank]

I bought a lathe which had been in part dismantled by the seller... getting it back together & working again has been quite a journey...the PCB was completely blown, no replacement available until late September (& costly at that!) so I hacked a different board to work in its place...thankfull it all works.

The replacement PCB has the facility for an 'inhibit' input - perfect to wire in the chuckguard switch onto. I've since done exactly that & it all works...ie when the switch is open, the lathe won't start, when I depress the switch it starts fine.

My problem is, that for the life of me, I can't see how this actual chuckguard switch can be activated - like I say it is the original but was lying loose in a box of parts...the screw holes are placed such that if I 'follow their lead', then there's no obvious 'cam' or protruding bit on the guard to activate the switch.

The lathe happens to be a Sieg C2 Model 300, but I understand that this is identical to the following lathes...

03911 Homier 7x12 Mini Lathe
33684 Harbor Freight 7x10 Mini Lathe
93212 Harbor Freight 7x10 Mini Lathe
5278 Cummins 7x12 Mini Lathe
82500 Micro-Mark 7x12 Mini Lathe
82710 Micro-Mark 7x14 Mini Lathe
G8688 Grizzly 7x12 Mini Lathe

(the list isn't meant to be exhaustive, I'm sure there must be others identical too.)

here's what my lathe looks like...

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.a...sfile=1&jump=0 (if you click on the 'enlarge photograph with that link you can get some cloesups)


& here's a close of what I've got parts wise for the chuckguard switch...

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/5535/switchb.jpg

(the switch is on the left - with the lever facing camera...it looks like it's meant to go into that housing below...but if it does, I can't see anything that would then activtae it...in fact no matter where I put it, I can't see will activate it!)


Would anyone with a similar lathe be so kind as to take a photo of the chuckguard switch assembly which might assist me figure out how this thing is meant to be mounted/activated.

Many thanks

[ibuildstuff4u]

Perhaps there is a part missing that activates the switch? I use to have this lathe but didn't use the chuck cover. It just got in the way so I removed it and left the safety switch in the on position.

Have you tried looking for a parts break down for the 7X12 lathe? Grizzly or Little Machine Shop. Com may have one on their web site.

Good luck!

Dale P.

[ibuildstuff4u]

http://grizzly.com/images/partslists/g8688_pl.pdf

Here is a parts list from the Grizzly web site.

Dale P.

[Al_The_Man]

The switch is usually mounted to the lathe and an actuator plate is mounted on the end of the pivot arm.
It normally has an Allen screw to adjust the rotation point of contact with the switch.
As suggested, maybe someone had removed it?
Al.

[stick]

You're in luck! Mine just happens to be apart on my bench as I type! There is a little pin missing there in your pic. Look at the hole toward the bottom, upper right corner of the recess the switch fits into. there should be a little pin going through the housing, it contacts the round actuator plate next to the shield itself. There's a dimple hole in that round piece where the pin drops into when it's down in position. In your pic, you can see that dimple in the plate clearly, right next to the top of the switch housing. The switch is a normally closed type, and when the actuating pin drops into its dimple hole, it takes the pressure off the switch to let it close. Any time the shield is lifted, the pin pushes on the switch and opens the circuit. Sorry, but my parts breakdown in my manual doesn't even show the shield/switch assemble at all! The end of the pin that rides against the round part is rounded. If you really want to put it back in service I could measure my pin for you.

On my controller board, there is a green two hole terminal block that the switch wiring connects to.

I took my shield and the whole switch/arm mechanism off because it can't be used with the faceplate. The arm the plastic shield screws onto gets in the way. If you want to keep it intact, when it's in place and you need to move it, you can take the shield off the wiring and the whole assembly just comes off the lathe with two screws, move it out of the way as needed, and it's easy to put back on if/when you want to. it's not a bad idea for a newbie, as it pretty stops you from running the carriage into the chuck as well, when the shield is down. I found it annoying though because you can't get up close to the chuck with it in place. I left it intact when my daughter was learning, but now that she's gone it rests in a drawer.

Some of the safety features are just annoying to anyone with any experience at all. The other one that bothered me to no end was the spring on the chuck key. That found its way to the tailstock clamp about the second or third day I had the lathe.

[HankMcSpank]

Many thanks for taking the time to respond - I've still having difficulty visualizing it all.

I'll print out your description & have another look tomorrow (the lathe is on my loft & it's a bit of a hassle getting up there (it's late here in the UK now).

Many thanks once again.

[Twmaster]

As said there is a pin missing from the assembly. The first thing I did to my H-F lathe with that setup was to remove it.