Can the HF 8X12 be made to have a 1" thru hole

[sunnyday]

or bigger, ?

[TroyO]

In short, I don't know.

But, I've been kind of curious about that myself. I would somewhat doubt it, but it may be possible to open the through hole up some in any case. I think you'll loose the ability to toss a MT3 dead center in the headstock if you open it up.

It's not that hard to determine, you'd just have to measure the main shaft of the headstock spindle and see how much over 1" is there at the thinnest point. If it's say 1.25 or more you might be in business. For some reason (And now I can't re-find the source) I want to say that the ID on the bearings is 35MM.... almost 1-3/8". So there may be just enough room?

Alternatley.... and probably how I would try it is to turn a whole new spindle from rough stock and see if I could find new bearings. Then I could swap out if I needed to.

[Zap]

The chuck on my 8x wont go to 1". There are some screws holding the back cover plate on the chuck along the inside diameter. They are in the way of getting to 1". Your chuck may be different tho. Take it completely apart and take some measurements of holes and depths. You will likely find, like I did, that those screw holes will kill your idea.

[Runner4404spd]

no you can't get a 1" through hole on these spindles. the largest i believe was .781 diameter.

[TroyO]

Interesting files on the Lathmaster Yahoo group..

Looks like someoen created a new spindle for the 8X lathe, with a threaded mounting flange for screw on chucks.
(You'll need to sign up for the group)

Here's a drawing, with dimensions

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lathem...tart=1&dir=asc

He lists 15/16ths +.01 (Which I figure to be .9475) as the through bore.... but I can't see on the drawing why that couldn't be bumped just a little?

And here's the album.. has shots of the original spindle, the replacement one, etc.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lathem...tart=1&dir=asc

[Twmaster]

The problem you have is that the outside diameter of the spindle is only 30MM You would be making the walls of the spindle dangerously thin (less than 2MM) IMHO.

[TroyO]

Actually the bearing journals are 35MM, if I read the diagram right. In theory, with some careful machining you could make the spindle shaft just under (say 34mm) in the non-bearing journal spots and have about 8MM of thickness.... not sure if that's really enough either but maybe by making it of an especially strong alloy?

You'd probably need another way of securing the pulleys and adjusting the bearings, I don't think you'd have a bunch left for threads at the end.