Has anyone modified the X axis like the new patriots?

[willio]

I would love to have the handle of the X axis on the front of the machine like the new patriots. I have the Tri Power.

Had anyone done this?

[instructor37]

Originally Posted by willio I would love to have the handle of the X axis on the front of the machine like the new patriots. I have the Tri Power. Had anyone done this?

We have the Patriots with front mounted handle- its a pretty straightforward design. There is an angle bracket that bolts to the gearbox which holds the handle. The Handle shaft has ball thrust bearings on each side and a helical gear on the end. There is a helical gear on the lead screw as well. The mounting bracket has milled slots for the mounting bolts so you can adjust the gear mesh. Not sure what your configuration is, but it looks like all you would need to make this is the angle, the handle and shaft, 2 thrust bearings and a set of helical gears.

[TomB]

I've looked at the picture of the Patriot and see that one handle is moved from the right end to the table. Is that the handle for the x or y feed? (I define x to be parallel to ways.)

I find that turning the handles on my TriPower when I'm turning small parts or milling on the headstock side of a part is a real pain. As such I mostly use the power feed while watching the DRO but I would like to do more with the cranks.

I've thought about adding two extra cranks that would gear drive the drive screews but in my thinking I've only figured out how they could be attached to the drive screws as they come out of the headstock. As such they would not move with the table and not be effective when milling so I've not detailed the idea.