Nice upgrades. One thing about those mastercraft calipers that I found out the hard way: as the battery gets low, the reading will be off… and not always by enough to be obvious.
Update: I’m currently experimenting with a removable handwheel on the end of the powerfeed leadscrew. If it works it will replace the idler wheel setup I currently have and I’ll upload a new video.
If you’re speaking of the handwheel, it didn’t work. It was not able to overcome the 43:1 ratio to the powerfeed drive pulley, so I put a handle directly on the drive pulley instead. It’s slow but it does the job when I need it.
Thanks Rusty, I never heard of your channel before but I’m subscribed now. I haven’t uploaded in a while but I have a bunch of pics and video ready to edit. I love the workbench but not so much the video editing! Lots has happened in my shop since my last video so stay tuned.
The caliper has less travel than the lathe’s carriage so it would limit the movement of the carriage. Some day I’ll probably replace it with a 12” caliper or a cheap dro. Even in its current state it is very handy and I use it often, and I like that it required minimal modification to the lathe.
Sorry, no prints or plans, I made it from scraps using an extra pulley and two small sealed bearings from an RC truck. I found a piece of aluminum that served as a bearing carrier after some lathe work, then I turned an aluminum shaft to fit the bearings and pulley. I attached it where I could drill mounting holes and the belt had enough tension.
@@pedwardm Thanks for the reply. It certainly is a nice & useful design. I'm surprised Taig doesn't offer a kit like this or someone else. They figure just use the manual feed instead. Mike G
That was my original intention, but after using it as it is, I decided it wasn’t worth the extra work - I even looked around for appropriate magnets and bracket material. I will probably improve upon the setup in the future by just adding a cheap amazon DRO at the back of the lathe.
I attached an aluminum mounting plate with two 3mm screws up into the bottom edge of the headstock. The plate sticks out about 30mm and the caliper head is attached to it with two 3mm screws into threaded holes in the steel frame of the caliper head. I have since replaced the caliper with a small DRO and the head unit of the DRO mounts where the caliper used to.
Seems we gain and lose with a Taig vs an eBay chinese one. I see no drip plate, or back board, no gears, less HP, etc... on the Taig. What is the advantage of a Taig over one of those Chinese eBay metal mini lathes?
I bought a Chinese lathe from Little Machine Shop two years ago and have had nothing but fantastic service from it. It is the 8.5" x 20" size which I highly recommend.
@@generalawareness101 I understand the room thing. It has to fit where it has to fit. I was lucky enough to take over the garage so have lathe and mill both out there. LMS is more expensive, but they do pretty extensive quality control that I wanted. I got upgraded bearings and a several other things I wanted including more power.
Nice upgrades. One thing about those mastercraft calipers that I found out the hard way: as the battery gets low, the reading will be off… and not always by enough to be obvious.
Some useful upgrades! Nice brass knob too!
How much I love simple, but helpful ideas.
Good to see another Taig user on TH-cam! Your setup is really nice.
Update: I’m currently experimenting with a removable handwheel on the end of the powerfeed leadscrew. If it works it will replace the idler wheel setup I currently have and I’ll upload a new video.
Please inform the dealer/distributor of Taig lathe, in Indonesia
If you’re speaking of the handwheel, it didn’t work. It was not able to overcome the 43:1 ratio to the powerfeed drive pulley, so I put a handle directly on the drive pulley instead. It’s slow but it does the job when I need it.
Just found your channel and Subscribed. Nice lathe
Thanks Rusty, I never heard of your channel before but I’m subscribed now. I haven’t uploaded in a while but I have a bunch of pics and video ready to edit. I love the workbench but not so much the video editing! Lots has happened in my shop since my last video so stay tuned.
@@pedwardm Thank you. Yes the editing is a pain. He he.
Great ideas!
hi the Little idler is a very good upgrade, bye
Could you have added an extension to your caliper so that it would work both ways?
The caliper has less travel than the lathe’s carriage so it would limit the movement of the carriage. Some day I’ll probably replace it with a 12” caliper or a cheap dro. Even in its current state it is very handy and I use it often, and I like that it required minimal modification to the lathe.
Hi there: liked your carridge idler setup. Do you have a print for that? Other mod.'s were good also. Thanks
Sorry, no prints or plans, I made it from scraps using an extra pulley and two small sealed bearings from an RC truck. I found a piece of aluminum that served as a bearing carrier after some lathe work, then I turned an aluminum shaft to fit the bearings and pulley. I attached it where I could drill mounting holes and the belt had enough tension.
@@pedwardm Thanks for the reply. It certainly is a nice & useful design. I'm surprised Taig doesn't offer a kit like this or someone else. They figure just use the manual feed instead. Mike G
could you just add a small magnet to the carriage so it grabs the caliper so it works both ways until it runs out of travel it would just let go?
That was my original intention, but after using it as it is, I decided it wasn’t worth the extra work - I even looked around for appropriate magnets and bracket material. I will probably improve upon the setup in the future by just adding a cheap amazon DRO at the back of the lathe.
Great video, thanks for sharing
How did you attach the Mastercraft caliper to the lathe?
I attached an aluminum mounting plate with two 3mm screws up into the bottom edge of the headstock. The plate sticks out about 30mm and the caliper head is attached to it with two 3mm screws into threaded holes in the steel frame of the caliper head. I have since replaced the caliper with a small DRO and the head unit of the DRO mounts where the caliper used to.
Nice!
Seems we gain and lose with a Taig vs an eBay chinese one. I see no drip plate, or back board, no gears, less HP, etc... on the Taig. What is the advantage of a Taig over one of those Chinese eBay metal mini lathes?
I bought a Chinese lathe from Little Machine Shop two years ago and have had nothing but fantastic service from it. It is the 8.5" x 20" size which I highly recommend.
@@brianmoore1164 No room even for a 16 inch. LMS is pretty expensive too.
@@generalawareness101 I understand the room thing. It has to fit where it has to fit. I was lucky enough to take over the garage so have lathe and mill both out there. LMS is more expensive, but they do pretty extensive quality control that I wanted. I got upgraded bearings and a several other things I wanted including more power.
I sent my Chinese lathe back and bought one of these instead.
@@alanmcnew5376 Sorry for your loss on this one.