Sherline Lathe Saddle Lock

Sherline Lathe Saddle Lock

The first order of business is to drill and tap the saddle skirt. The #21 drilled hole must be 0.3" from the left edge of the saddle and 0.2" from the bottom edge of the skirt. The obvious location for the hole is 0.2" from the left edge of the skirt but a hole there ends up under the clamp screw of the follower rest, not a desirable situation.

Note that the photos show the hole in the obvious location rather than the correct one. I did not have a follower rest at the time I made this mod. I've since had to plug the hole and redrill as described above so I could use my new follower rest.

Drilling the hole is not difficult but the hole must be clean and square. Remove the cross slide from the saddle and the saddle from the lathe before drilling. The photo at right shows the saddle clamped in the Sherline Mill Vise for drilling. Mark and center punch the hole and use a guide or a drill press to make sure the hole is square. Now tap the hole for the 10-32 cap screw. Reassemble the saddle and cross slide to the lathe.

Start work on the lock shoe by sawing off a 1/2" peice from a 1/2" square bar of either aluminum or brass. Chuck this piece in the 4-jaw chuck and face off three sides to obtain a 0.4" x 0.4" x 0.4" cube. This will be a perfect (slightly loose) fit between the saddle skirt and the lathe bed. Now, using a file, or a mill, cut the face reliefs (see drawing). This is probably not necessary but I didn't want the cube to bear on the lathe bed dovetail and besides a plain cube is pretty boring.

Use a cup-pointed set screw to mark the hole on the saddle lock shoe. Hold the shoe in position under the saddle skirt and clamp with the cup pointed set screw to mark. Remove the shoe and chuck it in the 4-jaw chuck. Using a tailstock center as reference, center the set screw mark in the chuck. Now center drill and then drill 0.28" deep with a #10 drill. This is the socket for the 10-32 clamp screw.

Holding the shoe in position under the saddle skirt, secure it with a 3/4" long 10-32 cap screw into the socket. Tighten the screw to lock the saddle or loosen it for normal operation. The Saddle Lock will have to be removed to use the follower rest.

5-11-05