Tailstocks

VB Manufacturing, Phoenix House, Tern Hill, Market Drayton, Shropshire, TF9 3PX
TEL: FAX: E-Mail:
+44 (0)1630 637375 +44 (0)1630 637377 sales@hegner.co.uk

Tailstocks


	The VB can be fitted with either the "Standard" or "Short Bed" tailstock assemblies. Both are designed with offset beds so as to impede the natural stance of the turner as little as possible. With either tailstock in use, the

turner can stand directly in front of the work (that is, facing the spindle nose) and manipulate tools right into the centre of the turning axis without bending or stretching. The important features of the respective assemblies are described below.

The standard tailstock gives a 30"/750mm by 26"/650mm Ø capacity and operates on the same principle as a conventional centre-lathe tailstock with a tailstock body that slides along a fixed bed. As with the VB's shortbed version, the complete assembly is designed to provide unobstructed tool-paths for virtually 180º access to the "turning" side and ends of the work. Even the turret lever that operates the tailstock quill is a "pop-out" design that can be removed to give clear access alongside the tailstock body. To make use of the VB's full 2 metre swing, the complete bedbar, tooltray and outer support leg structure can be removed or re-fitted in about twenty minutes.
Pin-point alignment of the centres is set and maintained very simply by adjustment of the bed-bars. The75mm Ø upper bar, which carries the main load, is machined with a cam-form that, when rotated, raises or lowers the tailstock body so that the point of the tail centre can be vertically aligned with the drive centre. The smaller diameter lower bar is also a cam that operates against a projection on the tailstock body casting to effectively move the tail centre horizontally. When adjusted for perfect centre alignment they are clamped to retain that setting.

Operation of the tailstock quill is through rack and pinion gears. Just four revolutions of the turret lever will advance the quill from retracted to fully extended, and vice versa. A scale is set into the side of the quill so that drilling depth can be very accurately monitored through the full 6" (150mm) travel of the assembly.

Order No.	Description	Ex. VAT	Inc. VAT
VB21(H)	Tailstock assembly for VB36(H) lathe, complete with tooltray and rubber mat.
VB21(L)	Tailstock assembly for VB36(L) lathe, complete with tooltray and rubber mat.


	Short Bed Tailstock:

	This is the most convenient option for turners primarily interested in bowl and hollow form turning. It provides a capacity of 24"/600mm between centres and a 27"/675mm diameter swing. Most notably, it can be parked out of the turning circle to restore the full 2Meter + swing of the lathe in a matter of seconds. Alternatively, it can be completely removed without the use of tools. When required, it can be just as simply and quickly be brought back into use with its centre alignment automatically retained.

Coarse adjustment of the tail-centre position to hold work of different lengths is made by sliding the complete bed-bar/tailstock assembly through its in-line mounting bores and clamping in the required position. Final adjustment is made using the Q.A. hand lever to advance or retract the tailstock quill in a single movement. This feature is useful for exploring alternative mounting centres by "nipping-up" a workpiece between centres, testing for balance, releasing and repositioning, etc. Once the desired working centres have been established, the work is held with appropriate pressure on the hand lever whilst the quill is clamped.
The Q.A. action is also convenient for rapid centre boring of a piece held on a chuck or faceplate. The quill has a 4"/100mm

travel effected in a single movement of the hand lever. To bore deeper than this, after the first 4" plunge has been made, the bit is wthdrawn and the tailstock assembly advanced a further 4" before repeating the boring process, etc.


	T o set the tailcentre in perfect alignment with the turning axis (a job that only has to be done once), the tailstock casting is fixed to the bed-bar by means of a twin taper (eccentric/concentric) block that enables vertical and lateral (cross-hair) adjustment of the tailstock position before it is clamped for "permanent" retention of the setting.


	The bar itself has a tapered keyway machined along its length which accepts a correspondingly wedge profiled detent pin to ensure that the alignment setting of the tailstock assembly is retained at any extension, or can be simply reinstated after the assembly has been swiveled down for parking.

Some of the machined components which go to make up the bed for the VB's "Shortbed Tailstock"




P articular attention has been paid to ensuring the rigidity of the tailstock bed to prevent the tailcentre from springing away from the lathe's true turning axis under compression. The 65mm bedbar is turned and ground from a high tensile steel tube to finish at a 12mm (½in) wall thickness. When assembled with the tailstock casting, a 16mm (5/8in) Ø steel rod is inserted to run through he length of the bedbar and strained to a very high tension by means of a cap and nut at the rear. This enables the assembly to absorb enormous dynamic forces without flexing.

Order No.	Description	Ex. VAT	Inc. VAT
VB-SBT	Short Bed Tailstock assembly

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HEGNER U.K.
Phoenix House, Tern Hill, Market Drayton, Shropshire, TF9 3PX, England.

SALES: +44 (0)1630 637375
TECHNICAL: +44 (0)1630 637376
FAX: +44 (0)1630 637377
E-Mail: sales@hegner.co.uk