Piece of 1&1/2" x 1/4" mild steel strip set up on my home made Aluminium multi-purpose jig/plate held in 4 jaw chuck.
The segment machined out.
Here is how the thing fits to give extra support to the front of the original clamp down plate.
The two support "feet" are silvered soldered on to the plate. I was going to have a one piece "foot" right across but the way I chose allows the plate to bend a little so as to follow the original hold down plate. Anyway it works out ok the way I have it. The studs and nuts just miss my added "nip-up" screws in the compound top slide.
Here it is with corners rounded. I have found that this plate does give extra support and thus reduces the flex of the whole compound. See my earier lathe page for the mods I did to attach the degree ring more substantially to the compound, if the degree ring is not attached very securely to the compound then this horseshoe plate would not achieve the desired results.
The next job that I am working on now is to increase the compound's travel by about 1.5" because I want to be able to machine No.2 Morse taper without having to do it in two bites. I have made a few this way on this lathe and it's a pain in the bum to get the taper just right.
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