Denford Software & Machines

I am thinking of getting a vertical milling slide for my Viceroy TDS 1/2 PCS. Can anyone help me with a few questions?

1. Could a vertical slid such as the one sold by Chronos be used on my lathe https://www.chronos.ltd.uk/acatalog/info%5fSVMS%2ehtml

2. If so how could I fit it? Does it go on the top slide or would I have to remove this and fit it to the cross slide?

3. Is it worth bothering or would I just end up with a second rate milling machine, bearing in mind that I am only making small parts with light milling requirements.

Many thanks for advice in advance.

Hywel

Hi Hywel,

Hevans wrote: 1. Could a vertical slide such as the one sold by Chronos be used on my lathe

Yes, it could, if you have a T-slotted Cross-slide.

2. If so how could I fit it? Does it go on the top slide or would I have to remove this and fit it to the cross slide?

The pukka Denford / Boxford / South Bend ones fit in place of the topslide - they have a spigot on the base with an angled groove so that the normal locking 'fingers' hold it in place. As mentioned above, the Chronos / Myford type are designed to fit using T-bolts in a slotted cross-slide.

Edit (25th Feb) - as pointed out below, the spigot on Denfords is the 'other way up' to those on Boxford / Southbend clones. So although they use the same principle they are not compatible.

3. Is it worth bothering or would I just end up with a second rate milling machine, bearing in mind that I am only making small parts with light milling requirements.

That all depends on a) how much space you have for a milling machine, b) how much you want to spend, c) how often you want to switch between turing and milling operations and how precious your time is.
Many excellent model steam locos, etc. have been built using just a lathe and vertical slide, but I know which option I prefer (and am fortunate enough to now have)!

Andy

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the reply.

My milling requirements are pretty small and space is a premium so the vertical slide should suffice for me.

As there are no t-slots on the cross slide I guess I would have to make some sort of adaptor plate unless I can get hold of a Viceroy compatible vertical slide. Does anyone know of a source for either of these?

There is a t-slot on the top slide where the toolpost goes but am I right in thinking that a vertical slide fitted on this would not be solid enough?

Many thanks

Hywel

Hi

I suggest you look for an old Boxford / Denford vertical slide. It is likely that the Boxford will fit the Denford.
I usually find it is better to buy good quality used tools than cheap new tools.

Hi Dazz

I agree, it is better to get decent second hand.

I have seen a Boxford advertised but can't see how this will fit on the Viceroy cross slide because it has a male spigot. Having looked at your strip down of your Viceroy there doesn't see to be a recess for the spigot in the top of the cross slide, or am I missing something?

Thanks

Hywel

Hevans wrote:Hi Dazz

I agree, it is better to get decent second hand.

I have seen a Boxford advertised but can't see how this will fit on the Viceroy cross slide because it has a male spigot. Having looked at your strip down of your Viceroy there doesn't see to be a recess for the spigot in the top of the cross slide, or am I missing something?

Thanks

Hywel

The Denford method of attaching the topslide to the cross slide is very similar to that used by Raglan, and Raglan copied the system used by the American Atlas lathe. Tony Griffiths suggests that an Atlas vertical slide will in fact fit a Raglan. I don't have my Raglan anymore, so can't check if the Denford and Raglan spigots are dimensionally identical. The original Boxford was supposed to be a Southbend, not an Atlas clone, and the photos on https://www.lathes.co.uk site show that on the Boxford, the spigot is on the topslide, or vertical side, fitting into a bore in the cross slide, the exact opposite of the Denford/Raglan/Atlas arrangement, so I don't think a Boxford vertical slide will readily fit a Denford.

According to the assembly drawings, the spigot projecting from the top of the cross slide is a separate component, not integral with the cross slide casting, and is retained by a Mills pin. I've just looked at my spare cross slide casting, and this is indeed so, but the Mills pin appears to have been inserted from one side only, so no way of getting it out to remove the spigot in order to fit a male vertical slide, without drilling the pin out, so Denford obviously didn't intend the spigot to be a removable item.

Richard

Hello

My Denford tool post is bolted into a wide T slot as seen here.
It makes it a versatile and rigid mount.
As far as I can tell, this looks identical to the Boxford.

I think the problem with fixing it on the topslide instead of the toolpost(which would be very easy), is that it would make the vertical very high relative to centreline, and I'd have doubts about how much useful milling could be done on it. A lot depends on the size and type of work the OP has in mind.
The Denford vertical slide looks to have been made to fit on the cross slide in place of the topslide, which would be quite a bit lower.

Hi

I just took the topslide off to check and there is a spigot protruding from the cross slide as you say, so the Boxford vertical slide would not fit.

From what I understand, the vertical slide needs to be extremely rigid for any serious atrempt at milling, so attaching it via the T-slots on the topslide might not be sufficient, but I may be wrong.

That leaves the options of either finding an old Viceroy vertical slide (unlikely) or making an adapter plate for the cross slide. I will investigate the latter option and report back.

Thanks for the advice.

Hi

OK, I see that the Boxford and Denford have different spigots on the bottom of the compound.

This link https://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=4171.0 is for a Boxford but you could apply the concept to making a boring table.
Denford did make a T-slot boring table for the Viceroy.

A shop made table came with my lathe viewtopic.php?f=14&t=457.
This one replaces the cross slide and allows the compound to be mounted on it. I don't use it because there is no angle scale for the compound. Something I mean to fix.

iv been looking at vertical slide arrangement for a while myself and found an old design which utilised the existing compound slide on a custom made bracket which bolted directly to the 'spigot' on the cross slide. seems the most solid method to me and allows the work to be held at almost any angle imaginable

https://www.vintageprojects.com/machine- ... -plans.pdf

although the original used a casting for the bracket, I don't see why it couldn't be made out of stock and either welded or bolted together


personally I decided to build a milling spindle with its own vertical adjustment and to hold the work piece in the chuck or on a face plate. not quite finished it yet as I ended up buying a mill !

heres a rough sketch of the original idea


and a quick cad drawing