Headstock Spindle Thread

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tony

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I have a Nova DVR 3000 which was purchased new in 2003. I bought this second hand from a club member, who has sadly passed away. There is some minor thread damage & I wondered what the best course of action would be. I may be wrong , but I think it's M33 x 3.5 RH. Thanks in advance. Cheers Tony.
 
The manual gives you three choices of thread size:

https://www.carbatec.com.au/documents/manuals/Nova/nova-dvr-3000-manual_mar-2005.pdf

If you are unable to discern the thread pitch using a ruler or calipers (measuring over as many threads as possible), you can buy a thread pitch gauge for £6.29 (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stainless-Thread-Imperial-Cutting-Measuring/dp/B08MT6KYVW) which will assist in that determination.

Posting a photo of the spindle would help us to give specific advice on solutions to your problem.

If the damage is minor and the thread is metric, a small triangular file can dress the threads better. At larger expense, a thread restorer file is better, but I am unable to locate one which offers 3.5mm pitch.
 
If, as you say, the damage is minor, I'd just try dressing the threads with a small triangular or thin file, or even with a set of needle files.
Possibly even a suitably shaped diamond sharpening tool which you could then use for little tool sharpening jobs around the workshop.
 
You can buy m33 x 3.5 dies for not much (or if you’re near Glos you can borrow mine!).
 
Aren't those lathes 1 1/4" x 8tpi? That may explain the thread damage!
I've just had a look at the lathe & you are correct , it is 1 1/4 × 8tpi. I don't know if the insert is the correct size as it came with the chuck. There doesn't appear to be any damage to the internal threads on the insert , but there is some damage to the spindle threads on the lathe.
 
If, as you say, the damage is minor, I'd just try dressing the threads with a small triangular or thin file, or even with a set of needle files.
Possibly even a suitably shaped diamond sharpening tool which you could then use for little tool sharpening jobs around the workshop.
I did try filing it with a small triangular file, but it hasn't solved the problem.
 
There is what looks like an L imprinted on the insert. Does this suggest that it's L/H or something else.

A left hand thread item would generally be used on an outboard spindle.

Have a look around at the various suppliers of inserts for the chuck. If no-one at all makes a left hand insert of the specific diameter and pitch that you have, yours is unlikely to be the only one in the world.

You can poke a softwood stick into the insert (as big as will fit), tap it sideways with a mallet so the threads imprint into it. Pull it out and look at it compared to a known RH male thread. If the imprints slope in the same direction, it is RH.

Take a photo of your spindle so we can advise on the damage.
 
A left hand thread item would generally be used on an outboard spindle.

Have a look around at the various suppliers of inserts for the chuck. If no-one at all makes a left hand insert of the specific diameter and pitch that you have, yours is unlikely to be the only one in the world.

You can poke a softwood stick into the insert (as big as will fit), tap it sideways with a mallet so the threads imprint into it. Pull it out and look at it compared to a known RH male thread. If the imprints slope in the same direction, it is RH.

Take a photo of your spindle so we can advise on the damage.
The Nova lathes do not have provisions for outboard turning, the headstock swivels. The shaft is more or less flush on the outboard end of the headstock and has an internal thread for a small hand wheel (if mounted) that also serves as a connection for vacuum chucking. I can stick my index finger in just past the finger nail. My highly precise measuring tool for holes.

Pete
 
The Nova lathes do not have provisions for outboard turning, the headstock swivels.

What relevance does the model of lathe have to the question asked by the OP?

He has a chuck, with a threaded insert in it, that possibly might be left hand thread (see post #11).
 
What relevance does the model of lathe have to the question asked by the OP?

He has a chuck, with a threaded insert in it, that possibly might be left hand thread (see post #11).
My apologies I felt that since the thread was about the Nova lathe and the tooling he got with it was pertinent.

For all anyone knows Larry might have stamped his initial into the insert to keep it from growing legs. Looks like it didn't work.

Going forward I'll refrain from commenting on anything you post.

Pete
 
What relevance does the model of lathe have to the question asked by the OP?

He has a chuck, with a threaded insert in it, that possibly might be left hand thread (see post #11).
It's a clarification that the lathe doesn't have outboard turning capability & therefore not a left hand thread.
 
It's not clear whether the chuck was bought with the lathe. Even if it was there's no guarantee it was used on it or even that it's possible for it to be used on it. The lathe not having an outboard turning facility would lead you to believe a chuck that came with probably isn't left hand threaded but that's surmise.
 
The Nova lathes do not have provisions for outboard turning, the headstock swivels. The shaft is more or less flush on the outboard end of the headstock and has an internal thread for a small hand wheel (if mounted) that also serves as a connection for vacuum chucking. I can stick my index finger in just past the finger nail. My highly precise measuring tool for holes.

Pete

That isn't so.

The NOVA range of lathes (NOVA Galaxi, XP, 1624 and 1624), can all use the NOVA outrigger.

The headstock swivels around, so will face outwards - you don't attach a chuck on the rear of the headstock spindle.

This was for the original grey coloured lathes - you'll see the headstock and outrigger positioned to turn a large platter:

https://www.teknatool.com/products/lathe-accessories/nova-outrigger-lathe-accessory-grey/

This is for the later black coloured lathes:

https://www.teknatool.com/products/lathe-accessories/nova-outrigger-lathe-accessory-black/

This link is to the outrigger manual:

https://www.teknatool.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/NOVA-Outrigger-Manual_Sept-26-2011.pdf

Our woodturning Club had a Nova DVRXP3000 bought new in 2008 which came with an outrigger.

When we bought it, we were concerned about the longevity and reliability of the rather complex motor and control gear being located in the headstock rather than a separate motor. Those fears were realised when the control board failed after ten years, rendering the lathe beyond economic repair. It had only been used 2 hours per month - 120 hours a year and only by professional demonstrators. The outrigger was never used as a 2-hour demonstration time doesn't give any scope, and the lathe itself will turn up to 16" diameter).

I had a Nova '1624' (16" diameter turning capacity, 24" between centres), which has the same legs, lathe bed and tailstock as the DVRXP, but an outboard 1.5HP motor and 8-speed pulley. That too could use an outrigger, but I neither wanted nor needed one.

As to spindle threads, the 1 1/4" x 8 thread was largely for the American Market, but when Nova were first marketed in the UK, they were also that thread. However, the standard throughout Europe became M33, and my '1624' was M33. I already had two Nova chucks which had 1 1/4" x 8 for my earlier lathe, with inserts for a 3/4" spindle of my previous lathe. I only discovered when I removed the inserts that the chuck wouldn't fit my 1624 lathe. You can't by an insert to convert a 1 1/4" chuck to fit 33 x 8 - it has to be an 'exert'. (This reduces the distance between centres of the lathe).

An M33 chuck will fit onto a 1 1/4" x 8 spindle (albeit slightly sloppy), but a 1 1/4" x 8 chuck won't fit an M33 spindle.

I've attached a pic of the 'exert' on my 1 1/4" x 8 Nova chuck to adapt it to the M33 spindle of my Nova 1644 lathe.

I've since sold that lathe as when turning things such a pens, which call for maybe three different speeds for turning, sanding and polishing, though belt-changing only took a couple of minutes, I found it a bit irksome so I bought a smaller lathe with variable speed control and 6" over the bed. (I only bought the 1624 initially because I followed the usual mantra 'you can turn small things on a large lathe but you can't turn large things on a small lathe. But realistically, was I ever going to want to turn 16" bowls or platters? No, and I never did.

Hope that's on interest.

David.
 

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