Hi, Jon,
Sorry, I should have been more specific.? A conning tower nut is a nut that is threaded on to the cross-slide lead screw and actually moves the cross-slide.? As the lathe is originally delivered, the cross-slide nut that is used makes a poor connection to the cross-slide.? Many industrial lathes use a nut that has a high spigot (the entire nut looks a bit like a submarine conning tower, hence the name).? This spigot engages a matching opening in the cross-slide, ensuring a far more secure connection.? I have attached a few pictures I took during the implementation of mine which I hope will help make matters clear.
The lowest picture below shows the original cross-slide nut on the left, and the conning tower nut on the right.
The first picture below shows the conning tower nut on the cross-slide lead screw without the cross-slide.? Please note that my lead screw looks short because I have a cross-slide extension installed.? (Note: photo accidentally deleted on 11/23/2019.? See post of that date, which shows the missing photo.)
The second picture below, (sorry, I haven't quite worked out yet how to put the photos in my desired order when I load them), shows the "conning tower" fully engaged in the cross-slide.? Please note that the conning tower in this photo is too high for this particular cross-slide.? It was necessary to reduce the height of this conning tower so the flat head screw shown near the conning tower could be properly installed and adjust the nut height, keeping the lead screw properly aligned throughout its travel.
I hope this helps clarify matters...
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Regards,
Charlie
New Jersey, USA
