Grinding the ways of a 618

machinistnoob

machinistnoob

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Hello all. I'm looking for some guidance/advice. I have a 618 that is about ready for reassembly and figure I may as well get the bed ground while it's apart. I do not yet have the tooling to indicate and inspect the bed, so won't be able to answer your questions on the current condition. I figured the machine shop would handle that. There is only one shop in town with a grinder large enough for the job. They are not a job shop but said they could accommodate me, which is great but this is where things got confusing for me. I assumed a machine shop equipped with a grinder that size would know exactly what was involved with grinding a lathe. When I presented the base, he looked a little confused. He asked how much I wanted removed? I said the minimum amount to make the ways true and parallel to each other on both axis? Then he asked about the sides and if I wanted them 90° to the bed, because that will be an issue...
I didn't know what to say. I wasn't expecting this.
I don't think the guy is a traditional machinist. The shop is full of wire machines and a few 5 axis HASS machines. The shop turns out extrusion dies and I think this guy is more of a program and run sort. I don't know. Sorry for the lengthy story and he are my questions I hope to gain clarity on.
1. Should I risk moving forward with guy even if he can't grind the vertical sides?
A. If yes, could the bottom of the bed just be stoned, mag chucked and fed to the grinder and shimmed on assembly?

2. Could this be done with a typical 18" grinder, by the right person? (Lathe bed is 30" overall)
A. Would it be worth the trouble/cost?

3. Should I just leave it alone and focus on other aspects of learning the machine?

4. My experience is =/< zero. What am I'm not considering?

Thanks in advance.
M. Noob
 
Find someone who grinds lathe beds. If you regrind the bed the head will have to be realigned with the bed and the carriage has to be scrapped back in. Be prepared for a project. It’s not just regrind the bed and bolt all the parts back together. I am sure they’re are others that can explain it better than I.
 
Nutfarmer said:
Find someone who grinds lathe beds. If you regrind the bed the head will have to be realigned with the bed and the carriage has to be scrapped back in. Be prepared for a project. It’s not just regrind the bed and bolt all the parts back together. I am sure they’re are others that can explain it better than I.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I had no idea.
 
Hi , I read your first post . Congratulations on your score , and welcome to this forum . Evaluating bed wear has been talked about here and there is even a sticky https://www.hobby-machinist.com/thr...lat-bed-atlas-or-atlas-craftsman-lathe.97871/
How does the bed look on top around where the carriage would be most used close to the chuck ? If it is heavily scored you might have a problem . I have a feeling it's not all that bad , if it is I would just get another bed . I would not consider the surface grinder deal .
Mark .
 
cross thread said:
Hi , I read your first post . Congratulations on your score , and welcome to this forum . Evaluating bed wear has been talked about here and there is even a sticky https://www.hobby-machinist.com/thr...lat-bed-atlas-or-atlas-craftsman-lathe.97871/
How does the bed look on top around where the carriage would be most used close to the chuck ? If it is heavily scored you might have a problem . I have a feeling it's not all that bad , if it is I would just get another bed . I would not consider the surface grinder deal .
Mark .
Click to expand...
Thank you. I'm glad I floated this to get perspective.
 
Small lathes are generally not economical to re-grind (unless your brother-in-law has a grinding shop)
I would check to see how much wear there is; even a worn lathe can still make good parts
I have a Atlas Mk2 (the newer, square headed version) and the bed is badly scored. I make perfectly good parts on it.
Most machines have wear, the trick is to learn how to compensate for it.
-MS
Remember too that the carriage would need to be re-ground as well- not a trivial job
Save your cash for other goodies like tooling, measuring instruments, etc
 
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markba633csi said:
Small lathes are generally not economical to re-grind (unless your brother in law has a grinding shop)
I would check to see how much wear there is; even a worn lathe can still make good parts
I have a Atlas Mk2 (the newer, square headed version) and the bed is badly scored. I make perfectly good parts on it.
Most machines have wear, the trick is to learn how to compensate for it.
-MS
Remember too that the carriage would need to be re-ground as well- not a trivial job
Save your cash for other goodies like tooling, measuring instruments, etc
Click to expand...
That seems to be the consensus. Appreciate your everyone's input.
 
Yeah, put it together and make some chips. There are ways (is that a really bad pun?) to evaluate how accurate your lathe is.
 
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