Grizzly 4003 lathe tail stock

[Mutt]

I watched a good video on Utube about checking tail stock alignment. I bought this lathe new in 1999. Never even thought about the tail stock being high or low (guess close is good enough for the Chinese folks !!!)

So I started thinking about this after I noticed the drill bit moving up, when starting to drill a part after center drilling. SO I bought a new 3MT /6 jacobs arbor and got a plunge gauge. I still need to machine the holder, then do the test. But I can see without any gauges that the drill lifts itself up when engaging center drill hole. I'm gonna guess that it moves up .010 or more.

My question is, how would I got about shimming the tail stock up, on this Grizzly tail stock?

maybe I can make a vid and post it this afternoon,

 

[Bob Korves]

Usually you take the tailstock apart and put the shim(s) between the upper and lower portions of the tailstock. You can put more in the front or back to address any tilt in the quill.

 

[Mutt]

OK, that's a new one. So how do I determine if the tail stock is simply too high or if it actually tilted?

 

[Mutt]

ok, So I went out in the shop and made the tool holder to check alignment of the tail stock
Checking from side to side wasn't bad, only .003 ( only had to move it .0015" to center it) but boy vertical is a whooping .015 low !!!!!!!

Is it common for a tail stocki to be this far outta specs?



I had a box of .015 shim stock that I bought a while back to stamp out some small washers, my next question is

How does this tail stock come apart?




here is the parts layout on Grizzly's website
https://www.grizzly.com/products/g4003/parts

 

[carlquib]

I really doubt you actually have that much of an alignment issue. I think you are seeing gravity affecting your indicator setup. Try a more rigid indicator setup, but you will still have some gravity sag just from turning and indicator upside down.

Hello, my name is Brian and I'm a toolaholic

 

[Bob Korves]

ok, So I went out in the shop and made the tool holder to check alignment of the tail stock
Checking from side to side wasn't bad, only .003 ( only had to move it .0015" to center it) but boy vertical is a whooping .015 low !!!!!!!

Is it common for a tail stocki to be this far outta specs?
View attachment 227981
View attachment 227982

I had a box of .015 shim stock that I bought a while back to stamp out some small washers, my next question is

How does this tail stock come apart?

View attachment 227983
View attachment 227984

here is the parts layout on Grizzly's website
https://www.grizzly.com/products/g4003/parts

It looks like you just loosen the two sideways adjusting screws, #706, to remove the top from the bottom. you might need to loosen them quite a bit to get it apart, depending on exactly how it is made.

 

[carlquib]

I was just out channel surfing YouTube and discovered a video that Keith Rucker just did that ought to help you align your machine. He shows an extremely easy and effective method to check and align the tail stock that takes gravity out of the equation.

Hello, my name is Brian and I'm a toolaholic

 

[OLEJOE]

Be sure to check your drill chuck. The one that came with my G0709 is terrible. If I rotate it in the tailstock on a piece of aluminum, it makes little circles on it. And not in the center. With the dead centers, it's aligned perfectly. I'm going to get a new chuck for mine and hope I can get 1 that has a machined taper as part of the chuck.