Help lining up headstock with tailstock

Let's not forget to level the ways while we're at it. You mentioned twisted ways earlier... Truth is setting up a lathe is pretty involved. It all depends on how precise you want to be or what type of work you want to do on it. I've used a wore out Southbend Heavy 10 for 40 years and it was wore out when I got it. I can still hold .001" when I need to but I know where to kick it and which curse words to use. :)
Seriously, if you're starting from 0, I would get a good machinist's level, true the ways, then the headstock, then move to the tailstock.
 
Rick Leslie said:
Let's not forget to level the ways while we're at it. You mentioned twisted ways earlier... Truth is setting up a lathe is pretty involved. It all depends on how precise you want to be or what type of work you want to do on it. I've used a wore out Southbend Heavy 10 for 40 years and it was wore out when I got it. I can still hold .001" when I need to but I know where to kick it and which curse words to use. :)
Seriously, if you're starting from 0, I would get a good machinist's level, true the ways, then the headstock, then move to the tailstock.
Click to expand...
I used my Starrett 98-12 to get the carriage level. That’s all the manual said to level. It didn’t say to do anything with the ways. I’m trying to get this machine as precise as possible. I guess my question is do I need to do anything with the ways or is leveling the carriage enough?
 
That should accomplish the same thing. The carriage rides on the ways. I've just always checked across the ways fore and aft and parallel in several places on both ways. Once that checks out, I move to the headstock. I chuck a piece of stock (~8 to 10 inches long) up and take a small cut, just enough to cut a true surface. Cutting too much at one time might skew the reading. I measure at the chuck and at the end of the stock. The diff is the amount your headstock is out. Dial that in following the manufacturer's guidelines. Once zeroed, then move to truing between centers.
 
Rick Leslie said:
That should accomplish the same thing. The carriage rides on the ways. I've just always checked across the ways fore and aft and parallel in several places on both ways. Once that checks out, I move to the headstock. I chuck a piece of stock (~8 to 10 inches long) up and take a small cut, just enough to cut a true surface. Cutting too much at one time might skew the reading. I measure at the chuck and at the end of the stock. The diff is the amount your headstock is out. Dial that in following the manufacturer's guidelines. Once zeroed, then move to truing between centers.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I like this! I’ll give it a try.
 
OK here is where I'm at with this.....

(When my cross slide is level) I did the Rollie's Dad's Method. It was off by about .009" about half the length of my bed. I adjusted the feet and got it to read perfectly. NOW here is the kicker... when I have it is reading perfectly with the RDM test, the ways on my lathe are actually pretty level. (only off by about .001"). When I have my cross slide level the ways are not level and my headstock (according to the rollies dads method) is off by about .009" I guess the million dollar question is which one is the most important? The ways/headstock or the cross slide? My manaul said to level it off the cross slide. Keep in mind this is a brand new lathe.

1. My initial thought is to do what someone said earlier which is to take a long rod and barely turn it and see if there is any tapering. I'd try it with the headstock/ways level then try it with the cross slide level and see which one has the least (hopefully none) amount of taper to it.

2. Can I get my headstock/ways level then adjust my cross slide and get it level? Do lathes have an adjustment on the cross slide? That seems to be the most logical way of doing it if there's even such an adjustment.
 
Really depends on what you want to turn. I don't think anything is level or true on my SB. The proper way is to start at the bottom and work your way up. You can't have it true without a good foundation. You can get it to turn true, as you found out, even with one or more parts out of level or square.
Each method we've discussed addresses one section of the lathe; ways, spindle and tailstock. You can get acceptable results with any two of these in alignment, depending on where you're working on the lathe (chuck or between centers).
 
Cue the Yoda voice...
Level is a convenient reference that doesn't sag or warp. Don't let "level" get in the way of making straight parts

That said, there are quite a few things you are trying to sort out: headstock parallel to the motion of the carriage (vertically and horizontally), tailstock parallel to the ways, tailstock on the same centerline as the spindle, and the motion of the carriage describing a line vs an arc or helix.

Sent from my SM-G715A using Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top