New Lathe Twisted bed

wrmiller said:
I've been told that the 12-14" lathes are very sensitive in this regard. Anytime I buy a new lathe or even just move one like I just did, I get it up on the stand and let it set for several days to a week or more to allow the cast iron to relax prior to leveling. Mine just sat on wood pallets for almost 9 months until I got it set up on it's stand last week. Did the final leveling and test cuts yesterday and everything worked out fine.

My suggestion would be to follow Grizz's suggestions and see what happens. Not sure I'd wait a month though unless the lathe went through some severe temperature/humidity changes in getting to you.
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Thanks for all the suggestions guys!
I think I'm going to follow Grizzly suggestions. I'll keep monitoring it in the next couple of weeks to see if anything changes. If not I'll discuss with Gizzly as I had originally intended. It sounds like it's not an uncommon condition though and that's a little more comforting.
Time will tell.
Thanks again.
Versacon
 
Cabinet mounted lathes usually do not need bolting to floor.

So first action is remove all floor bolts then place washers under or adjust feet just to have cabinet not rock.

Now level front to back at headstock then same at tail stock.

Length wise does not matter yet.

It will not Un - twist yet but add height to low side until high side is not touching the floor and leave it alone.

It will settle down so place a sheet of paper under it and make sure it can move.

Use your foot to slide it and when it stops the lathe has touched down.

Re level and repeat.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337Z using Tapatalk
 
tq60 said:
Cabinet mounted lathes usually do not need bolting to floor.

So first action is remove all floor bolts then place washers under or adjust feet just to have cabinet not rock.

Now level front to back at headstock then same at tail stock.

Length wise does not matter yet.

It will not Un - twist yet but add height to low side until high side is not touching the floor and leave it alone.

It will settle down so place a sheet of paper under it and make sure it can move.

Use your foot to slide it and when it stops the lathe has touched down.

Re level and repeat.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337Z using Tapatalk
Click to expand...


That makes sense-
I'll give it a try-

Versacon
 
Bob Korves said:
I see no need to bolt down hobby lathes to the floor, and multiple reasons why not.
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My lathe sets on sheet metal cabinets . All the weight is up high . It is very top heavy .
It moves sometime just taking the 8" four jaw chuck off the spindle it will rock side to side a little .
I will set the anchor bolts till they just kiss off on top of the four legs . I hope this will help stop
The side to side movement .
This is a very light weight lathe 800 or 900
Lbs at the most . I am looking for something
Bigger in the 3000 lb range .

IMG_5337.JPG

IMG_5452.JPG
 
scwhite said:
My lathe sets on sheet metal cabinets . All the weight is up high . It is very top heavy .
It moves sometime just taking the 8" four jaw chuck off the spindle it will rock side to side a little .
I will set the anchor bolts till they just kiss off on top of the four legs . I hope this will help stop
The side to side movement .
This is a very light weight lathe 800 or 900
Lbs at the most . I am looking for something
Bigger in the 3000 lb range .
Click to expand...
Your Clausing is in no risk of falling over unless you run into it with a car or fork lift or similar.
 
Lathes do not need to be level, or straight. They need to produce accurately cylindrical work as well as possible with the carriage along the entire bed of the lathe. Depending on wear, accuracy of manufacture, and other issues, level and without twist may not be what works best to achieve overall accuracy for the work you do the most. Level is not really a factor anyway (other than for where the oil runs to in the chip pan) it is just an often used starting point, hoping for something perfect from the factory or from the previous users. We do what we need to, whatever makes it best produce cylindrical work. Resetting the headstock, offsetting the tailstock, twisting the bed, and ultimately reconditioning the ways are just some of the ways to do that. Whatever makes good parts. Each lathe is a separate case.
 
Your new lathe is off .003, the thickness of an average hair over a 40 INCH span. You do know that the floor in your shop is going to move at some rate over time, it wouldn't surprise me to see it move in the time it takes you to read this. Even the OD grinders in the shop I worked for were leveled without the help of a $1000 Starett level, and I doubt that shops that work on space shuttle parts are that precise. Don't take this the wrong way, but personally I think you're being way too picky
 
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