Router Turned Grinder - Question(s)

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graham-xrf

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Perhaps this YouTube video has been discussed here before, but I am new to this.

From the beginning, what I see is various G-Clamps and parts of cross-slide in an adventurous arrangement.
The grind seems to be a back-and forth move with no obvious spark-out. He just reverses direction at the headstock end. No advance on the grind depth, no diamond true on the wheel, and at one stage, checking out the surface, and what I see is not quite a finish ground surface..

The main thing, for me, is not understanding what surface he is using to guide the whole thing.
Beyond what I learned in school, I know very little about what to do with lathe ways, but my instincts tell me that the original unworn surfaces have alignments that are precious things. These are to be cut away to get below the worn parts.

I am not sure what we see done is a novel low cost trick to fix up a lathe way, or a real bad idea!
Can anyone help decode what is going on?
 
Your suspicions are correct, Graham. If those ways were not unusable before, they are now. I suppose if you had a clapped out old lathe and wanted to sell it for more money, you might be able to pass it off as having "freshly ground ways" by using this technique. I would hope that the surface finish being achieved there, with the chatter, dwell grooves, and lengthwise grooves from not dressing the wheel, would be noticed by most potential buyers. The video does give us another new twist on "caveat emptor" for lathe buyers...

In reality, this is just a new twist on an old scam of "completely scraped and restored machine", where, yes, a scraper was used to decorate the surfaces, but not to restore the geometry and flatness of them. That, and a fresh coat of paint, turns a sows ear into a silk purse...
 
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I have seen the video before and nothing has changed. A wild idea/approach. I would rather use the lathe with wear and live with it. The tail stock is going to be a bit LOW. Might be a good lathe now for turning pretzels.
 
My thanks to all of you. Every now and then, I need reminding to trust my own feelings more, especially when when I see something that comes across as "Is this good? .. can it really be true"?

Even though I like the idea of a re-purposed router, the voice in the back of my head is saying "this has to be wrong"!
 
chips&more said:
I have seen the video before and nothing has changed. A wild idea/approach. I would rather use the lathe with wear and live with it. The tail stock is going to be a bit LOW. Might be a good lathe now for turning pretzels.
Click to expand...
On that very question, even suppose we have the ways professionally ground/scraped with all the care and cost to have them end up aligned with the spindle, the consequences for the tail stock have to involve changes - shims maybe, or are some adjustable?

Then there is the apron, the leadscrew, cross-feed, and more. Does one start with the ways and move up through the saddle and so on. Put another way, can one re-grind worn surfaces in the upper parts first? I was thinking maybe "yes", because the tool height is adjustable anyway. Power cross feed arrangements may have to be carefully figured out before offering any part at a surface grinder.
 
graham-xrf said:
On that very question, even suppose we have the ways professionally ground/scraped with all the care and cost to have them end up aligned with the spindle, the consequences for the tail stock have to involve changes - shims maybe, or are some adjustable?

Then there is the apron, the leadscrew, cross-feed, and more. Does one start with the ways and move up through the saddle and so on. Put another way, can one re-grind worn surfaces in the upper parts first? I was thinking maybe "yes", because the tool height is adjustable anyway. Power cross feed arrangements may have to be carefully figured out before offering any part at a surface grinder.
Click to expand...
Yes, you are correct. You will be doing a lot of realignment and adjustment. That’s what you get with the advent of the internet.
 
Hey guys, just so you know the machine you're bashing was built by a moderator here. 4GSR, and is also on Practical Machinist.

The thread he wrote about it: http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general/my-way-grinder-225515/

Those guys like Richard and Forrest Addy who have chimed in on that thread know what they're doing as far as scraping, alignment, and machine rebuilding go. The lathe being worked on is a Lodge and Shipley, which was apparently in bad condition before the way grinding. Grinding the ways was not done to sell it for more profit.

Ken's photo gallery; http://s70.photobucket.com/user/packrat2006/library/Way Grinder?sort=3&page=1
 
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As far as I can tell from the video he's grinding the ways to match themselves. In fact, with the grinder hanging out behind it seems as if fluctuations would be magnified.
 
Thanks for the insights, Andre.

I'm confused about it as it seems to be referencing the very ways that are not in good shape in order to improve them. No?
 
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