# Bed Wear And What To Do About It.



## yendor (Mar 29, 2015)

I got this lathe an Atlas TV36 for $50.00 and have spent some time cleaning it up. and collected a few things accessories and the like.

I've learned a lot about some things but still I'm a rank amateur at this stuff.

Here are a few picks of the lathe and the bed. it has wear on the surfaces where both the carriage and tailstock ride. I did a map of sorts on the bed and the wear. I measured the thickness of the Inner & Outer edges of the bed where the moving parts ride and the width where the carriage would wear the front and rear edges.
(See attached PDF of a spreadsheet). I need to understand how bad it really is.

The Bed Width doesn't look like much of an issues so much as the bed thickness.
I've tied to turn a 5/8' x 12" Rod down to 1/2" and there are variances in the diameter all long the rod.
I like old machines as compared to new. This lathe has a 99. % complete set of change gears (missing 1 - a  48 tooth gear). The accessories make it a pretty complete machine as well.
So I'm trying to decide:

A - Is it worth it to re-surface the bed. I have a blind sight unseen quote of $800.00.
B- I understand there is additional work involved IE: on the Carriage Saddle and such but don't understand why or exactly what/where.

If it's worth the money to resurface and it can be made nearly new (or better) I'd probably go for it and in the process strip it down clean and paint.


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## Tony Wells (Mar 29, 2015)

Don't get me wrong. I'm not in the Atlas haters bunch.....I love all machines. BUT, what you are undertaking is quite a bit of work and $$ for a fairly light duty lathe. If you have the time, and can (and care to) do that much scraping, then by all means do so. But spending $800 on it, then the refit of the carriage due to the change in the leadscrew relationship, seems a little out of line to me. But, as always, it's your time and money. Ultimately it's up to you. If you can make parts on it, and I firmly believe that skill overcomes and compensates for machine issues many times, I'd put up with it until I found a machine in better shape. Regardless of the make.

I'll qualify all of this by saying that this is not a hobby for me. I make a living at it, so my viewpoint is bound to be different that many here.


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## Andre (Mar 29, 2015)

Just my take on things....

Since it has a square bed, there must be gibs on the front and underside of the carriage, make sure they are snug and free of play. Do the same for your cross slide and compound. Also make sure your Timkin roller bearings are adjusted properly, then take another test cut.

If your variances were from bed wear, it would (most likely) slowly get larger towards the headstock then take a sudden dive larger, from normal bed wear. You can try leveling (well, twisting)  your lathe in a way that will help compensate for bed wear, but that's not always possible nor is it a 100% fix.....

Worst case scenario would be having the bed reground, but that might cost 16x the price of the lathe.

You mentioned that test rod was 1/2" in diameter, supposing you used the tailstock and a very light cut and feed the bar is most likely bowing upwards at the ten 0'clock position, making it wider in the middle. I'd try a larger test bar before committing getting the bed reground to see if it was actually flex.

Also have to think about if bed wear is an issue in your case, my 13" has significant bed wear but with the tailstock indicated just right I can turn a 8" bar within a  few tenths all over it's length. Light cut of course.


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## John Hasler (Mar 29, 2015)

yendor said:


> I got this lathe an Atlas TV36 for $50.00 and have spent some time cleaning it up. and collected a few things accessories and the like.
> 
> I've learned a lot about some things but still I'm a rank amateur at this stuff.
> 
> ...


That doesn't look bad to me.  Did you turn that rod between centers?  How much variation in diameter did you get?

I wouldn't pay $800 to have it "resurfaced".  I'd scrape it myself.  It's a flat bed.


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## Andre (Mar 29, 2015)

John Hasler said:


> That doesn't look bad to me.  Did you turn that rod between centers?  How much variation in diameter did you get?
> 
> I wouldn't pay $800 to have it "resurfaced".  I'd scrape it myself.  It's a flat bed.



You'd also have to scrape the sides, or else you'd end up with an hourglass bed width. (carriage would be loose in the middle and tight on the ends)


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## Mark_f (Mar 29, 2015)

yendor said:


> I got this lathe an Atlas TV36 for $50.00 and have spent some time cleaning it up. and collected a few things accessories and the like.
> 
> I've learned a lot about some things but still I'm a rank amateur at this stuff.
> 
> ...



Looking at your spread sheet , the wear is minimal and should not really cause you any problems. You can probably work with it easily and ( just my opinion) The bed is not bad enough to invest a lot of money in resurfacing. I have worked with lathes a lot worse than that. In fact most old machines will have some wear in the area it was used most. That is just MY opinion


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## John Hasler (Mar 29, 2015)

Andre said:


> You'd also have to scrape the sides, or else you'd end up with an hourglass bed width. (carriage would be loose in the middle and tight on the ends)


Right, but they're still flat square surfaces.  Not like scraping inside a dovetail.

But, as Mark says, it's not that bad.  Might be best to just live with it.  Looks like a hell of a deal for $50.


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## Ulma Doctor (Mar 29, 2015)

scrape it, oil flake it, and run it
or 
just run it and adjust her up to snug everywhere you can.
a 5/8" rod unsupported will have some deflection even on a new lathe.
i'd put it between centers for the test.
the cutter type and condition would come into question, as i was not a witness to the operation.
was wear in other areas also part of the discrepancy.
if you have a set of calipers large enough, or devise a gauge of sorts-
you could then measure the outside rails from headstock to tail stock and determine the were in that direction as well .


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## francist (Mar 29, 2015)

Looks to me like you got a killer deal for fifty bucks!

I'd run it for a while, seems like maybe you haven't spent a lot of time actually using it yet? There could (likely) be other little things that aren't quite up to factory spec any more either, and the $800 only gets the ways done. All the other parts are still old, and you could be committing to a very pricey project without knowing it yet. You may be pleasantly surprised that you can do most of what you want to do regardless of the wear on the bed.

-frank


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## NightWing (Mar 29, 2015)

http://catalog.cshyde.com/viewitems...tape-with-adhesive-on-one-side-bearing-tape-?


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## Andre (Mar 29, 2015)

NightWing said:


> http://catalog.cshyde.com/viewitems...tape-with-adhesive-on-one-side-bearing-tape-?



That's not a direct fix, using Rulon or Turcite you still have to scrape it. Or else you still have the same amount of wear, just added a little more thickness to the bed.


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## Mark_f (Mar 29, 2015)

These guys are right . I would adjust everything up and run it. I believe most if not all the cutting problems you see are from crosslide and/or compound gibs need adjusted, Tail stock probably needs adjusted too. My lathe has at least that much wear in the center of the ways and I have no problems holding .001" or less tolerance. I adjusted the gibs snug in the center then moved to the headstock end and loosened them just enough to get it there but tightly. This is a compromise. You are a little loose in the center and a little tight at the ends but it will work just fine. I been doing it for quite a while and I make a lot of ......stuff. Unless you are making parts for the space shuttle, it will be fine. They are also right ..... it seems like you got a great deal.


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## Mark_f (Mar 29, 2015)

Andre said:


> That's not a direct fix, using Rulon or Turcite you still have to scrape it. Or else you still have the same amount of wear, just added a little more thickness to the bed.


I have used both turcite and rulon and they are no good for a place like lathe beds. They are too soft and the chips will chew it up. You do have to scrape it after installing but it is a joy to scrape compared to cast iron. Also these materials require a LOT of oil lubrication, which you wont have on the lathe bed. They are best suited for axis on large machines.


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