# Tailstock Scratching ways



## Richard King 2 (Jun 4, 2021)

Hi all I saw  a thread on a "sponsored forum" and as i have a sponsored forum I figured I would comment here instead of that other forum.   I commented on there a while ago and at the time didn't know it was sponsored and felt bad after figuring it out.     Hopefully this won't be considered a duplicate thread and deleted.   The other thread is:  https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/tailstock-scratching-ways.93175/   and some of the respected members have commented there.  I would prefer to comment here.  

I wrote something recently about how good is good?   This applies to how good is a machine made and what a quality machine costs compared  to a cheaper machine.  I agree with Benchee who wrote on the thread that the tail-stock was milled and then scraped to a "not so good" quality.  Either some Tech in China didn't know any better or he forgot to finish the work.  If they had installed way wipers from the factory, probably this would have not been an issue.  

The original poster mentions some other issues he's had.  I would suggest he either send the machine back or as others have said to stone the scratch, stone the bottom of the tail-stock, buy and install some way wipers and live with it.   I would ask PM to pay you for the repairs and refund some of the money you paid.  Customer service is a high light to new machine sellers and I am sure they are sick this has happened too.   

On some scratches I have seen on ways I slide the round end of a ball peen hammer over the scratch and it pushes the metal together. Not hitting it to peen, but to first stone the peen end with a stone to remove any burr's and then slide it over the top.  Then use some emery cloth ( 200 grit of finer) to camouflage the scratch.  I helps and the owner will always know it's there.   

Also PM may send someone out to do the repair.  I used to do repair work for Jet.  They had some issues and I would go out to do repairs and Jet paid me.  The machines had a warranty.


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## markba633csi (Jun 4, 2021)

I'm sure Matt at PM has his hands full dealing with the inconsistent quality control coming from overseas.  It would drive me nuts.
This is why one should always buy import machines from someone who has your back.  Buying direct from the factory would be a ridiculous gamble
-Mark


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## C-Bag (Jun 4, 2021)

markba633csi said:


> Buying direct from the factory would be a ridiculous gamble


For me it depends. It’s a complicated calculation IMHO. If you have the desire, expertise, equipment and the large enough discount of not having to go through a middleman and going in with the idea to fix the problems. Then it could be worth it. I see it as just as viable as buying Old Iron and restoring it. As you have no idea if you ultimately have a boat anchor or not. And Old Iron has gotten ridiculous in hobby class machines.

But bottom line is it not acceptable to say it’s ok for the way to be being scratched. It would be an impossible job to ride herd on a manufacturer half way around the world.


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## talvare (Jun 4, 2021)

C-Bag said:


> It would be an impossible job to ride herd on a manufacturer half way around the world.


This is precisely why many of the more reputable manufacturers employ in-house quality control personnel to insure that the finished product meets their standards before it gets shipped. But, that costs money which of course adds to the ultimate sale price.

Ted


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## C-Bag (Jun 4, 2021)

talvare said:


> But, that costs money which of course adds to the ultimate sale price.


And QC in its best application can’t catch everything. There is too much pressure to get it out the door and when you are talking about a machine tool too many and varied places to fail. All of us who have HF stuff see there can be many different problems. Some are common as design problems. Most are production fails.


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## Richard King 2 (Jun 9, 2021)

I wrote some answers in the original thread after a forum Moderator wrote he thought it was OK to do so.  One of our members has the same machine and 3 D printed some way wipers,  Really cool these 3 D printers.


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