Is there a manual that describes what needs to be done to assure a lathe is properly set up and aligned?
I am new to metal work. About 15 or so years ago I bought a Smithy 3 in 1 Lathe Mill combination machine. I used it for a few months but could never do anything productive with it. I am now trying to really learn to use it and I'm discovering what some of my earlier problems are. I won't bore anyone with the basics I've learned but some of my concerns are:
1. When I mount a dial gauge to a magnetic base on the cross feed and measure how true the face of the lathe spindle is (the part I mount the chuck to), I get 0.005" variation, which seems like a lot.
2. With the dial gauge still on cross feed, when I measure along the length of the bed, I get little (0.001") or no change. Mostly no measurable movement in the gauge. This seems pretty good to me but I wonder if I'm measuring the actual flatness of the lathe bed or the relative distance between the lathe bed and the top of the cross feed table - or, perhaps a bit of both.
3. I mounted a length of 1" drill rod in the chuck and center drilled it. The I mounted a dead center in the tail stock at the far end of the lathe and mounted the drill rod in the chuck on one end and the dead center on the other end. I then made a cut using the lathe near the chuck and then duplicated the cut near the tail stock. I used the settings on the cross feed table to measure the depth of cut, which was supposed to be the same at both ends. When I measured the drill rod stock I got 0.009 to 0.010" difference, depending on where I measured. This seemed like pretty sloppy tolerances...though my wife was pretty impressed (she has no mechanical skills or inclination).
It seems to me there should be adjustments to reduce these tolerances to acceptable values (whatever "acceptable" is). On item #3 I am guessing the tail stock is not aligned horizontally quite perfectly, and I can see where there is an adjustment for that (two set screws that allow the tail stock to me moved perpendicular to the bed).
I suppose I could figure this out myself, and likely learn a lot in the process. But, I figure someone has written a chapter in a book somewhere that would really help me out. Hopefully someone here can point me in the right direction. Thanks.
Don
I am new to metal work. About 15 or so years ago I bought a Smithy 3 in 1 Lathe Mill combination machine. I used it for a few months but could never do anything productive with it. I am now trying to really learn to use it and I'm discovering what some of my earlier problems are. I won't bore anyone with the basics I've learned but some of my concerns are:
1. When I mount a dial gauge to a magnetic base on the cross feed and measure how true the face of the lathe spindle is (the part I mount the chuck to), I get 0.005" variation, which seems like a lot.
2. With the dial gauge still on cross feed, when I measure along the length of the bed, I get little (0.001") or no change. Mostly no measurable movement in the gauge. This seems pretty good to me but I wonder if I'm measuring the actual flatness of the lathe bed or the relative distance between the lathe bed and the top of the cross feed table - or, perhaps a bit of both.
3. I mounted a length of 1" drill rod in the chuck and center drilled it. The I mounted a dead center in the tail stock at the far end of the lathe and mounted the drill rod in the chuck on one end and the dead center on the other end. I then made a cut using the lathe near the chuck and then duplicated the cut near the tail stock. I used the settings on the cross feed table to measure the depth of cut, which was supposed to be the same at both ends. When I measured the drill rod stock I got 0.009 to 0.010" difference, depending on where I measured. This seemed like pretty sloppy tolerances...though my wife was pretty impressed (she has no mechanical skills or inclination).
It seems to me there should be adjustments to reduce these tolerances to acceptable values (whatever "acceptable" is). On item #3 I am guessing the tail stock is not aligned horizontally quite perfectly, and I can see where there is an adjustment for that (two set screws that allow the tail stock to me moved perpendicular to the bed).
I suppose I could figure this out myself, and likely learn a lot in the process. But, I figure someone has written a chapter in a book somewhere that would really help me out. Hopefully someone here can point me in the right direction. Thanks.
Don
