I am fortunate to have a friend with two Starrett precision levels, both as old as me! I used one to take the twist out of my poor old Atlas/Craftsman 12x36. This lathe came to me bolted to a home made steel bench, built by someone with little understanding of geometry, or mechanical design.
. The flat ways of this lathe made checking twist very easy. And oh, boy, was it twisted! I bought (4) 3/8 redheads (concrete anchors), and bolted the bench to the floor. Using the nuts under the feet, and another set of nuts above the feet, I was able to remove the twist. When I saw how much the machine needed to move, I checked, twisted, and waited for at least a day in between adjustments. I added diagonal bracing to the legs once I got the twist out.The tailstock now moves like it should, and taper is about .0006 or so over 4.5 inches. Considering the wear on this poor old thing, I am very pleased.
. The flat ways of this lathe made checking twist very easy. And oh, boy, was it twisted! I bought (4) 3/8 redheads (concrete anchors), and bolted the bench to the floor. Using the nuts under the feet, and another set of nuts above the feet, I was able to remove the twist. When I saw how much the machine needed to move, I checked, twisted, and waited for at least a day in between adjustments. I added diagonal bracing to the legs once I got the twist out.The tailstock now moves like it should, and taper is about .0006 or so over 4.5 inches. Considering the wear on this poor old thing, I am very pleased.