Help with Clausing 6913 Ways

[Made in USA]

Hello, I bought a 6913 Clausing 48" and was in the process of rebuilding and repainting the lathe. I bought a new lead screw, worm, some bushings. After I got it painted and started to reassemble it I noticed the carriage does not move along the ways when you set the shims and clamps and you leave the area most used, like moving towards the tail stock. I had to mill several thousandths off the top of the hold down block to get it to touch the underside of the way. So I thought everything was going well till I tried to push the carriage towards the tail stock end and it was binding 5/8 down the way heading to the tail stock. So I got my mic's out and measured the thinknes on the flat portion of the way and had about .003+ difference between the two areas. The v front side of the way was also worn because I had to loosen the clamps up front to allow it to slide toward the tail.
Question, is this in need of a regrind? Or am I adjusting the clamps too tight? I would think that the clamps should be touching the underside of the ways to keep accuracy, right? This lathe has been used hard, had a lot of cutting fluid and chips in all the cracks and crevices. They appeared to not have kept it clean, or lubed properly. A lot of the ball oilers were plugged with crap, the ways are scored in the chuck area like it was not lubed right. I might have bought a money pit to though $ into, I hope not! That is what happens when you buy online from a machine sales company unseen!
Please anybody that can give advice it would be very welcome!


Someday I think I will start procrastinating!

 

[markba633csi]

With a worn machine some compromise is necessary from the ideal. Doesn't mean you can't make good parts on it.
Live and learn, buying sight unseen is not the best idea with older machinery...With some new machinery is not the best idea either!
-M

 

[john.k]

If bed wear is only 003 ,the I certainly wouldnt worry......Although not ideal,you can also slack off the adjustment for ocassional use on the unworn end of the bed.

 

[Made in USA]

That is what I was wondering. Is this kind of normal for well used machines? Can you tell me how to set the tightness in the well used area? Should I put an indicator on it? Thanks for your help!

 

[Provincial]

You can lay a precision straight edge on the wear surfaces of the ways ( the top of the flat way and each angle surface of the V-way) with enough contact with the unworn area to support it. Any wear should show up as a gap between the way surface and the straight edge. You can use a feeler gauge to measure the gap.

Remember, wear on the V changes the height of the tool by a function of the angle of the V, so .001" of wear does not drop the tool .001". Also, the wear on the flat way drops the carriage drops the carriage more than the same measured wear on the V-way, and the effect on tool height is a combination of the tool. Dropping the carriage drops the tool height, but the effect on depth of cut is small, and related to the diameter of the work.

The upshot of all this is that the wear is likely to have less effect on the finished product that you would expect, unless the wear is quite extreme. Spring in the support of the tool or work will be more of a factor, among other things. Unless you are doing precision work, you should not have to do much more that the usual hand filing and polishing normally needed on a classic machine.

 

[Made in USA]

Thank you for your help. I won't be turning anything super accurate, especially away from the worn area. I will try the straight edge and see what it is. My main concern is having the carriage binding on the ways if I run down towards the right end of the lathe. I either have to set it up just a bit loose so it won't bind or stay in the worn area. Is setting up the lathe hard after regrinding the ways?

 

[Provincial]

I had the bed of my Atlas QC42 (10x24) lathe ground. Being an Atlas, the ways were flat top and bottom. It was easy to set up the carriage. The ways were ground top and bottom, so they were parallel.

If you have your Clausing ground, make sure they touch up the bottom surfaces. Also, remember that the ways are hardened, and that treatment is pretty thin. You might grind below the hard layer.

 

[Made in USA]

Yes I remember they are flame hardened. I don't know what else I can do if I want them so the carriage does not bind. Yes they should do the bottoms also, or at least check them. I won't be using the lathe everyday, just for hobby shop type work so if they do go below the hardened layer I should not have to worry about wear that much. I wished I would have bought one that I saw first! Live and learn!


"You learn from your mistakes", I must be a genius!