Lathe taking a deeper cut then dialed in on the DRO.

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Good job on the washer! Your second picture shows how they got their spacing messed up at the factory. That hole for the adjustment screw should be about .050-.060 to the right and it would capture the gib as it should. It looks to me that a new gib wouldn’t solve a thing. At this point your fix is the best solution for the least effort.

Take the time to make yourself a solid tool post, you’ll be glad you did. I only put my compound on if I need to cut a taper, so it’s rarely on the machine for my use so far. One advantage that I have is that my used machine came with an Aloris BXA QCTP and I had already acquired a used one before getting the lathe. So I can leave a QCTP on each setup making the swap quicker. Might be worth watching the sale section here for a deal.
 
Just an update on my learning process. I want to say thanks to all who responded to start with and a special thanks to @Lo-Fi for bringing Stefan Gotteswinter's YouTube to light.

I have been slowly as time allows playing on the lathe turning a piece of 2" mystery metal down to 1.5". I have been taking it down at .075 thou at a time in three passes. The first pass at .050 thousand there abouts and then the next two passes (depending on where I end up after the first pass) .012 thousand. I have been able to hit my goal within .0005 the last four times in a row.

I'm still surprised at how much more is removed when taking a .050 thou cut. For instance, the last cut I set the DRO to .048 thousand and after that cut, I had removed .052 thou. The next two cuts were .012 and .011 and nailed it perfect.

Anyway, Thank You to for all the help! I have been struggling trying to get consistence numbers. I think I'm on the right track now.

Tim
 
Fantastic! So pleased you found it helpful :)

As another well known youtuber would put it: everything is a spring! No matter how solid it looks.

The other major advantage of the balanced cuts method is getting good finish off carbide, particularly in hard material. When you can't "sneak up" on a dimension and need a decent cut to get a good finish, it's really the only way. Taking a 20 thou finishing cut knowing you're going to hit your number and get a spectacular finish right off the tool is seriously satisfying.
 
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