New PM1030 Lathe - Newb Q

[mneblett]

Hi, all -- I have been going through the steps of setting up my new 1030 lathe (leveled the cabinets and ways, aligned the tailstock).

I do not have the experience yet to know what is "good enough" for a typical home lathe user (i.e., not aiming for tenths, at least not often).

I'm currently at 0.0002" at the opposite ends of a 7" length of 1" 6061 stock after shimming ways at the tailstock end , and 0.0001" over a 6" length for centering the tailstock.

Good enough?

I might be able to get another 0.0001" out of the ways -- my 2nd to the last shim adjustment had the headstock end too small by about 0.0004", and a .002 shim reduction made the headstock end 0.0002" too large. It was late, so I stopped there. Not sure how much closer I could get with the tailstock alignment.

Appreciate the feedback!

Mark

 

[ttabbal]

Sounds good to me... How's the 2 collar test?

 

[mneblett]

Sounds good to me... How's the 2 collar test?

If I understand correctly, both the way leveling and the tailstock alignment were done turning the last 3/4" at both ends of the stock -- the way leveling with no support and the tailstock alignment using a dead center at the tailstock end.

Please let me know if you mean something different by "2 collar."

Thanks!

 

[ttabbal]

Sounds like what you called the way leveling. 2 tenths at 7" is pretty good. Make some chips and have some fun for a while and check it again when the season changes, just to double check.

 

[mneblett]

Thanks. I was hoping to get the lathe ready before my 728VT mill arrives in a week or two. Now I have a some time to turn some metal into chips before it arrives.

 

[erikmannie]

You did a Heck of a lot more than I did when I set up my PM-1030V! I just used a contractor’s level on the ways and the cross slide.

I had hoped to get back and tighten it up later after working on the lathe for a bit, but I have not gotten back to it yet in six months.

 

[pacifica]

Hi, all -- I have been going through the steps of setting up my new 1030 lathe (leveled the cabinets and ways, aligned the tailstock).

I do not have the experience yet to know what is "good enough" for a typical home lathe user (i.e., not aiming for tenths, at least not often).

I'm currently at 0.0002" at the opposite ends of a 7" length of 1" 6061 stock after shimming ways at the tailstock end , and 0.0001" over a 6" length for centering the tailstock.

Good enough?

I might be able to get another 0.0001" out of the ways -- my 2nd to the last shim adjustment had the headstock end too small by about 0.0004", and a .002 shim reduction made the headstock end 0.0002" too large. It was late, so I stopped there. Not sure how much closer I could get with the tailstock alignment.

Appreciate the feedback!

Mark

How often will you be doing operations finer than .0002? At that level the temp in the room starts to affect measurement, among other things.