Problems with first steel cut on 1130v lathe

[tweinke]

Do as said above by the others. Get the setup done on the lathe. My 1130 had a tendency to leave spiral marks when I got it first set up and I was very concerned. Turned out after I did like the guys have said and adjusted the rear saddle gib all was better. The tool grind in HSS needs to be decent to get good finish. Just as a teaser here is a picture of what the machine can do. Carbide tool, .040 DOC , .005 feed, about 875 RPM as best as I remember. I usually do use HSS ground like the ones in Mikey's thread on HSS tools.

 

[rronald]

Just stop your feeding for a second to break the chip. Those rat's nests can be dangerous!
Turning between centers is a better way of dong test bar cuts. A chuck may produce some forces that distort the test part. Put a dead center in the head stock. You can leave the chuck on , just back the jaws away from the work. The chuck jaws can be used to drive the lathe dog. It takes less material length if you use a face plate to drive the dog instead of the chuck.
Ideally you shout turn the taper on the dead center while it is mounted in the spindle. That ensures that it is running concentric. I still don't under stand shimming the tailstock?? A few .001" up down has very little affect on the diameter turned. Not measurable with the means you likely have.

If you are feeling the need to check everything, make sure the head stock is aligned with the travel of the carriage. You should find the recommended method in the paperwork that came with the lathe. A headstock misalignment will cause a taper to be turned on a bar just held by the chuck. It will also affect the test cuts when the work is held by the chuck and the tailstock. That's why you should do test cuts for tailstock alignment between centers. You will need a bar about 2 1/2" in diameter x 12" long, sticking out 10". Lock the compound and cross-slide to make the cut. If both ends of the cut don't measure the same your headstock needs aligning.

On my 1030v, twisting the tail (by shimming one side or the other) definitely does impact the amount of material removed at one end of the work. I had a taper of about 1.5 thousandths. Dropping the tailstock front made it about .15 thousandths. My notes were insufficient to remind me how much I shimmed...I think it was about 5 thousandths. Thus, I am currently aligned (to my desired level of precision) for cuts made w/o using the tailstock.

I will turn between centers soon, but I need a drive pin and a dog. Which I may build versus buying, just to get some additional cutting experience.

 

[Larry$]

twisting the tail (by shimming one side or the other)

True! I was envisioning you raising the entire tailstock.
But wouldn't you be better off simply using the adjusting screws to move the tailstock front to back? (Side to side, north /south, perpendicular to the main axis???)

 

[rronald]

True! I was envisioning you raising the entire tailstock.
But wouldn't you be better off simply using the adjusting screws to move the tailstock front to back? (Side to side, north /south, perpendicular to the main axis???)

I wasn't using the tailstock in the cut for my test piece. The piece was only supported by the chuck, so I was only taking .001 off on each pass.

The next step of turning between centers will be used to adjust tailstock perpendicular to main axis so that there are no tapers forced by it being out of center. Hopefully turning the tailstock adjusting screws will be easier than shimming.

 

[Larry$]

Hopefully turning the tailstock adjusting screws will be easier than shimming.

It's actually a pretty easy process, BUT as you get closer and closer to "perfect" little things tend to creep in that can make perfect nearly unattainable. Things "flex", tools dull, work heats, frustration sets in.... time to check the frig for a cold one.