I have been getting my 12" lathe back in operation and doing a few projects with it. I noticed some imperfections in the ways. It seems like there are al of of methods to fix them. Scrapping, grinding, buy new ones. A friend told me they can be stoned back. Does anyone have any experience with this?
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Question about Atlas Bed Ways?
- Thread starter Mike23
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For small dings and dents you can smooth them with a stone but for serious wear the only practical solution is to replace the bed.
In most cases this would mean replacing the carriage too since they wear together
Typically, a low value lathe like Atlas doesn't warrant regrinding
-Mark
In most cases this would mean replacing the carriage too since they wear together
Typically, a low value lathe like Atlas doesn't warrant regrinding
-Mark
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2015
- Messages
- 12,241
If you see an obvious change in the height between the areas that support the carriage and the areas that don't, wear is present.
Put a straight edge across the ways, see if you can slip a feeler gauge under. Should be less than about 1.5 thousandths, but even more could be acceptable depending on the parts you intend to make and tolerances you need to hold. You may have issues making long parts to a very tight tolerance end to end, and deep boring operations may show slight taper.
Usually, the area just in front of the chuck is worn the most. Thus, when using collets and working close to the headstock, the carriage may bind. Conversely, when cranking the carriage down toward the tailstock, you may have binding again. This necessitates making a compromise when adjusting the carriage shims and rear carriage gib screws.
Lots of good parts can be made on worn lathes however. More important is how well the headstock spindle is aligned to the ways, and how well the tailstock is aligned with the headstock axis, as well as the condition of the gibs and the cutting tools used
-M
Put a straight edge across the ways, see if you can slip a feeler gauge under. Should be less than about 1.5 thousandths, but even more could be acceptable depending on the parts you intend to make and tolerances you need to hold. You may have issues making long parts to a very tight tolerance end to end, and deep boring operations may show slight taper.
Usually, the area just in front of the chuck is worn the most. Thus, when using collets and working close to the headstock, the carriage may bind. Conversely, when cranking the carriage down toward the tailstock, you may have binding again. This necessitates making a compromise when adjusting the carriage shims and rear carriage gib screws.
Lots of good parts can be made on worn lathes however. More important is how well the headstock spindle is aligned to the ways, and how well the tailstock is aligned with the headstock axis, as well as the condition of the gibs and the cutting tools used
-M
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And you're pretty happy with what you can do with it, right?
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Compensation is half of machining.
unless you are working with very new equipment , you are gonna split hairs
unless you are working with very new equipment , you are gonna split hairs
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- Jan 28, 2011
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Even new machines are built to a tolerance. One has to play with the built in machine errors and the part’s tolerance. They can be in conflict at times. Customer calls for a tolerance that is smaller than what the machine is capable of achieving is the one I run into just about weekly.
Pierre
Pierre