This is embarrasing

Iain,

Forgive me if I am stating the obvious [this may be what you did anyway]:

If you keep the tension 'on' via the puller, whilst hammering; things tend to move more easily.

MichaelG.

Iain

It is nice to see that you are working your way through the problem. You are now like "Grasshopper" in the old Kung Fu TV show i.e. "becoming one with the machine".

Cheers

Bill

ARGH!!!!!!

OK. So the spindle appears to be out of alignment with respect to the bed.

Using Rollie's dad's method, I took two test bars (both ground bars sourced from scanners, one about 6mm and the other 10mm) and tested the min and max deflection at 3 points along the bar. One near the chuck, one about 120mm and one near the end at about 220mm (these numbers rough, but I can recheck with precision if need be. All measurements in 0.01mm

Small bar

538 - 542: 540/4

510 - 518: 516/8

475 - 485: 480/10

Big bar

850-855: 850/5

840 -844: 842/4

828-832: 830/4

Taking the big bar results, it would seem that the spindle is aligned moving away from the operator by about .2 mm (8 thou) over about 250mm (the little bar results are rather worse, but I suspect the dial indicator was a bit low or a bit high).

Also the chuck centre is out by about 1 - 2 thou.

I've put a dial indicator on the outside of the chuck mount and the edge of the face of it and that appears to be in spot on - no movement in the indicator.

The question is how to align the head stock? And I suppose I should apply Rollie's Dad's method to the vertical alignment.

Given that the V bar of the bed provides this alignment (and I cleaned it and the headstock good and proper before re-assembly), it sounds like my fear of having bent something is realised.

Is it possible that I just haven't pressed the spindle home quite enough?

Kwai Chang fears that walking the paper strip with no trace lies well in his future.. But lifting the burning brazier feels like a daily occurrence...

And any help or advice will be appreciated....

Iain

Hi Ian, if you check the run out of the face that the chuck mounts onto as in this, **LINK** and you find there is none that is of any significance, then I doubt that you have bent or misaligned anything. Don't trust a three jaw chuck to run exactly true either.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 29/12/2015 12:23:08

Have a read here.....

http://www.gadgetbuilder.com/Lathe_Align.html