COLCHESTER STUDENT HEADSTOCK ADJUSTMENT

I've just installed a Short bed student 1800, and not having access to a precision level I just used a normal 3 foot level to get the machine somewhere near. Cutting a short test piece in the 3 jaw showed a taper of .002" over about 6" .......bugger!

After a read of the manual I was contemplating tackling adjusting the headstock, then a friend, a retired toolmaker suggested I loan his burnerd collet chuck and test bar, with this in place and a DTI mounted on the toolpost I noticed a noticeable jump in the readings, on further investigation I could feel a ridge between the bed and gap piece with my finger nail.

Took the gap out and found a tiny bit of paint and muck on the mating surface, cleaned everything up and carefully re fitted the gap piece.

Test bar then clocked to .0002" along the full length, put my original test piece in the collet chuck and took another light cut which again clocked at 0.0002" along its length , although a mic reading at each end seemed to show a slight taper of around a tenth

Put the 3 jaw back on and took another light cut, reading each end with the mic showed a slight taper of less than 0.0002".....good enough for my level of bodgery !

In conclusion, I would check everything possible before messing with the headstock, like me you might have missed something obvious.

My retired mentor scoffed when I was worrying about precision levelling, he has a Harrison 300 which is sat on drive blocks to jack it up and save his back, says it cuts just fine, although he doesn't consider it a machine for precision work, he has a hardinge for such occasions.