# Lathe - Is this normal?



## Jamespz03 (May 26, 2017)

So if I hold the tailstock, when it's loose enough to slide back and forth, I can twist it side to side enough that it makes noise. I have not measured the distance but it seems there's more play than I would expect. It's my first lathe so this could be normal or it could be a problem. You can probably guess which brand I made the mistake of buying. The company won't support their product so I'm stuck with it until I can upgrade. 

Thanks for any help and let me know if my question doesn't make sense.

James


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## Edgar (May 26, 2017)

Well, I'm not certain which lathe you have, so it might be helpful so others with the same lathe can share their experiences & possibly offer suggestions.

Any low-end lathe will have looser tolerances than higher end lathes. They all need adjustments from time to time - the cheaper ones just need more & more often.

My first lathe was a Rockler Excelsior (identical to one of the Harbor Freight) lathe. The tail stock has a little side to side play, but I've learned how to position it for good alignment with my head stick.


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## Jamespz03 (May 26, 2017)

Edgar said:


> Well, I'm not certain which lathe you have, so it might be helpful so others with the same lathe can share their experiences & possibly offer suggestions.
> 
> Any low-end lathe will have looser tolerances than higher end lathes. They all need adjustments from time to time - the cheaper ones just need more & more often.
> 
> My first lathe was a Rockler Excelsior (identical to one of the Harbor Freight) lathe. The tail stock has a little side to side play, but I've learned how to position it for good alignment with my head stick.



Thanks. I think you're saying I got what I paid for, which makes sense. I'm not trying to complain or whine or bad mouth a company so I purposely left that out.

How would you adjust the side to side? 
I appreciate the help!

James


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## Charlie_W (May 26, 2017)

Sometimes, you can get consistent alignment by either pushing the tailstock against the back or rear portion of the bed (way) or holding it against the front bed way while locking it down. You will have to experiment to see which is best for your lathe. 
Placing a dead center or another live center in the headstock will allow you to at least have the centers line up closely. Still not the same as having a double ended Morse taper alignment tool to make sure both head and tail are on the same plane.

Good luck!


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## jttheclockman (May 26, 2017)

And the name of the lathe is-------------------------?


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## Edgar (May 26, 2017)

Unfortunately, there probably is no adjustment for that. The problem is most likely that the guide bar on the bottom of the tail stock is a little too narrow for the slot in the ways.or it's sides may not be perfectly parallel. On cheap lathes like my Excelsior, the guide bar is a machined part of the tailstock, so it can't be adjusted & can only be replaced by replacing the whole tailstock.

On my Nova DVR, the guide bars are replaceable & adjustable. Just one of the cost savings compromises of an inexpensive lathe.

You might remove the tail stock to examine & measure the guide bar & also examine it for any other possible issues. If there is an obvious problem & it is a recent purchase, you might try to get it exchanged. 

Like I said, mine has a little play, but not so much that it's a problem. Once I position mine where I want it, I just have to **** it slightly to one side before I lock it down & it's properly aligned every time.


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## D.Oliver (May 26, 2017)

Edgar said:


> Once I position mine where I want it, I just have to **** it slightly to one side before I lock it down & it's properly aligned every time.


 
:biggrin:

Do I even want to know what your doing to your lathe!


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## AnB_Daddy (May 27, 2017)

.004 shim stock and 3M double sided tape work wonders for tightening ways. 


Typos courtesy of my iPhone


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## Jamespz03 (May 30, 2017)

Thanks for the suggestions.




jttheclockman said:


> And the name of the lathe is-------------------------?



PSI...


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## eharri446 (May 30, 2017)

You can order a double ended Morse taper alignment tool made by Teknatool (Nova) from Rockler for around $30.00. I was able to get one from my local store and it showed me that my head stock and tail stock were in line with each other.


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## Marmotjr (Jun 1, 2017)

eharri446 said:


> You can order a double ended Morse taper alignment tool made by Teknatool (Nova) from Rockler for around $30.00. I was able to get one from my local store and it showed me that my head stock and tail stock were in line with each other.



Or you can just bring your drive spur and your live center together and save the money.   If the points line up.....


My PSI turncrafter has the same issue.  It's definitely a defect in design.  I plan on shimming the track on the tailstock someday, but for right now, I just pull the the tailstock to one side and make sure the point of the live center enters the piece dead center as it's turning.

I've found that for drilling with a Jacobs chuck, I leave the tailstock loose and just gently push on it.   The motion of the blank causes the bit to self center.


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## duncsuss (Jun 1, 2017)

Marmotjr said:


> Or you can just bring your drive spur and your live center together and save the money.   If the points line up.....



If the points line up ... it means nothing. I can make points line up and the two axes can be way out of alignment. For example:


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## dogcatcher (Jun 1, 2017)

Is your lathe sitting a flat and level table?


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## Marmotjr (Jun 1, 2017)

duncsuss said:


> Marmotjr said:
> 
> 
> > Or you can just bring your drive spur and your live center together and save the money.   If the points line up.....
> ...



Very true.  Good point.  They have to be co planar.

It is still doable using the centers and a straight edge though, assuming your lathe has two faces that are supposed to be co planar.


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## duncsuss (Jun 1, 2017)

Marmotjr said:


> It is still doable using the centers and a straight edge though, assuming your lathe has two faces that are supposed to be co planar.



Agreed.

But the Acruline is less than $20 from Amazon (right now I see it listed at $16.99 and qualifies for Prime shipping.) Much easier, one simple tool that gets the job done right.


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## Marmotjr (Jun 2, 2017)

duncsuss said:


> Marmotjr said:
> 
> 
> > It is still doable using the centers and a straight edge though, assuming your lathe has two faces that are supposed to be co planar.
> ...



Well, damn.  It went on my wishlist.  As I have the same issue as the OP, and have just been careful to work around it, this might come in very handy.  Some shims and I'll be all set.

So, Initially I thought duct tape to shim, but that won't slide between the sides of the tailstock and the ways.  What material would you guys use?  I'm thinking platers tape, but it's intended to have weak adhesion.


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## duncsuss (Jun 2, 2017)

Marmotjr said:


> duncsuss said:
> 
> 
> > Marmotjr said:
> ...



I'd use metal or plastic shim stock. glue with CA or epoxy. Something like THIS stuff, but you'd only need a couple of square inches so it's silly to buy lots. Maybe strips of thin acetate sheet ("overhead projector slides" from back in the day) would work.


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## Curly (Jun 2, 2017)

You could also buy a couple cheap sets of feeler gauges and use a blade or two as needed.


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## maxwell_smart007 (Jun 2, 2017)

On my lathe, there's a nut underneath the ways in the tailstock that tightens as I crank down on the tailstock locking handle to lock it in place.  SOmetimes, I have to retighten it a bit with my hand BEFORE I lock down the tailstock, as it tends to loosen a bit over time. Before I do that, I can rock my tailstock a bit from side to side, but that goes away when I get it sufficiently snug before tightening it down.  

That, combined with a piece of hotel key that I use to make my two points coplaner, is all I've had to do to make mine workable.


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## duncsuss (Jun 2, 2017)

Curly said:


> You could also buy a couple cheap sets of feeler gauges and use a blade or two as needed.



Thanks -- I couldn't remember the name of them.

(Strange, normally it's stuff I learned today that I can't remember -- things I've know for 50 years I can recall perfectly!)


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## PenPal (Jun 2, 2017)

duncsuss said:


> Marmotjr said:
> 
> 
> > Or you can just bring your drive spur and your live center together and save the money.   If the points line up.....
> ...



I use a thinnish feeler guage it then undeniably tells you when you interface between the points what is happening in 360 degrees.
 For two of my lathes I drilled and tapped the tail stock then locked flat headed screws to give a proper alignment.

Peter.


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## duncsuss (Jun 2, 2017)

PenPal said:


> I use a thinnish feeler guage it then undeniably tells you when you interface between the points what is happening in 360 degrees.



Ya think? I'm fairly confident it will not differentiate between the two points approaching along a single axis or the two points approaching along two axes that intersect at the point of contact.

I'm trying this experiment: I've got a shim (it's a thin plastic ruler) and two mechanical pencils. I'm trapping the shim between the pencil tips. They are not on the same axis by a long shot -- yet the shim isn't deflecting the way it does the instant I move one of the points a hair away from the other point.


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## Curly (Jun 2, 2017)

Here are 4 picks of one of my Grizzly 12/20 bench lathes. I put a box cutter blade between the live and dead centers instead of a rule or feeler blade. First 2 pics are from in front of the lathe. First with the tail stock pulled towards me and locked down. Second is pushed away. You can see the tail stock is a little low from the slight tilt of the box cutter blade. Pics 3 and 4 are from above with 3 being pulled towards me and 4 pushed away. It show that somewhere between the two the tail stock would be centred. What the doesn't show is if the axis of the head and tail stocks are the same.

Dang the pics from in front of the lathe are upside down and first 2 and last 2 arein reverse order. Phones.


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## More4dan (Jun 3, 2017)

If you check with the rear center next to the tail stock and then extended, it will test if the there is twist to the tail stock relative to the head as in the drawing posted. If they are out of plane the extending of the rear will quickly show this, not very likely unless there is significant slack. 

At first I didn't realize the tailstock isn't adjustable on a wood lath.  I've only turned on a metal lathe where the tailstock can be easily adjusted. 

Danny


Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app


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