Christopher Tidy wrote:
Hi all,

Today I spent an idle moment pondering the design of machine tools. It
occurred to me that the thing that often kills the accuracy of old
lathes is wear to the ways at the headstock end. So I thought, why not
build a lathe with replaceable ways? Either precision ground bars which
screw onto the casting, or a simple set of ways which bolt onto the
headstock at one end, and perhaps a pair of mounting feet underneath?
And the best solution would be if all the manufacturers used the same
dimensions of replaceable ways for each size of lathe...

Anyone ever seen a lathe with intentionally replaceable ways?

The Taig Micro Lathe has a replaceable bed. It's similar in
construction to a jeweller's lathe. The replacement only costs $62.25,
but it a rather small lathe, and is a bit under half the cost of the
complete unit in kit form.

Leon