Greg G. said:

Leetollett said:

....
Yesterday I finally felt secure enough to start
on a small bowl. I slide the tail stock over to
the head and noticed that the two points don't
line up. They are off by about 1/4 inch up and
down and a small amount side to side. While
trying to line them up I noticed that the head
stock is not sitting solidly on the rail with the
locking handle loosened. It rocks all around until
you lock the handle. Shouldn't it rest solid like
the tail stock?? The book doesn't say anything
about this, only if the locking nut needs to be
adjusted. If it was flat on the rail then the two
points would line up.

Lee,
Absolutely yes! They should line up, and IMHO the headstock should not
rock - even when not tightened by the locking lever. This is likely a
sign of poor milling tolerances. Welcome to the era of Chinese cast
iron and lackadaisical quality control - although Jet is typically
better than some.

Not to be smart, but this is something that should have been checked
when the lathe was first unboxed and set-up. It isn't too unusual for
sliding headstock lathes to have a minor misalignment side to side
that requires bumping the head/tail stocks into perfect position, but
an alignment problem in the vertical direction is problematic.

Knock the assembly down and check for debris or casting/milling flash
on the headstock rail runners. If you see nothing, and all is clean, I
would see about returning the unit and exchanging for a unit that is
milled and aligned properly. If it is too late for that, you might
try filing any high spots off until aligned properly, but this is not
an operation to be performed lightly or carelessly.

I'll leave it to the Google archives and others to explain the myriad
of reasons why this is a problem...

Another poster illuminates a possible ambiguity.

Your post wasn't clear on this point, but if they line up when
tightened down, you may dismiss the above. Of course, when they are
not tightened down to the bed, there may be some misalignment - that's
the nature of minimalist mechanisms. FWIW, the Jet lathes have a
pretty good reputation.


Greg G.