On Tue, 21 Jun 2011 06:02:24 GMT, "Harold & Susan Vordos"
wrote:


"Andrew VK3BFA" wrote in message
...
OK, whats the preffered way of doing the horizontal and vertical
alignment of the headstock and tailstock. I have a calibrated bar and
finger indicator. No machinists level, so will take it as a given the
bed is flat and true.

Is it between centres each end. (my first choice.)

If you did it using the 3-jaw chuck and the dead centre at the
tailstock method, as I have seen in places, would this not just
introduce more error into the process as the 3-jaw certainly aint
true ...and it would give a different offset every time you chucked
something up anyway.

Replies appreciated,

Andrew VK3BFA.

To not level the lathe isn't a wise decision. Only when the bed is level
(in a common plane, even if it's not really level) can you do any meaningful
adjustments. If you rely on the chuck and tailstock, you may get the
reading to come true by tweaking the bed, or it may indicate it's true when
it's not, but that doesn't translate to a properly setup lathe. Beg,
borrow, or steal a decent level to get started. You can have minor twist
in the bed and not be any the wiser. If you happen to have, all your
setup time is wasted. Remember, the real purpose of a level isn't to
*truly* level the lathe, although getting it level is easier than trying to
remember how much error you have end to end, so you can duplicate the error.
The real purpose is to insure that the bed isn't twisted.

Harold

Based on my experience with one lathe, I'm no longer a great fan of
leveling. I bought a very expensive level for our Mazak M4 lathe,
16,000 lb. 22" X 72", and leveled it perfectly.

Then chucked a 30" long 6" diameter rod. The idea here was the biggest
thing that could be run without a tailstock. A light cut showed a
taper. Started raising one of the legs on the tailstock end and got it
to cut true. Anyway, level shows twist, machine runs right.

I own the level and would probably get the next lathe close. But the
proof is in how it cuts. IMHO, skipping the level step on small lathes
might not hurt that much.

Karl