Repairing wear on lathe guides
 

I have an old Atlas 12" x 36" lathe.The crossfeeed and compound rest
both have normal wear patterns. If I adjust the guides such that the
crossfeed and/or compound rest are "tight" at one end of their travel,
by the time I crank them to the other end, they won't budge. And if I
adjust them correctly at the other end of travel, the slop at the
original extreme of travel is unacceptable.

Is there a way to fix the lathe - given that I have a nicely outfitted
shop with old tools that probably won't hold to the tolerances I
suspect I will need to true up the lathe?


Gary

Repairing wear on lathe guides
 

Is there a way to fix the lathe - given that I have a nicely outfitted
shop with old tools that probably won't hold to the tolerances I
suspect I will need to true up the lathe?

There's two ways. One is scraping everything back in. Slow and tedious work.
if you're interested the bible on the subject is "Machine tool
Reconditioning" by Connelly.

Other route for a smaller machine like yours is to take it clear apart and
send it out to a shop to have it reground.

Your choice, have you got more time or money? (I don't have either- my
machines just get used as is)

Karl