开云体育

I noticed them in a torrent named "army courses" the other day.
They're also at opensourcemachine.org . You can check them out there
and decide if they're any good or not!

- Paul Moir

Does anybody know a procudure how to make a handcrank? A while ago I ran across a procedure on one of the lathe/minilathe/machining websites. But I do not remember any more which website that was.
Thank you.
Gregor Stransky, San Antonio, Texas

There's some more TS info in the "links" section at:



There are several different mods floating around to eliminate the
clamp screw on the underside of the TS & some that provide actual
controlled adjustment. Until you modify it, you can center it easier
off the lathe.

Once you figure how far off center it is, you can remove it to access
the bottom screw. Before loosening things, measure the relative
horizontal position of the upper & lower parts of the base. After
you've done that, it's relatively easy to move it a controlled
distance to center it.

Roy

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "wrlabs" <wrlabs@...> wrote:

Hi Folks,

If I can poll the collective wisdom on this I'd appreciate it.

I'm not sure I have a problem, but I think so.

Turning down a rod I get a 0.015" difference over 5.5", please see:



I would guess that would turn into 0.030" over 11"?

If I turn a cone in the chuck and pull up the tailstock, they appear
to match up as near as I can tell.

My failed laser edge finder drew a circle around the the tailstock
center that looked centered to me.

I get this just turning a reasonably robust rod just clamped in the
chuck too (measurable difference between ends, forget what the value
is now).

I'm really lost on this, only thing I can think of (SWAG) is

(horrors)

that the bed is crooked or perhaps the saddle is crooked?!???

I'm really out of ideas, am I expecting too much of the 7x12?

Thanks & take care, Vikki.

The handiest threading accessory you can make is a handcrank!
Particularly on short, shouldered pieces turning the lathe by hand
gives more torque & much better control.

The threading dial is only useful on imperial threads which are
multiples of x/2 (assuming an imperial lead screw.) For metric
approximations you pretty much have to keep the half-nuts engaged
during the entire process. After you do that a couple of times, you'll
find it's quicker & easier to do all your threading that way. On big
lathes/long threads, it's not true; on these machines, it mostly is.

Roy

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "fricebe" <fricebe@...> wrote:

what it don't say is that it's 5 total. not 5 from center line.

Ah, but even reading about that wouldn't teach you half as well as
making the mistake! I'm not saying you'll never repeat it. But next
time you won't need to double check the spec 'cos you'll know it
straight away.

Keep up the hands on.

John

I got the Homier a couple of years ago. The first time I fired it up, it ran noticably
slower in reverse than forward. I called Homier & asked about it, and they said
that the speed should be the same both ways. Whether or not that's true, they
sent me a replacement controller board (no charge, and they didn't ask for the
original back), and forward & reverse appear to be the same now. It might be
worth a call. (From what I remember, the board didn't arrive that quickly. Maybe
3-4 weeks.)

John

Thanks for the advice. I think I'm getting it figured out. It helps
now that I changed gears to give me a recognizable thread - don't know
what TPI the stock gears give you, but it isn't pretty. Getting the
screw engaged at the same spot is a little tricky, but I'm sure it'll
come with practice - especially at higher speeds.

I'm not trying to thread anything useful yet, just practicing and
having fun!

Hi,

So "They are Recent Manuals not old or vintage." Further down in the
same listing is the Disclaimer. That says the material "come from
vintage old training...". It further adds "These materials are sold
for entertainment purposes only. They are outdated and should not be
used in anyway for other purpose."

So which is it? Vintage or not. It depends if you're reading the
sales spiel or the protective disclaimer. I hate marketing. I think
I'll go make some chips. Big blue ones. :-)

John




--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "Charles E. Kinzer"
<ckinzer@...> wrote:

I happened to see this on ebay when looking for something else.

(I have no connection with this item). The title says 7 manuals,
but it seems there are 8.

Pages_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ26197QQitemZ130093099816QQrdZ1

The description says:

These high quality manuals have been moved to CD ROM
They are in PDF Format and can be viewed Adobe Software
If you don't have Adobe it is a free download from their site
Easy to move to your Hard Drive or Open to View
You can print these on your printer if you want a hard copy
These are NOT viewable on your TV style DVD Player
They are Recent Manuals not old or vintage

EIGHT US ARMY MACHINIST MANUALS ON CD ROM
Band Saw Operations
Lathe Operations
Machine Shop Calculations
Metal Properties, Characteristics, Uses and Codes
Milling Machine Operations
Precision Measuring and Gages
Principels of Drafting and Shop Drawing
Shop Safety

The pricing says:

$6.95 and $5.25 shipping if to U.S. or Canada, but they ship

worldwide

Chuck K.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "steam4ian" <fosterscons@...> wrote:

G'day John & Vikki.
John's right regarding the DTI mounting in the 3 jaw chuck.
But for centering a work piece my comments still stands. It is handy
for turning eccentric cams to put a packer under one jaw to off set
the work piece.

I got to try that experiment, seems that it should be relative for
aligning the tailstock though. I figure that when I am confused as I
am at the moment, I must be on the verge of understanding something
LOL :).

Regarding the swarf tray: How do you get photos on this site? My
workshop is not very photogenic at the moment so here is an excuse to
tidy it up. John, like Eddie Murphy "Coming to America" I do
have "wipers" but why let the s.....* fall there in the first place?

NOW I am going to be self-conscious when taking pix in that mess here :-).

Don't know, but if you can't for some reason, let me know and I can
put them up here.

I started on aligning the tailstock and already have a disaster :-) on
my hands. Tapping it with a (nylon) jewelers hammer to move it back
seems to have moved it a LOT in both planes :-/. Just came back in
here for a break and a cup of coffee before hitting it again. Maybe
that should be breathing on it :).

I can figure out what the socket head screw on the bottom is for, but
what is the little slotted one on the back of the tailstock for, can't
just be another locking screw can it (so one could secure it to some
degree while taking the tailstock off to tighten the one on the bottom)?

I *AM* about to order the cam lock kit, so far I have spent more time
spinning a wrench on the hold down nut than I have anything else...
Really frustrating...

Fun, fun fun :-).

Take care, Vikki.

Welcome to the group, someone here should be able to answer your question.

The controller normally provides reduced drive for reverse. When the
switch is in the Rev position, is the spindle actually turning
backwards? (One possibility on a new machine is that the motor
wiring is hooked up backwards...)

John

Hello all,
I've been lurking on this group for sometime while waiting to get a
lathe and have finally bought the 7x12 from homier. I'm excited about
learning how to use it but I seem to have a problem. The lathe runs
smoothly in reverse but chugs along in the forward position.

I removed the cover where the switches are and put an ohm meter on what
appears to be the main wires on the toggle switch (black for reverse
and white for forward - I think). Sure enough, I get a nice steady
current when running in reverse and a weaker pulsating current going
forward.

Has anyone else in the group had a similar problem or have an idea how
to correct this?

Thanks - Rick

G'day John & Vikki.
John's right regarding the DTI mounting in the 3 jaw chuck.
But for centering a work piece my comments still stands. It is handy
for turning eccentric cams to put a packer under one jaw to off set
the work piece.

Regarding the swarf tray: How do you get photos on this site? My
workshop is not very photogenic at the moment so here is an excuse to
tidy it up. John, like Eddie Murphy "Coming to America" I do
have "wipers" but why let the s.....* fall there in the first place?

Must rush to a meeting.
One good turn deserves another.
Regards,
Ian

*swarf, you thought I meant something else!

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "John" <John@...> wrote:

Hi Ian,

Vikki's use of the DTI mounted in the 3 jaw to assess the tailstock
offset by indicating on a dead center is accurate and the result is
not affected by runout of the 3 jaw. Error arising from this source
is a common misconception covered on my site in the alignment

section.

It is easily proved that chuck runout doesn't affect the results:
Record values with the DTI shaft gripped directly by the chuck.

Then,

add a 30 thou or so shim between one jaw and the DTI shaft (to cause
serious runout) and record values again. The average (or

difference)

for the front/back or top/bottom readings will be the same for both
conditions. This isn't really obvious and I had to go to the shop

and

actually perform the experiment when I first realized how it

worked --

so you're not alone :-)

John

Hi Ian,

Thanks for the response, I find it most encouraging!

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "steam4ian" <fosterscons@...>
wrote:

G'day Vikki.
Looking at the comprehensive readings you have taken it appears as if
you tailstock is 8thou to the front, this would account for the
15thou taper you were getting.
Your quill alignment is good, IMHO i wouldn't do anything with that
until you have used the lathe for a while. BTW this is very good for
out of the box.

Most encouraging, thank you!

IMHO generally it is unwise to get into tuning up the lathe first off
short of cleaning up and making general adjustments eg gibs. Use the
lathe to allow surfaces to bed-in. The longer you leave it the more
time the bed has to normalise and stress relieve. Ultimately you will
get sick of working around the alignment inaccuracies and then it is
time for serious tuning.

I think I am getting over some of the intimidation at this point to even
start to approach this :-). Mostly thanks to everyone here who has
helped me understand what all this is about! The intimidation factor
has accomplished that, I have just been using it and not doing any
tuning so far :). As I learn more I am less afraid to tackle things
that were scary before.

I note that you mounted the DTI in the 3 jaw chuck. It is not safe to
assume the chuck is truely concentric, they are OK for general work,
but precision work should be either turned between centres or mounted
in a 4 jaw chuck with careful centering.

Read John's response to this a bit further along. Glad :-)! I'll have
to try the suggested experiment to really understand it though. I am
starting to realize that I do need a 4 jaw chuck, probably bigger than
3", just which one is going to be a learning experience :-).

Here in Ox we have a bird called a Bower Bird. The male builds a
bower out of grass and twigs and then collect shiny objects to place
in the bower. When complete he invites females in to see his
collection, a bit like inviting girls back to see his etching. Your
colection of "shiny things" reminds me of that. Is your bower working?

LOL, dunno about that, but I am learning and, most amazing to me,
starting to be able to make things out of metal which has always seemed
like magic(k?) to me :-).

So far all it has attracted is my landlord who wants much for nothing,
probably not a good result :). He doesn't like me having this stuff in
the apartment, but he sure doesn't mind when I use it for him :-). Will
probably result in having to move eventually, which is not a bad thing.

Perhaps it is that strange attraction for .au that I have had as long
as I can remember that leads me that way :-)! Have a net.friend in
Adelaide (electronics tech) who is trying to teach me Austrailian :-).
And another mate (see ;-) there who is a helo pilot who is also into
flight simulation :-).

I am impressed by your site.

Thanks for the kind words! Just trying to document what I am doing on
the off chance it might help someone else. I have gotten a lot of help
/ understanding from folks who have done this. Mine is by no means as
good as many, but if it helps anyone I'll be happy. That I have an
excuse to get a decent digital camera (Cannon S2 IS) and to putz with
using the linux tools to make web pages is just icing on the cake :-).

One good turn deserves another.

Indeed it does Sir!

I'm going to get brave and try to figure out how to square up the
tailstock today :-). That locking screw being on the bottom concerns
me, but we'll see.

Thanks so very much!

Take care, Vikki.

G'day Ed.
Firstly, congratulations on giving it a go.
You haven't told us whether you are cutting imperial (inch) or metric
threads. For the moment I will assume you are cutting imperial with an
imperial lead screw.
Firstly make sure the thread chasing dial pinion engages the lead
screw, a screw in the side of the dial block allows the pinion to be
swung into the lead screw.
As you traverse the saddle the dial will rotate, also if you drive the
lead screw without the saddle moving the screw will rotate. If you
engage the half nuts then the dial will remain stopped.
When cutting a thread on the first pass engage the half nuts when the
dial is at a number against the line on the block, any number, but 1 is
the best. Do the pass, withdraw the tool and disengage the half nuts.
Return the saddle to the start position, doesn't have to be precise,
and adjust the tool for the next cut. With the lathe running the dial
will have been turning through all this. Here is the crunch. watch the
dial and as the number (eg "1") comes up against the line on the block
gently engage the half nuts, the dial should stop with the number at or
near the line on the dial block.
Using "1" as the number will work for all common (I repeat common, eg
UNC & UNF) threads. As you get more confident you start using other
number combinations on the dial appropriate to different thread pitches
(see the table on the change gear cover). This saves time as you can
engage the half nuts at say 3, 6, 9 & 12, ie you don't have to wait
for a full turn of the dial each cut. Once you get the hang of this
your confidence level will take a quantum leap.
Metric threads are somewhat more difficult to understand but there is
an excellent treatise in www.mini-lathe.org.uk; read it anyway it is
good stuff.
My morning coffee has finished so I had better get on with work.

One good turn deserves another.
Regards,
Ian


is--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "Ed" <edo@...> wrote:

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "Ed" <edo@...> wrote:

I tried to cut my first threads, but couldn't get synched up for
additional cuts. I figured out the dial needs to be adjusted to begin
with to even get it to start turning, but it stops turning when I
engage the lead screw nut. Doesn't it need to turn the whole time,
even when I move the tool back to the beginning of the cut? If so, how
do I adjust this thing to keep it turning?

You don't, at least on my Cummins 7x12. This disturbed me at first,
but it doesn't matter.

I haven't done a lot of threading, but what I have done has been
successful (one exception while learning) :-). My dial quits turning
when I engage the half nuts, which isn't a problem.

What you need to know is what marks on the dial are for what thread
(some have multiple number that are right, just use the same one each
time).

Make a very light first cut and check it with a thread gauge. Learned
that the hard way when I got the gear sequence for a metric thread
wrong :-).

Back off the cross slide enough to clear, making sure you note the
setting (I set mine to zero for the first pass, just *barely* touching).

Move the carriage back behind the work.

Move the cross slide back in for the next cut ( adding .002-.003 each
pass, is what I used). Yes, it takes a few passes :-).

Watch the dial and when it gets to the right number for the thread,
re-engage the half nuts. It doesn't matter how far behind the part
you are.

Repeat until you get the desired depth.

After the trepidation of getting the gears set up right, figuring out
the dial and doing the first one, it is pretty easy, just somewhat
tedious. Not afraid of the process any more :)!

Jose's video on the subject went a long way to getting here :-)!

Another option, that I haven't used, is to back off the cross slide
and run the lathe in reverse without disengaging the half nuts until
you get past the end of the part.

It is a *very* nice feeling when you get that first threaded part out
and it works!

Hope this helps!

Take care, Vikki.

Good thinking, Ian. I think I'll fit some sort of spring-loaded catch in place of the screw, for ease of operation.
Andy

steam4ian <fosterscons@...> wrote:
G'day Rance.
If Andy is right regarding the purpose of your mystery screw then my
advice differ from his! This screw is important unless you want your
tail stock to crash to the floor and break the handwheel and bend the
screw. It is too easy to run the saddle back or push the tailstock
back to get more working space only to end in an oops! I haven't done
it myself simply because the stop screw is in place.
If your lathe doesn't have a way of preventing the tailstock
inadvertently sliding off the bed then I recommend you use the spare
screw for that purpose, it can be your first customisation.

One good turn deserves another.
Regards
Ian

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., andrew franks <andyf1108@...>
wrote:

I think that screw is supposed to stop the tailstock sliding. Not a

lot of use, really, unless you set up your lathe on a steep hillside.

A

rancerupp <rupps@...> wrote:
Well, I just dove in with both feet to get it cleaned up.

I decided

to go ahead and disassemble the cross slide, compound, and

tailstock

for the cleaning. Since the parts were away from the lathe, I just
used paint thinner for cleaning. I didn't find much more than a
little protective layer of grease, really not much. Oh, I did find
some surface rust on the cross slide. I bit the bullet and got

after

it with some 400 grit and that was that. A bit of it was on the

under

side of the cross slide but I think it will be ok. It was at the

very

end.

Got it all put back together lubricating with Mobil 1 as I went. It
seemed to go back together well. I had to tinker with the nut for

the

screw on the compound. If you don't get it juuuuuuuust right, the
compound gets tight at one end of travel. Maybe I shouldn't have
removed it for cleaning. No big deal. I may have to fiddle more

with

that later.

I still have to degrease the pullys on the HS before crankin it up.
I'm thinking that removing them would be prudent. Two have clip

rings

and the one on the 'other' end of the spindle has a threaded nut.

Any

one know of a reason I shouldn't remove these for cleaning?

One thing I was pleasantly surprised with when I first got to

looking

closer to my new toy was to see all the oil ports with the check
balls. However, could someone tell me what kind of oil can or spout

I

need to oil those things? Is there a special fitting on oil cans

for

those?

Lastly, during the unpacking from the crate, I found one loose

screw

rolling around underneath the lathe. During the cleaning process,

the

only place I could see where a threaded hole did not have a screw

is

at the TS end of the bed. There's a hole in the casting below the

TS.

However, I can't see where it would make a difference whether it

was

installed or not.

Oh, and lastly #2, could another HF 8x12 owner tell me if it is
supposed to come with a pan underneath the lathe? I knew it did not
have a back splash but thought it DID have a pan that goes

underneath

it.

Thanks to all of you for the information you have provided me and

for

the encouragement that has gotten me this far in metal turning.

Rance






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Hi Ian,

Vikki's use of the DTI mounted in the 3 jaw to assess the tailstock
offset by indicating on a dead center is accurate and the result is
not affected by runout of the 3 jaw. Error arising from this source
is a common misconception covered on my site in the alignment section.

It is easily proved that chuck runout doesn't affect the results:
Record values with the DTI shaft gripped directly by the chuck. Then,
add a 30 thou or so shim between one jaw and the DTI shaft (to cause
serious runout) and record values again. The average (or difference)
for the front/back or top/bottom readings will be the same for both
conditions. This isn't really obvious and I had to go to the shop and
actually perform the experiment when I first realized how it worked --
so you're not alone :-)

John


--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "steam4ian" <fosterscons@...> wrote:

G'day Vikki.

<snip>

I note that you mounted the DTI in the 3 jaw chuck. It is not safe to
assume the chuck is truely concentric, they are OK for general work,
but precision work should be either turned between centres or mounted
in a 4 jaw chuck with careful centering.

<snip>

One good turn deserves another.
Regards,
Ian
--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "wrlabs" <wrlabs@> wrote:

Hi Ian,

Thanks for the response!

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "steam4ian" <fosterscons@>
wrote:

G'day Vikki
Your site shows you have a dial indicator. Mount it on the cross
slide and extend the tail stock quill out to the limit of its

travel

and clamp it. Run the dial indicator along the side and top of the
quill. You may well find the dial indicator moves during the

travers

indicating that the quill is not parallel to the bed axis. Unless

you

have spent time working over the tailstock you will find that it

is

too high by up to 20 thou and the the quill alignment is out by

up to

the same amount.

That was the easy part :). Spent most of the evening working at
following these directions and I am still not sure I got this right.

If you would please look at:



The first 4 are checking the quill on the tailstock and it seems to

look

pretty good, Up by 0.001 in the back and toward the rear of the

lathe

by 0.0025 (closest to the tailstock, front of quill was used as

zero).

I spent yesterday finally getting my tailstock to
near "perfect" alignment and height yesterday, this has taken me

10

months of intermittent effort.

I can understand that after tonight :-). Made the measurements

several

different ways and many different times and got somewhat different
values. Still confused, but somewhat less so (I think :-).

Measuring the dead center with the DI clamped in the chuck, you see

the

results. I tried it using the quill end (just get the ball up on

it)

and got a different set of values:

Ball sitting on top (rear of ball touching) rather than front

touching

as in the pix referenced above:

<pre>
Ball back resting on top of quill, dial up............: reference

zero.

Ball back resting on front of quill, dial front......: -0.008 / -

0.0085

Ball back resting on bottom of quill, dial down..: -0.0035 / -0.004
Ball back resting on back of quill, dial rea.........: -0.005
</pre>

Pretending I am getting a clue here, that would make the back end

of

the work closer to the front of the lathe which would cut the

workpiece

thinner than the front (chuck end).

Many different variations in the different pieces, certainly a

challenge

to get them all working the right way. Starting to think this

little

7x12 is rather amazing for as good as it is out of the box after

being

shipped halfway across the planet!

I moved the clamping screw from under
to above the foot.

Need to figure out how to do that one, not clear to me why it is on

the

bottom in the first place, just seems wrong to me. So far what

tapers I

needed were short enough to do the math and set the compound
accordingly.

Don't use the rolling centre when making alignment;

Did indeed use the dead center that came with the lathe.

for critical work
use a dead centre with the tip lubricated with molebdenum grease.

Understand, thanks.

use the method which holds a shim between the centre to verify
alignment.

Do you mean crush (dent) the shim between a pointed rod in the chuck
against the center in the tailstock to see if they match up?

BTW. It turning between centres the alignment of the headstock

will

not effect the job. If the tailstock quill is not aligned then the
alignment with the headstock will differ as the quill is extended.

With it having been fully extended to get space to work, I was

getting

all it has to give :).

Keep up the work on the laser centre and edge finder, it looks a
great project.

Problem with using cheap laser pointers to do that is that NONE of

them

(that I have tried so far) project a decent dot, if a dot at all.

One

can get a donut pretty easily, but that requires better eyeballs

than I

have to use. I looked into decent laser modules (Digikey, IIRC)

and the

folks offering them for $40-$60 are one fantastic deal. Of the 5 I

have

tried so far, none was significantly better than the first one I did
:-/. If there are decent laser modules at affordable prices out

there,

I have been unable to locate them :-(.

Thanks very much & take care, Vikki.

That threw me off at first also, but no. As soon as you engage the
leadscrew, the threading will stop turning. Since the dial is moving
at the same speed as the leadscrew, it won't be changing. The purpose
of the threading dial is so you can REengage it at the same relative
position.

Mike

Thanks, to both of you. I think you are right. However, to stop the
TS from sliding down the hillside there will need to be a bracket in
addition to the screw. I think I can handle that.

I finished up degreasing the pullys. Took two of them off and left
one on and cleaned it in place (I need to get some snap ring pliers).
Well, I thought I was careful but ended up not being able to remember
which way the pullys went back on. (And to think I had a digital
camera just 10' away and didn't use it. It has a better memory than I
do.) The only one in question is the one on the motor. I have it with
the big side toward the motor. Can anyone confirm this is correct?

Anyone know what is needed to oil it via the oil ports with check
valves?

Rance


--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "steam4ian" <fosterscons@...>
wrote:

G'day Rance.
If Andy is right regarding the purpose of your mystery screw then

my

advice differ from his! This screw is important unless you want

your

tail stock to crash to the floor and break the handwheel and bend

the

screw. It is too easy to run the saddle back or push the tailstock
back to get more working space only to end in an oops! I haven't

done

it myself simply because the stop screw is in place.
If your lathe doesn't have a way of preventing the tailstock
inadvertently sliding off the bed then I recommend you use the

spare

screw for that purpose, it can be your first customisation.

One good turn deserves another.
Regards
Ian

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., andrew franks <andyf1108@>
wrote:

I think that screw is supposed to stop the tailstock sliding. Not

a

lot of use, really, unless you set up your lathe on a steep

hillside.

A

G'day Vikki.
Looking at the comprehensive readings you have taken it appears as if
you tailstock is 8thou to the front, this would account for the
15thou taper you were getting.
Your quill alignment is good, IMHO i wouldn't do anything with that
until you have used the lathe for a while. BTW this is very good for
out of the box.
IMHO generally it is unwise to get into tuning up the lathe first off
short of cleaning up and making general adjustments eg gibs. Use the
lathe to allow surfaces to bed-in. The longer you leave it the more
time the bed has to normalise and stress relieve. Ultimately you will
get sick of working around the alignment inaccuracies and then it is
time for serious tuning.
I note that you mounted the DTI in the 3 jaw chuck. It is not safe to
assume the chuck is truely concentric, they are OK for general work,
but precision work should be either turned between centres or mounted
in a 4 jaw chuck with careful centering.
Here in Ox we have a bird called a Bower Bird. The male builds a
bower out of grass and twigs and then collect shiny objects to place
in the bower. When complete he invites females in to see his
collection, a bit like inviting girls back to see his etching. Your
colection of "shiny things" reminds me of that. Is your bower working?
I am impressed by your site.

One good turn deserves another.
Regards,
Ian
--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "wrlabs" <wrlabs@...> wrote:

Hi Ian,

Thanks for the response!

--- In 7x12minilathe@..., "steam4ian" <fosterscons@>
wrote:

G'day Vikki
Your site shows you have a dial indicator. Mount it on the cross
slide and extend the tail stock quill out to the limit of its

travel

and clamp it. Run the dial indicator along the side and top of the
quill. You may well find the dial indicator moves during the

travers

indicating that the quill is not parallel to the bed axis. Unless

you

have spent time working over the tailstock you will find that it

is

too high by up to 20 thou and the the quill alignment is out by

up to

the same amount.

That was the easy part :). Spent most of the evening working at
following these directions and I am still not sure I got this right.

If you would please look at:



The first 4 are checking the quill on the tailstock and it seems to

look

pretty good, Up by 0.001 in the back and toward the rear of the

lathe

by 0.0025 (closest to the tailstock, front of quill was used as

zero).

I spent yesterday finally getting my tailstock to
near "perfect" alignment and height yesterday, this has taken me

10

months of intermittent effort.

I can understand that after tonight :-). Made the measurements

several

different ways and many different times and got somewhat different
values. Still confused, but somewhat less so (I think :-).

Measuring the dead center with the DI clamped in the chuck, you see

the

results. I tried it using the quill end (just get the ball up on

it)

and got a different set of values:

Ball sitting on top (rear of ball touching) rather than front

touching

as in the pix referenced above:

<pre>
Ball back resting on top of quill, dial up............: reference

zero.

Ball back resting on front of quill, dial front......: -0.008 / -

0.0085

Ball back resting on bottom of quill, dial down..: -0.0035 / -0.004
Ball back resting on back of quill, dial rea.........: -0.005
</pre>

Pretending I am getting a clue here, that would make the back end

of

the work closer to the front of the lathe which would cut the

workpiece

thinner than the front (chuck end).

Many different variations in the different pieces, certainly a

challenge

to get them all working the right way. Starting to think this

little

7x12 is rather amazing for as good as it is out of the box after

being

shipped halfway across the planet!

I moved the clamping screw from under
to above the foot.

Need to figure out how to do that one, not clear to me why it is on

the

bottom in the first place, just seems wrong to me. So far what

tapers I

needed were short enough to do the math and set the compound
accordingly.

Don't use the rolling centre when making alignment;

Did indeed use the dead center that came with the lathe.

for critical work
use a dead centre with the tip lubricated with molebdenum grease.

Understand, thanks.

use the method which holds a shim between the centre to verify
alignment.

Do you mean crush (dent) the shim between a pointed rod in the chuck
against the center in the tailstock to see if they match up?

BTW. It turning between centres the alignment of the headstock

will

not effect the job. If the tailstock quill is not aligned then the
alignment with the headstock will differ as the quill is extended.

With it having been fully extended to get space to work, I was

getting

all it has to give :).

Keep up the work on the laser centre and edge finder, it looks a
great project.

Problem with using cheap laser pointers to do that is that NONE of

them

(that I have tried so far) project a decent dot, if a dot at all.

One

can get a donut pretty easily, but that requires better eyeballs

than I

have to use. I looked into decent laser modules (Digikey, IIRC)

and the

folks offering them for $40-$60 are one fantastic deal. Of the 5 I

have

tried so far, none was significantly better than the first one I did
:-/. If there are decent laser modules at affordable prices out

there,

I have been unable to locate them :-(.

Thanks very much & take care, Vikki.