Like 99% of them, my 9A has some bed wear near the chuck. More than a few, less than most. I don't do large work, nor much long turning, it's tight and I can cut to a thou diameter with the DRO. Spindle tir is near nil, there's little else it needs.
But while it makes no real practical sense, I can't help but want to make it better.
Totally crazy I'm not (just partially), and I'm wondering whether it would be somewhat practical to consider a professional bed regrind- and a DIY Rulon job on the saddle and tailstock, perhaps the headstock (? to follow)...
Pros:
Cheaper. My guess is that most of the cost of a professional rebuild is the labor in hand scraping/fitting. A professional bed regrind ensures that the bed is back to original specs or better. The saddle is small enough to be manageable on a mill for truing/taking down the v-ways, same with the tailstock. Simple crate for the bed, and ship it away.
I'll dare to wonder out loud why the strips couldn't just be machined instead of scraped?
A precision bed grind...and v-ways and flats that are also machined, why can't the saddle/strips be milled to the required thickness/clearance after being glued in?
Heck, if the centers are dished out a tad so it doesn't rock- and I get it even within a thousandth it's far better than currently. Not sure whether it's practical to leave the ways under the headstock "as original" since I have no reason to suspect an alignment issue, and there's obviously no wear on those surfaces. I'd be shooting to bring only the saddle and tailstock back to factory elevation so that the apron ends up where it needs to be with no work needed.
I'm sure I'm not considering something...gluing in strips and using a mill instead of hand scraping would be way too easy. If so, learning to scrape is a skill I'd like.
Cons:
Cost. Haven't priced a regrind (4-1/2') "only". I know a full monty is $5-$7k which would be insane. But a couple grand might be justifiable...
Anyone that's done (or decided not to)?
But while it makes no real practical sense, I can't help but want to make it better.
Totally crazy I'm not (just partially), and I'm wondering whether it would be somewhat practical to consider a professional bed regrind- and a DIY Rulon job on the saddle and tailstock, perhaps the headstock (? to follow)...
Pros:
Cheaper. My guess is that most of the cost of a professional rebuild is the labor in hand scraping/fitting. A professional bed regrind ensures that the bed is back to original specs or better. The saddle is small enough to be manageable on a mill for truing/taking down the v-ways, same with the tailstock. Simple crate for the bed, and ship it away.
I'll dare to wonder out loud why the strips couldn't just be machined instead of scraped?
A precision bed grind...and v-ways and flats that are also machined, why can't the saddle/strips be milled to the required thickness/clearance after being glued in?
Heck, if the centers are dished out a tad so it doesn't rock- and I get it even within a thousandth it's far better than currently. Not sure whether it's practical to leave the ways under the headstock "as original" since I have no reason to suspect an alignment issue, and there's obviously no wear on those surfaces. I'd be shooting to bring only the saddle and tailstock back to factory elevation so that the apron ends up where it needs to be with no work needed.
I'm sure I'm not considering something...gluing in strips and using a mill instead of hand scraping would be way too easy. If so, learning to scrape is a skill I'd like.
Cons:
Cost. Haven't priced a regrind (4-1/2') "only". I know a full monty is $5-$7k which would be insane. But a couple grand might be justifiable...
Anyone that's done (or decided not to)?