Trailer Hooked and Ready To Roll

Been looking out the window this morning, and either gonna unhook the flatbed, and move some hay with the hay trailer, or leave the flatbed hooked. A brand spankin' new lathe is about a few hours away...………

Being kind of reversed (I might have been a breach presentation at birth, dunno), I finally got around to actually taking a look at the bed on the lathe. Shoulda done it sooner, but like I say...…..

Checked to see if the doggone thing was reasonably non-twisted.





Before everybody has a tizzy, it's good enough for preliminary measurments (y'all call that metrology I believe ). Actually, we're lookin' at a 650# machine that isn't gonna show much twist unless it's bolted to a corrugated floor. Not enough weight to move the casting that much. More on that later...

First check was to find an approximation of front to back wear. Horizontal slop.

Movement from tailstock to this point was virtually non existent. Really. So much for the old Stanley level, and the mounting job on the floor. We're pretty close. Lathe bolted down, no shims.

From the previous measurement, to this point, next to the headstock (about 18" travel), the saddle is taking a hard left turn near as I can reckon While not jumping up and down with joy, I'd figured it might show this. It's wear on the v way in response to tool pressure over over a half century.

The wear is a "step". Abrupt shift to the 5ish thou. I'm thinking this is still doable, just have to be aware where you're working, and compensate. It's the transition point that's gonna be sticky I'm thinkin'.

Did I mention that the saddle rocks a skosh near the headstock?

While the saddle is on a good section, the indicator is set up to find just what might be goin' on. (The rocking is on the back left side of the saddle)

And away we go Probably gonna be all downhill from here (And I mean that literally )

Well gents, there's your rockin'. My enthusiasm is waning at this point.

To verify, a .010 shim was placed under the corner. Like a miracle, all rockin' is gone. Well, wouldja lookit that

Because I'm a moron, albeit a sorta thorough moron, I verified that the same shim would lift the saddle on "good ground".

So...………………………… I'm thinkin' that I can put some bronze shim stock under that baby when working close to the headstock, and still make some parts maybe. Just a matter of knowing when you gotta do the lift job. Not gonna be hard to tell, rocks like a rocking horse at this position

Yeah, see how it cuts before ya throw in the towel. Well, that's a few hundred bucks down the road (odds and ends needed before assembly, including a new stand that has to be built).

I actually DO have to move a bit of hay today, so I got the day to mull it over. I'm just preeee-verse enough to put it all back together, and give it a run. God Knows how much work it took to get the thing this far, lotta rebuilding in it. Only bug in the pie, is the danger that the new lathe is probably either on the discontinued list (meaning only one available), or it's gonna skyrocket in price due to tarrifs. A guy might not wanna wait too long to pull the trigger. I'd sure like to see the ol' gurl up and running, but time's an issue too. We got stuff to do that needs turning, and stuff to do with the parts that need makin'. I hate to lose even a week at this point, unless it's gonna turn out to be something that's usable.

I think that you're still talking about this beaten-up lathe on which you've already wasted too much money with questionable fixes.
It's hard to say if a new lathe will do better than what you have, since there are a bunch of them (mostly unmentionable in this forum) with bad design and even worse construction.
But, if the ones shown here are the tools that you would use to assess the conditions of another used lathe, you're better off buying something new.
And, given that this is no Twitter or Facebook, please, try to come up with thread titles that are descriptive of the problem.

Paolo

Paolo_MD said:

I think that you're still talking about this beaten-up lathe on which you've already wasted too much money with questionable fixes.
It's hard to say if a new lathe will do better than what you have, since there are a bunch of them (mostly unmentionable in this forum) with bad design and even worse construction.
But, if the ones shown here are the tools that you would use to assess the conditions of another used lathe, you're better off buying something new.
And, given that this is no Twitter or Facebook, please, try to come up with thread titles that are descriptive of the problem.

Paolo

Click to expand...

I'm thinking you're mostly right. Not like it would break the bank, just hate to admit defeat. Luckily my lifestyle, and outlook on life, allows me to find some humor in the situation.

Bought a new bull about a month back. Considerable outlay by most folks standards. Find out in about two years whether it was money well spent. Much greater capital risk than an old lathe. Makes it pretty easy to shrug, and walk away from what seems to be a dead horse. All a matter of perspective. Just a matter of licking your wounds, and getting on with it.

The Bull/Lathe analogy has one important difference. If the bull's no good, I can eat him

farmersamm said:

The Bull/Lathe analogy has one important difference. If the bull's no good, I can eat him

Click to expand...

Pussy!

Real Machinists have eaten LOTS of Old Iron, been f****d by easily as much. Sounds as if you are well along to qualifyin', actually.

That Bull, OTOH?

Can you even trust him to kiss you "good night" without breakin' yer safety glasses?

Yo, Paulo...…………



Title was for real. I'm good to my word. All about the trailer

Set it up this week, and not lookin' back.

Thanks for yer insightful feedback.

Homey don't do Facebook BTW.