thefixer
9th June 2009, 09:53 PM
G'day all
I thought would share this in case other MCxxxx owners are having the same problem. Mine cant possibly be the only one with this fault.
I had been having a problem with spindle turning on the MC1100. Whenever I finish a spindle using bevel edge rubbing with either a gouge or skew I was getting terrible vibration at the tailstock end. In the centre I can understand that, but why at the tailstock end? It was so bad I was getting a mild barley twist:(( I spent a lot of time a while ago fine tuning the alignment of head and tail so I knew that was not the problem. (See this thread http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?t=93750&highlight=tailstock) Tailstock was clamped down tightly and shaft was locked in position, so what could it be? I frustratingly asked myself. Maybe it's the live centre. So off to Carbatec and get a new heavy duty live centre. That didn't fix it either. Then I noticed that even when the live centre was driven firmly home into the morse taper I could move it up and down very very slightly. Close inspection of said live centre showed a pronounced contact point halfway down the taper.(See arrow A ) This means that the the two tapers were not a perfect fit and the live centre was vibrating at the business end. Thinking, thinking, thinking. Got it:D I asked the purchasing blokes at work if they could find a supplier where I could purchase a #2 morse reamer. Well, they went and purchased one through the company account:D Pic 1. It worked a treat. You can now see that contact is being made properly through the full length of the taper. (See arrow B ) I'll get this bloody lathe perfect if kills me:p. Anyway I threw a piece of 1inch square redgum between centres, turned it round and bevel edged the the final few cuts.Eureka !! Another engineering flaw fixed on the MC1100. I hope this long winded story is of some benefit to other MCxxxx users and there are a lot of us out there.
Cheers
Shorty
I thought would share this in case other MCxxxx owners are having the same problem. Mine cant possibly be the only one with this fault.
I had been having a problem with spindle turning on the MC1100. Whenever I finish a spindle using bevel edge rubbing with either a gouge or skew I was getting terrible vibration at the tailstock end. In the centre I can understand that, but why at the tailstock end? It was so bad I was getting a mild barley twist:(( I spent a lot of time a while ago fine tuning the alignment of head and tail so I knew that was not the problem. (See this thread http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?t=93750&highlight=tailstock) Tailstock was clamped down tightly and shaft was locked in position, so what could it be? I frustratingly asked myself. Maybe it's the live centre. So off to Carbatec and get a new heavy duty live centre. That didn't fix it either. Then I noticed that even when the live centre was driven firmly home into the morse taper I could move it up and down very very slightly. Close inspection of said live centre showed a pronounced contact point halfway down the taper.(See arrow A ) This means that the the two tapers were not a perfect fit and the live centre was vibrating at the business end. Thinking, thinking, thinking. Got it:D I asked the purchasing blokes at work if they could find a supplier where I could purchase a #2 morse reamer. Well, they went and purchased one through the company account:D Pic 1. It worked a treat. You can now see that contact is being made properly through the full length of the taper. (See arrow B ) I'll get this bloody lathe perfect if kills me:p. Anyway I threw a piece of 1inch square redgum between centres, turned it round and bevel edged the the final few cuts.Eureka !! Another engineering flaw fixed on the MC1100. I hope this long winded story is of some benefit to other MCxxxx users and there are a lot of us out there.
Cheers
Shorty