Heard it all before? MC# alignment

[thumb trimmer]

I've just aquired myself a MC1100 from H&F.

Just been 'unboxed' this evening ... I'm quite happy that it was bl*^$y heavy compared to my rattling rhino, although it made unpacking interesting, working by myself .

I need to ask the usual (and expected) question. What is a reasonable or permissable amount of mis-alignment for this lathe type, without affecting turned work?

... and no I can't afford to take it back and get a vicmarc, woodfast, Nova, Jet, etc etc etc.

regards
TT

[orificiam]

Hi TT first of all Congratulation on the new Lathe.
As for Mis-alignment being a new machine there should be none.
Cheers Tony.

[RETIRED]

If you are using mandrels (like pens) then correct alignment is important.

If you are just doing legs or real turning (between centres) it not that critical.

If you are doing bowls being supported by the tail stock it is reasonably important.

FWIW, very few lathes meet exactly and need a little bit of adjustment.

[skot]

thumb trimmer,

You can take some of the misalignment out by placing shims under the legs. Your floor may not be level and that twists the bed slightly

[arose62]

Hi TT,

last time I had to move my MC**, I had sciatica, so I was my rated lifting capacity was about 3 tissues, max.

With a bit of thought, I was able to use the slidingness of the lathe headstock to advantage.

I only had to do one lift, of one end, enough to get a block of wood under it, just over one headstock-width from the end.
Then, slide headstock to the packed end, and the weight of the headstock *past* the packing acts as a lever, making lifting the other end much easier. Stick a higher bit of packing in there, slide the headstock back to the other end, and repeat, building the supporting stack a bit higher each time.

OK, took some time, but I got the lathe from ground level up onto a bench without having to involve my back at all.

Cheers,
Andrew

[Ozkaban]

If you are using mandrels (like pens) then correct alignment is important.

If you are just doing legs or real turning (between centres) it not that critical.

If you are doing bowls being supported by the tail stock it is reasonably important.

FWIW, very few lathes meet exactly and need a little bit of adjustment.

[thumb trimmer]

Originally Posted by
If you are using mandrels (like pens) then correct alignment is important.
Yep ... I get that.

If you are just doing legs or real turning (between centres) it not that critical.
Not so much.

If you are doing bowls being supported by the tail stock it is reasonably important.
Yep ... I get that too.

FWIW, very few lathes meet exactly and need a little bit of adjustment.
Yep ... I get that ... but how do I "adjust" it.
I noticed that with a 0.65mm (flat) feeler gauge under one side of the tail stock and a 0.30mm (flat) feeler gauge under the other side of the tail stock, my 'centres' lined up real nicely.
That said, ... how do I "adjust" it.


PS. for the moment, I've added a couple of washers under one of the corners of the bed. This has moved the 'centres' closer together, but are not bang on centre.

Regards
TT

[Ozkaban]

I noticed that with a 0.65mm (flat) feeler gauge under one side of the tail stock and a 0.30mm (flat) feeler gauge under the other side of the tail stock, my 'centres' lined up real nicely.
That said, ... how do I "adjust" it.
[/I]

Leave 'em there

That's pretty much it, unless you get the file out and carefully flatten the high spots if that makes sense.

Cheers,
Dave

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Misalignment?

There are two directions that it can be misaligned: vertically and horizontally.

Vertically is the more important one. There's no real means of adjustment beyond working on the base of the tail-stock... such as shaving material if it's too high or adding shims or adjustment screws if too low. This is not for the faint of heart, but fortunately is rarely a problem except for the cheapest MC copies.

Horizontally... well that's a PITA but it can be lived with. Every time you rotate the headstock or slide it along you'll have to recheck the alignment and give the headstock a "nudge" in the right direction when reclamping.

It's worth sliding the tailstock to various spots along the bed and checking for binding on the rails or "sloppy fit" as not all rails are machined perfectly parallel... or even straight. Again, usually only a problem with the cheaper brands. I mention this 'cos if there's any slop, it's sometimes needful to nudge the tailstock back into squre when reclamping.

The H&F is a good buy... congrats! With luck, you won't have the tailstock or vertical problems.

But I'm betting you'll have the horizontal problem.... they all do... but it's something we just "come to terms with" and manage the best we can.

[Ozkaban]

Skew explained it better

There used to be a gizmo from Teknatool called an acruline which was basically 2 morse tapers back to back so you stick one in the headstock, bring up the tailstock and lock it off when it's all nice and straight. Don't know who sells them these days and they also don't help with and variances in the bed as Skew mentioned.


Cheers,
Dave

[RETIRED]

Misalignment?

There are two directions that it can be misaligned: vertically and horizontally.

Vertically is the more important one. There's no real means of adjustment beyond working on the base of the tail-stock... such as shaving material if it's too high or adding shims or adjustment screws if too low. This is not for the faint of heart, but fortunately is rarely a problem except for the cheapest MC copies.

Horizontally... well that's a PITA but it can be lived with. Every time you rotate the headstock or slide it along you'll have to recheck the alignment and give the headstock a "nudge" in the right direction when reclamping.

It's worth sliding the tailstock to various spots along the bed and checking for binding on the rails or "sloppy fit" as not all rails are machined perfectly parallel... or even straight. Again, usually only a problem with the cheaper brands. I mention this 'cos if there's any slop, it's sometimes needful to nudge the tailstock back into squre when reclamping.

The H&F is a good buy... congrats! With luck, you won't have the tailstock or vertical problems.

But I'm betting you'll have the horizontal problem.... they all do... but it's something we just "come to terms with" and manage the best we can.

Couldn't have explained it better.

[Ross]

Trend still carry the aculine, I bought one on saturday. It took me all of 30 seconds to line up my lathe, well worth the $31 investment.

Ross

[thumb trimmer]

Thanks Skew & Dave for the responses.

I've read about the Acruline thingy-ma-bob in other MC# threads, SO was thinkning about getting one.

Thanks Ross, I'll have to get out to Trend sometime soon. I've been wanting to for a while to see what they had, now's the perfect excuse.

(as a side note ... how much rubber should I expect to see coming off the belt??? )


Regards
TT

[Farnk]

Surely there's no reason you couldn't turn a similar thing to a acruline yourself using a suitably dense timber?

[Ozkaban]

Surely there's no reason you couldn't turn a similar thing to a acruline yourself using a suitably dense timber?

I reckon you're right, but you'd want to be bang on accurate. If it didn't sit quite right it would defeat the purpose. Still, handy practice with a skew