Thread: Lathe issue

It sound to me like the spindle and tail stock are slightly out of alignment. I assume the lathe has a swivel head? In my experience with similar lathes there is often a tiny bit of play in the head when it is not locked down. To check/fix:
* put the spur drive into the head and a center in the tail stock.
* bring the tail stock up to the head and lock down.
* extend the quill so the two centers just touch.
* if they are not perfectly aligned, unlock the head and see if you can gently twist it into alignment
* relook the head in place.
This should only be necessary after the head has been unlocked for some reason.
Bruce

Thank you, I will try that and see how it goes.

While not a Nova lathe I center the headstock by putting a cone live center on the tailstock then bring that up and put the cone in the morse taper hole of the headstock. Then lock down the headstock. That said its rare to reverse a workpiece and not have some truing up to do. Other variables could be the chuck itself. Are the jaws in the right positions as marked on the chuck body. Is the thread adapter mating cleanly on the headstock spindle. Eliminate the mechanical bits you can and reduce it as much as possible.
Regards
John

Thank you, I'll try this as well.

I had a Nova 3000 when they first came out and it came with a double ended morse taper that was used to line the head and tailstock up. Once adjusted it usually came back to the correct position after swivelling the the head to turn outboard.
I actually put a witness mark on the headstock and bed to indicate the correct position.
Also make sure the large bolt that it swivels on is done up tight enough to stop any movement, I vaguely remember an acquaintances being slightly loose which allowed the headstock to move ever so slightly.

The Nova 3000 lock leaver should only be nipped down not forced down tight.
Check tailstock alignment also. These were told to me when I got my 2nd hand one by Adrian at Trend Timbers. Check M2 bore is clean and M2 is not badly worn.

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

Edited to add allow the lock pin to click in under the head stock, make sure you re-set the lock.

Also, check for runout in the chuck. There was a batch of thread adaptors at one stage that caused the chucks to 'wobble". Chucks themselves are usually good, but poorly machined shoulders on the thread adaptors can send the chucks off true.

Originally Posted by NeilS

Also, check for runout in the chuck. There was a batch of thread adaptors at one stage that caused the chucks to 'wobble". Chucks themselves are usually good, but poorly machined shoulders on the thread adaptors can send the chucks off true.

To be polite the Nova spindle thread adaptors are a very poor design imo.

The registration surfaces - thread adaptor nose into chuck body & the rear face of the thread adaptor to headstock spindle are small in area and prone to "issues" caused by debris; wear - particularly spindle thread wear; and as stated above machining errors.

Hi all,
Thank you all for your suggestions, it turned out to be that I had not tightened the lock lever enough, all seems to be ok now.