Head and tail not meeting up

[jimlee]

My head is not meeting my tailstock on the horizontal plane by about 3/8 of an inch which is making anything but faceplate work kind of awkward.
I am including a picture from above. I cannot think of any solution to this other than getting a movable live center assuming there is such a thing.
Maybe time for lathe hunting?

Any ideas much appreciated.

Thanks,
Jim Lee

 

[Hy Tran]

If I can imitate Foghorn Leghorn--son, that's a MAJOR misalignment you've got there!

Seriously--Have you removed the tailstock to prevent Turner's Elbow? Perhaps the tailstock gib slipped when you put the tailstock back on? (Not all tailstocks have gibs--The gib is a small, typically wedge-shaped metal piece that's used to do a fine adjustment in a machine tool).

However, I would add that if you need an excuse to have a midlife crisis and upgrade your lathe, you've found the perfect midlife crisis excuse!

 

[john lucas]

First thing is to level the lathe. Front to back and side to side. An unlevel lathe can twist the bed and throw the tailstock out. However that usually only shows up when the tailstock is moved far away from the bed. Check the headstock alignment. On many lathes the headstock is bolted to the bed. It could have moved or maybe never was dead on. Loosen the bolts and see if you can shift it to make it align with the tailstock. If there is a big gap in the tailstock casting where it fits in the bed it can cause mis alignment. Always push the tailstock against one side of the bed before locking it down. If there happens to be a huge gap and biasing it toward the front or rear bed way doesn't solve the problem try twisting the tailstock before locking it down.

 

[Bill Boehme]

If I am not mistaken, your lathe is the HF model that has a rotating headstock. If that is the case, headstock alignment is pretty sloppy. Loosen the headstock locking lever and try to get it lined up with the tailstock center and then lock it down again. It is possible that the alignment will shift slightly as the locking lever is clamped down... if so, it may take several attempts. It is also possible that the locking lever isn't clamping down the headstock sufficiently and as a result, the headstock may be squirming around a bit during use. If that is the problem, you may be able to correct it by tightening the nut under the bed of the lathe. Sometimes the adjustment is inside the headstock. Hope this helps.

 

[Brent@TurnRobust]

Your lathe bed is filthy. Clean it up and clean up the bottoms of the headstocks and tailstocks too. You probably have chips and other gunk trapped. Then pull out the centers and clean the morse tapers too. Check the centers for nicks and dings.

 

[Richard Coers]

That lathe has been rode hard. Even has a few wounds from having the live center beaten out. Nearly all are self ejecting by turning the hand wheel. John has explained about leveling the lathe. Level is not really critical, but having the machine in one plane is. But about the only common measuring tool available is a high quality level. It's surprising how flexible cast iron beds can be!

 

[jimlee]

Bill got it

Thanks Bill. You got it spot on per usual. I forgot how the headstock can move. Head and tail are lined up perfectly now.

Jim Lee

 

[Hu Lowery]

my craftsman made me swear off of rotating headstocks

Thanks Bill. You got it spot on per usual. I forgot how the headstock can move. Head and tail are lined up perfectly now.

Jim Lee

Jim,

My Craftsman with rotating headstock made me swear off of lathes with rotating headstocks. The connection wasn't very robust and when I did more than light work I would get some flex and headstock movement. I got in the habit of putting two pointy things in the morse tapers and lining them up by eyeball every day or after any heavy turning. Could have done it all at once but I suspect to be so far out your headstock has been drifting for awhile.

There is a fancy alignment tool, a shaft with morse tapers at both ends. Never felt the need for one but it is out there. You can put a moderately large live center in the tailstock and just slide it into the center hole of the headstock or vice-versa. A dead center would be a little more accurate if it is big enough.

Hu

 

[Bill Boehme]

.... The connection wasn't very robust and ....

That made me chuckle. I bet that Brent appreciates that little unintended pun.

... There is a fancy alignment tool, a shaft with morse tapers at both ends. Never felt the need for one but it is out there. You can put a moderately large live center in the tailstock and just slide it into the center hole of the headstock or vice-versa. A dead center would be a little more accurate if it is big enough.

I'll give you my unsolicited opinion about those @%*#$^ double ended things. The precision of Morse taper shanks and sockets is on the order of 0.0001 inch and you will never find a woodturning lathe where both the radial and angular alignment errors are sufficiently small that using one of those devices from the underworld can do anything other than create binding when everything is locked down along with too much risk of damaging the Morse taper sockets in both the spindle and tailstock. Other than that, they are wonderful.