Delta lathe out-of-round--- how to diagnose-fix?

[redfishsc]

Howdy y'all.

My Delta Midi has been turning out of round lately. I noticed the problem getting progressivly worse as my penturning skills seemed to be getting progressivley worse. The pens were oval, and I checked EVERYTHING. Mandrel good, live center good, MT2 was clean, nut was only finger-snug, tailstock not too tight, and I went so far as to buy the Beall collet chuck.


The FIRST time I mounted the Beall (with no collet... just to check for fit) and turned on the lathe, my problem became VERY apparent.

The end of the Beall was turning a heavy 1/32" out of round--- ie, wobble. I bet the Beall is fine, I'm pretty sure it's the headstock that's turning wobbly b/c I found the same problem with a faceplate (which I've never used on this particular lathe until I used it to detect wobble--- wobble it did).

I tried drilling a blank with the collet and it drilled the blank nearly 1/16th lopsided (ie, when it exited the back of the blank I the hole was way off center---- the front of the blank was just an oversized hole).

I have narrowed the problem down to one of two things:

Either the bearing(s) are shot--- which they don't seem to be--- they feel smooth and tight with no wobble, and they fit the machine quite snug...


Or.... the spindle shaft that holds the step-pully is slightly bent. Not sure how that would happen, it's pretty thick steel and the lathe hasn't been that heavily used.




What would you say?

I know where to find bearings (which I am getting tomorrow) but I have no clue where to find a spindle shaft if the bearings don't work out.

 

[Blind_Squirrel]

I bought a used Jet mini that had a wobble problem. It turned out to be the spindle shaft. I contacted Jet and ordered a replacement. No problems since then!

 

[Skye]

Mandrel good, live center good, MT2 was clean, nut was only finger-snug, tailstock not too tight, and I went so far as to buy the Beall collet chuck.

Bushings?

 

[redfishsc]

I got oval turnings on cigars, slimlines, Gents, and American styles (ie, everything I've turned lately). In fact I have more than one bushing set for each of those pens. I suspected bushings but ruled them out when the problem happened to basically every one of them. I know bushings aren't always the right diameter but I doubt I'd get oval bushings that often, lol.

That, and the Beall was turing visibly out of round and thar ain't no bushins on it.

 

[Snazzypens]

bearings looked fine on mine until we changed them. The machine went 10 times quieter. and everything felt normal until we got them out and spun them on our finger they were gritty.
so they can be deceiving. But mine still uneven so I am watching for other suggestions. MIne has even a new belt arriving today to try and fix it
Toni

 

[ctEaglesc]

Matt is it still under warranty?
Regardless call Delta, they're ready when you are.

 

[redfishsc]

Will do Eagle. I hand't thought of what they might have to say.

As far as warranty, way out of date.

 

[stevers]

I had an older lathe and thought the bearings were good. Till one day they started to make a howling noise. When I removed them, they were so bad, you could hardly spin one of them. And they all felt gritty. Never suspected a thing till that day.