Tail stock question

[barkpeeler]

Hi,
I have worked for many years as a machinist and after recently becoming disabled, purchased a wood lathe to occupy my time. I purchased a new Rikon 70-050 and am in the process of setting it up. I placed the spur in the head stock and the live center in the tail stock and after running the tail stock up to the head stock, it appears that there is a misalignment of perhaps 1/64" of the points, side to side. This is the best I can achieve by adjusting what little play there is in the tail stock (on the bed rails). I realize that this is less than perfect but is it going to be an issue for me? Searching on line, I find varying opinions. One turner said he has had a misalignment for years without issue. So, what is the consensus on this?
Thank you,
K. Blake

 

[Lenny]

The adjustment is at the headstock end ... You should find four bolts that when loosened allow for slight adjustment of the headstock.

 

[barkpeeler]

Okay, thanks...I'll give it a whirl.

 

[mmoncur]

For what it's worth I've done about 30 pens on the same lathe (70-050VS) and I have about the same misalignment you have. I blamed it for out-of-round pens for a while but once I tried a mandrel saver or TBC that problem went away. I'll probably try to adjust my headstock but it doesn't seem like a major problem.

 

[barkpeeler]

Hi,
Thanks for the information...I wanted to avoid fiddling with the head stock but also received the same suggestion from Rikon (loosening the four cap screws and making an adjustment)...I just purchased and received a #2MT adjustment tool (pc. of steel with #2MT on each end) so I'll try that. Thanks...

 

[Paul in OKC]

I am one that has always thought a little miss-alignment is a non issue. I have never even checked my lathes for that. Your diameters are controlled by hand tools, so..... I too am a machinist, and pretty anul about those things. But for turning wood, not a problem. As you have read there are many opinions on the matter. The one thing I could see it as an issue is those that so their drilling on the lathe.

 

[barkpeeler]

I guess you have to take everything with a grain of salt, so to speak, but in doing a search on line I found one fellow who claimed he had turned for many years with up to 1/4" misalignment on his old lathe...I put the #2MT alignment tool in the head stock and slid up the tail stock and there was no appreciable "bind"...perhaps the points on the spur or live center are off or the shaft itself is off...I'm not sure about that but I am sure I'm not going to worry about it after the input I have received here. The point made about diameters controlled by hand tools is a good one...I'm used to a fixed cutter on a tool post with a digital read out where as here we are dealing with one's skill at keeping a chisel steady. Very humbling.
Thanks to all...

 

[rherrell]

You can always shim the live center if nothing else works. The only problem with this method is it's only temporary, every time you remove the live center the shim comes with it.

 

[SteveG]

Since you have a machinist background, but others reading here may not (I do not), there is more to consider than if the centers meet. You could get that result by adjustments of the head stock, but not have the axis of rotation be the same for both head and tail stock. (Think in an exagerated way of swinging both head and tail stock so they both point a little toward you as you stand at the lathe). You could possibly do this and have the centers meet dead on, but have two different axis of rotation. Just one more thing to measure and be aware of if you realign the head stock. This is of particular importance when attempting precision drilling on the lathe.
Steve

 

[Paul in OKC]

Keith, the one reason I originally started pen turning was because I could have tolerances! I have always admired those that do fine wood work, but every time I picked up a saw and made a cut, I expected it to be within a couple of thousandths, just like work. Needless to say I gave up on that. Granted what you put in the middle of the pen body can be non-exact, but where it meets the hardware..... Also can use that anul-ness in finishing! Hard to loose the machinist mentality =8^). But the little misalignment has always been a non-issue to me. A large amount like that 1/4" I would have a problem with, but what I have seen is generally less than, say, .015. Drilling on the lathe would be the only issue I see, but I drill with a drill press, so.......

 

[John Den]

IMHO
Turning with offset centres produces theoretical tapers, not out of rounds, and these tapers are meaningless when hand turning!
My Myford ML8 is notably slack in the position of the Tailstock as it sits, quite arbitrarily, on a cylindrical bed! This has caused me minimal problems.
Drilling, as has been said previously, is more accurate on a drill press or a metal lathe but still quite acceptable on the wood lathe with all its inaccuracies.
After all 1/64" misalignment is only 0.35 degrees at the nominal 2.5 inches for a pen blank body or cap length driling.
My advise is simple, forget microns, stop worrying and start turning!
Regards,
John

 

[barkpeeler]

Thanks to all for the advice and suggestions...this seems to be a very "plugged in" and cordial group...thanks so much to each of you.
Regards,
Keith