sbwertz
Member
A friend bought a Central Machinery (Harbor Freight) lathe on craigslist. He asked me over to help him set it up. This lathe sells for $149 new, so it is not much of a lathe, but the accessories that came with it were worth more than what he paid. (two huge chucks, one 3jaw, 1 4 jaw, a supernova chuck, a jacobs chuck, big metal lathe style 60 degree live center, etc.
The problem is that there is so much slop in the tailstock that you can't line it up with the headstock. It moves side to side almost an inch at the point of the 60 degree live center when the tailstock is loosened. And it doesn't true itself when you tighten it down. This makes it almost impossible to line up the head and tailstock for spindle turning. (I finally used a run-out dial indicator to true it up so I could show him how to use the tools.
Is there any way to tighten up the fit on the tailstock?
The problem is that there is so much slop in the tailstock that you can't line it up with the headstock. It moves side to side almost an inch at the point of the 60 degree live center when the tailstock is loosened. And it doesn't true itself when you tighten it down. This makes it almost impossible to line up the head and tailstock for spindle turning. (I finally used a run-out dial indicator to true it up so I could show him how to use the tools.
Is there any way to tighten up the fit on the tailstock?