Lathe alignment issue?

[grimgravy]

I bought a Bauer 14x20 wood lathe from Harbor Freight and when I have the centers tip to tip, vertical alignment is essentially perfect, but horizontally, the tail is a little less than 1mm offset toward the rear of the lathe.

For pen turning, is this something to worry about? Any tips of troubleshooting the issue?

 

[TonyL]

I would turn a 4 inch long barrel and see if you get an true hole. If so, I would not worry about. My Jets and Rikons are not dead-on and the holes are fine.

 

[Jarod888]

You can always try tweaking the lathe bed by using a bolt in one of the feet to "twist" it into alignment.

 

[egnald]

Greetings from Nebraska.

First, make sure the spindle and tailstock tapers are clean. Any gunk in them can cause a misalignment. Install centers in the headstock and tailstock. Use the pointiest ones you have like a spur drive and a dead center. Bring the tailstock up until the points are close together and lock the tailstock down. If there is any kind of play in the tailstock, pull it towards the front or push it towards the back of the lathe before locking it down. Then for consistency make this a habit for whenever you lock the tailstock down. (I bought a custom made, square, banjo nut/guide from Rick Herrell for my lathe because the round nut/spacer had too much play front to back than I was satisfied with. The custom nut/guide made a huge improvement for me).

Look at the two points and if they don't line up, the headstock can be adjusted. There are usually four to six hex mounting bolts that hold the headstock casting to the bed. If you can slightly loosen them, the headstock can usually be nudged or rotated until the centers meet precisely. Then firmly re-tighten the bolts. Move the tailstock back and forth to verify that it moves smoothly and that it maintains the alignment.

Bob Blanford, RJB Woodturner, made a couple of videos on adjusting his lathe (Turncrafter). Here is one of them. "Here's How I Aligned My Lathe".

Unfortunately, most mini and midi lathes don't have any kind of adjustment for vertical misalignment between the headstock and tailstock. The only way to make any kind of adjustment for this is to add shims. This can be a daunting task.

Good Luck.

Dave

 

[grimgravy]

All great tips! Thanks everybody.