Metal lathe and wood lathe tail stock alignment

[Haynie]

I have been doing a lot of reading. I have read that people regularly double check the alignment on the lathe tail stock. I looked at my little Jet (wood) and my Enco (metal) and darned if I can figure out to adjust either. Any ideas?

 

[randyrls]

Mark; The metal lathes usually have a way to adjust the horizontal alignment of the tail stock. The lathe is setup at the factory for the head and tail stock to be accurately aligned vertically. To check the alignment, put points in both the head stock and tail stock and bring them together. Trap a thin piece of steel (feeler gauge) between them. The feeler gauge will twist in the direction of mis-alignment.


On wood lathes the tolerance is much greater and there usually isn't any adjustment. I have seen people add adjusters to lathes.

 

[cwolfs69]

the metal lathe should have an adjustment screw on each side of the base of the tail-stock. however, prior to adjusting side to side, make sure that you have the lathe level, no twist and the centers are aligned vertically. any vertical alignment will probably have to be adjusted by shimming. to do the alignment correctly you will need an turned bar of some sort with center holes in each end. a rough preliminary check can be done by just running the head stock and tail stock centers together. make sure the tail stock is locked down when checking. if you would like you can pm me and ill give you a number to call and i can go into more detail about aligning the tail stock. a good alignment will make a whale of a difference in the way your machine operates.
goo lick with the machine. cant wait till i can afford to get my metal lathe.

I have been doing a lot of reading. I have read that people regularly double check the alignment on the lathe tail stock. I looked at my little Jet (wood) and my Enco (metal) and darned if I can figure out to adjust either. Any ideas?

 

[Haynie]

Great help. Thank you. I saw the two screws on tail stock but had no idea what they were.

I am having fun playing with my metal lathe. Some day I might make more than shavings.