Out of round spindle

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bensoelberg

bensoelberg

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Aug 19, 2010
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Bakersfield, California
Before I go into my lathe issue, I'm going to make a disclaimer. I am dead broke. As much as I would love it, a new, better quality lathe is not anywhere close in my future. So with that out of the way, my spindle is not concentric. I am turning on a HF 37406 that I bought new last October. I have struggled with slightly out of round pens ever since I started and have tried a variety of solutions to remedy the issue. I bought a 60 degree dead center to turn between centers. That helped, but did not fix the issue. In August, I requested the Apprentice collet chuck for my birthday, thinking that once I had that on the spindle, I would be able to start using that, it was super obvious that the problem is with the spindle itself. I don't have access to a run out meter, so I can't tell you how much it is off. Has anyone else ever had this problem and what can be done to fix it?
 
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I don't know much about what you can do for a lathe, but I recently had an experience you might consider.

A friend cast some blanks for me recently, and before giving them to me he squared them up on his disc sanding jig.

I'd turned a few things on his lathe before, and thought I noticed a slightly off center problem, and he also commented on it.

Well, when I turned one of the blanks, I noticed the same problem, so I checked to see if the tube was squarely milled. It wasn't, so I broke out my pen mill, and trimmed it. After than and a few more minutes on the lathe, the problem went away.

Not having blanks that are square with the tube can cause this (I know it's true because I saw it on a internet video). If that is something you haven't investigated yet, it's probably a lot easier fix than a lathe problem.

Hope it works out for you.
 
bensoelberg said:
Before I go into my lathe issue, I'm going to make a disclaimer. I am dead broke. As much as I would love it, a new, better quality lathe is not anywhere close in my future. So with that out of the way, my spindle is not concentric. I am turning on a HF 37406 that I bought new last October. I have struggled with slightly out of round pens ever since I started and have tried a variety of solutions to remedy the issue. I bought a 60 degree dead center to turn between centers. That helped, but did not fix the issue. In August, I requested the Apprentice collet chuck for my birthday, thinking that once I had that on the spindle, I would be able to start using that, it was super obvious that the problem is with the spindle itself. I don't have access to a run out meter, so I can't tell you how much it is off. Has anyone else ever had this problem and what can be done to fix it?
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Did you ever go back to HF and try to get them to replace it? If not, that's your first mistake. If it isn't under warranty, there really isn't much you can do except buy replacement parts and hope they're in spec.
 
sounds like you have not completely defined that the problem is in the head stock. you need to turn something without the tail stock involve. chuck up a piece, thread something onto the spindle, whatever and turn that piece. if that piece is out of round you have a head stock bearing alignment problem. if the item is round you do not have a head stock problem. nest you can start checking the tail stock alignment, mandrel bending etc. But first make sure your head stock is correct. then all of the things the others have noted come into play.
 
cwolfs69 said:
sounds like you have not completely defined that the problem is in the head stock. you need to turn something without the tail stock involve. chuck up a piece, thread something onto the spindle, whatever and turn that piece. if that piece is out of round you have a head stock bearing alignment problem. if the item is round you do not have a head stock problem. nest you can start checking the tail stock alignment, mandrel bending etc. But first make sure your head stock is correct. then all of the things the others have noted come into play.
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+1 what Charley said about the headstock! I had the MINI mini Harbor Freight Lathe and it too had some out of round issues, but it was slack in the tailstock base where it slides between the bed ways. I put dead centers in the headstock and tailstock and found which direction the tailstock would be centered and was able to manipulate that issue, but it was still a PITA.
 
How would you tell just using the headstock if it were out of round? Lets take a bowl adapter screw it to the head stock screw on a piece of plywood and turn so it is round. How would you know if it were off to the exact center? I know there is a way to tell but my brain is cramping.
 
If you do determine that it is the spindle and HF won't make it right, pop over to eraplacement parts and pick one up (along with both bearings) to fit a JET JWL-1236. Same lathe, different color.
 
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Ben with out having any dial indicators, try this, grind a sharp point on a wire coat hanger(I think they still exist), Clamp it to your lathe bed and put a dead center in the headstock, Bend the wire so it almost touches the point of the dead center, rotate the spindle by hand and see if there is an increase in the distance between the wire and the center, OR move the point to a spot on the dead center, and revolve the spindle by hand and see if it touches any where Not as accurate as a dial indicator, but sure was used alot way back when, they called them a surface gauge.
 
cwolfs69 said:
sounds like you have not completely defined that the problem is in the head stock. you need to turn something without the tail stock involve. chuck up a piece, thread something onto the spindle, whatever and turn that piece. if that piece is out of round you have a head stock bearing alignment problem. if the item is round you do not have a head stock problem. nest you can start checking the tail stock alignment, mandrel bending etc. But first make sure your head stock is correct. then all of the things the others have noted come into play.
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Sorry, I'm not sure what happened to my brain when I was typing my original post. When I purchased the collet chuck, I screwed it onto the spindle and placed my half inch transfer punch in the appropriate collet. If I were to replace the tip of the collet with a pencil and held a piece up paper up to the point, when the lathe is running, it would draw a circle with at least an eighth of an inch diameter. I checked the transfer punch and know that it is round. That lead me to believe that the problem is with my headstock.
 
bensoelberg said:
cwolfs69 said:
sounds like you have not completely defined that the problem is in the head stock. you need to turn something without the tail stock involve. chuck up a piece, thread something onto the spindle, whatever and turn that piece. if that piece is out of round you have a head stock bearing alignment problem. if the item is round you do not have a head stock problem. nest you can start checking the tail stock alignment, mandrel bending etc. But first make sure your head stock is correct. then all of the things the others have noted come into play.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I'm not sure what happened to my brain when I was typing my original post. When I purchased the collet chuck, I screwed it onto the spindle and placed my half inch transfer punch in the appropriate collet. If I were to replace the tip of the collet with a pencil and held a piece up paper up to the point, when the lathe is running, it would draw a circle with at least an eighth of an inch diameter. I checked the transfer punch and know that it is round. That lead me to believe that the problem is with my headstock.
Click to expand...

that could be the chuck you need to turn a piece or put an indicator on the spindle to find if it is causing the out of round. you can chase problems around the room in circles if you do not take a one step at a time approach. so far having read this thread from start to end you have neither eliminated nor identified any specific problem. before you start any fix, find THE problem. The first thing to ensure is the head stock. put a collett or chuck on the machine, cut something and make sure it is round and runs true. then start eliminating other items as the problem ONE at a time. Always change only one variable or you may never solve the problem. then even if you solve the problem youre not sure which change fixed it. ONE at a time.
 
The lathe i got from penn state had a head shaft that was runing out by .006 they sent ne one that was taken out of used lathe and sent it to me ,It was also out so i had to machine a new head shaft and it is dead on now no more out of round pens
 
I have the same Harbor Freight lathe because I am equally as broke. I am on my second HF because the motor went bad on the first one. They replaced it for free but I bought the extended warranty the second time.

One thing to keep in mind with that lathe is that it has the rotating headstock for outboard turning. I noticed that I have a lot of play in the headstock when loosened for rotating it. When tightening it up the headstock seemed like it pointed slightly toward the ceiling. Rather than cart it back to HF again I shimmed up the back of it just slightly. I check it every so often to make sure it is still ok.

Now when i have a pen that turns out slightly off it is usually due to a bushing I ruined or overtighening the tailstock. Good luck with your HF!
 
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