Level or Not

[mac1911]

All of that, and three thousand other things..... It sounds like this fellow is going to take good care of you. But those are the four biggest bumps in the road right there. Taking those one at a time most if not all of the other stuff will sort it's self out. "As simple as possible, but not simpler". The REAL trick is finding and keeping the boundary between those two.

Hes been great , sadly I missed his tool sell off many years ago.
All he had left when I sort of decided to “get a lathe” was a huge lathe. IIRC i think the chuck weighed 500 lbs it so.
I have random scraps and tools hes found around his house getting ready to sell.
Any way he refurbed a gib , hooked me up with way lube , and gear oil some random tools

Right now im hunting down some 2” stock to do the head stock alignment test.
Sadly right now I can almost buy the test bar and tail stick alignment bar for what good stock goes for.
At least what Im finding.

 

[Jake M]

Right now im hunting down some 2” stock to do the head stock alignment test.
Sadly right now I can almost buy the test bar and tail stick alignment bar for what good stock goes for.
At least what Im finding.

It's not about the price, it's about the value. If you buy a pre-made test bar, you can stick it in the lathe, and tell some things about it. But you're going to have to trust that whoever made the test bar was spot on, dead nutz, made no mistakes, had all their stuff in tune, and that your lathe runs true enough to use it to full advantage.

If you buy the bar stock, it will have to be, and therefore will have been cut to a test bar on your lathe, not someone else's. That extra variable removed from the equation will not do the job for you, but that will tell you things that a pre made test bar will not. At least not until you cut it enough to be in the same place.
AND!!!!!! You will have a crap ton of very useful material left over. It's gonna be hard to swallow the idea of cutting up a factory made test bar to make something else out of....

You'll find that as you go along, the test bar is just a quick stepping stone. Each time you use the lathe to make a part- any part- you actually have a test bar mounted. The measurements of each and every part you cut are telling you the exact same story that a test bar will if you choose to take notice.

I say get the material, cut the material, something you think might be useful one day, and see what happens. If you're at a point where you can get steel to cut pretty freely, grab that. If tool pressure and a "straining motor" are an issue, aluminum might be nice. I wonder what a 2 inch stick of bronze is worth these days. Don't go look, I don't want to know either....l

 

[mac1911]

It's not about the price, it's about the value. If you buy a pre-made test bar, you can stick it in the lathe, and tell some things about it. But you're going to have to trust that whoever made the test bar was spot on, dead nutz, made no mistakes, had all their stuff in tune, and that your lathe runs true enough to use it to full advantage.

If you buy the bar stock, it will have to be, and therefore will have been cut to a test bar on your lathe, not someone else's. That extra variable removed from the equation will not do the job for you, but that will tell you things that a pre made test bar will not. At least not until you cut it enough to be in the same place.
AND!!!!!! You will have a crap ton of very useful material left over. It's gonna be hard to swallow the idea of cutting up a factory made test bar to make something else out of....

You'll find that as you go along, the test bar is just a quick stepping stone. Each time you use the lathe to make a part- any part- you actually have a test bar mounted. The measurements of each and every part you cut are telling you the exact same story that a test bar will if you choose to take notice.

I say get the material, cut the material, something you think might be useful one day, and see what happens. If you're at a point where you can get steel to cut pretty freely, grab that. If tool pressure and a "straining motor" are an issue, aluminum might be nice. I wonder what a 2 inch stick of bronze is worth these days. Don't go look, I don't want to know either....l

Been tossing that around my head. That I can at least scrap the material for other projects.
Right now im suffering from lack of budget and time.

Yes you dont want to know 2” bronze goes for.
I was going to buy some for a cannon project. Almost cheaper to just buy the 6” cannon!

I still need a face plate and dogs so I can turn between centers.