- Joined
- Mar 21, 2013
- Messages
- 4,063
Since moving into our new and hopefully last home last January, I've had little time to get the shop up and running. Such is life I guess.
The latest interrupt was having to scrunch up my shop space to make way for a new tractor I'm getting to help with stuff around the yard. I now have less space than I did in CO, but it will work out OK.
So after moving the lathe a bit I managed to spend some time yesterday getting her re-leveled and cutting true. Apparently, the headstock took a few hits during the move to AZ as my first trial cuts were showing greater than two thou taper across nine inches or so. Not good.
Started tinkering with the headstock alignment bolts (no, not that one silly...the OTHER one ), and started dialing it in. Now we're going the right way. Better. Better. Close...one more adjustment... And I'm seeing .0003 taper?!? Yea right, measure it again. Measure it a third time. Nope, hasn't changed. Can't be right. Do another small cut, spring pass, spring pass, and I'm measuring .0003 again. Repeatable? Apparently.
I won't claim any expertise in getting to this point. More like dumb luck, but hey, I'll take it. It's not like I need that kind of accuracy, and it will of course change as fall and winter set in, but I DO like the fact that this thing repeats as well as it does.
I still have more to do to get the shop fully functional, but I'm making progress. I figure I'll be spending the most time out here during the fall/winter/spring months as even though our summer daytime highs seldom get over 90 during the monsoon season, it can get pretty toasty in the shop. And don't even get me started on the humidity...
I wasn't crazy about spending this kind of money for a lathe and mill at that time, but looking back I'm glad I did.
Thanks Matt!
The latest interrupt was having to scrunch up my shop space to make way for a new tractor I'm getting to help with stuff around the yard. I now have less space than I did in CO, but it will work out OK.
So after moving the lathe a bit I managed to spend some time yesterday getting her re-leveled and cutting true. Apparently, the headstock took a few hits during the move to AZ as my first trial cuts were showing greater than two thou taper across nine inches or so. Not good.
Started tinkering with the headstock alignment bolts (no, not that one silly...the OTHER one ), and started dialing it in. Now we're going the right way. Better. Better. Close...one more adjustment... And I'm seeing .0003 taper?!? Yea right, measure it again. Measure it a third time. Nope, hasn't changed. Can't be right. Do another small cut, spring pass, spring pass, and I'm measuring .0003 again. Repeatable? Apparently.
I won't claim any expertise in getting to this point. More like dumb luck, but hey, I'll take it. It's not like I need that kind of accuracy, and it will of course change as fall and winter set in, but I DO like the fact that this thing repeats as well as it does.
I still have more to do to get the shop fully functional, but I'm making progress. I figure I'll be spending the most time out here during the fall/winter/spring months as even though our summer daytime highs seldom get over 90 during the monsoon season, it can get pretty toasty in the shop. And don't even get me started on the humidity...
I wasn't crazy about spending this kind of money for a lathe and mill at that time, but looking back I'm glad I did.
Thanks Matt!
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