Atlas-craftsman 101.07301 Chuck Wobble

Next step should be to remove the spindle from the headstock, set it on V-blocks, and determine what is wrong with it.Your wife's 1-1/2 Cousin should know how to do that.

Fortunately, the work that he did on the chuck isn't necessarily wasted. If you can get the spindle problem sorted out, the chuck should be usable.

Based on your most recent figures, my guess would be that the machine suffered a terrible crash. And probably not with the chuck you just got fixed.
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Thanks Wa5cab I will see what I can do. My wifes cousin told me that the threads were not just messed up they had been changed. I assume that my chuck was once a 1" 10 thread and was converted to 1" 8 to fit my lathe. With that info your statement about a "terrible crash and probably not not with the chuck you just got fixed." sounds dead on. will follow your advise and see what he has to say, thanks again Ed
 
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I wonder if someone has been lifting the lathe with a large eye bolt in the chuck as the lifting point .

Don't despair Ed .. My son ran a four day old £ 550 ( $750 USD ) 32 inch cut petrol rotatory self powered petrol mower over some surface roots because he decided to ignore what I said and put the cutting height down to one inch instead of leaving it at 2.5 inches whilst in the orchard . . I realised the mower had stopped , looked out the window and saw him on his knees trying to start the mower ..which is quite difficult when the crankshaft has been bent a good half an inch .

I stripped it out and gave it to my pal Paul who had a fly press and various home made Vee blocks , he straightened it as near as he could ,then took it to his work place where they have various laser testing & measuring machines that can make differences in nano meters . The apprentices were so happy to have a real bit of engineering to do instead of set test pieces etc.
They check Paul's work and said that's excellent....... about as good as when it was brand new .. a few jigs and machines later it was deemed to now be aircraft engine quality true & balanced .

In the late 1960's as an engineer I had to true up con rods and crankshafts for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & straight 8 cylinder engines myself in engine repair bay . They all worked OK when put back in the various engines .
 
Thanks Round in circles
I emailed Closing and they wanted $405.00 for a new one, so I guess that is out. I will try to get to the machine shop tomorrow if work allows. Hopefully they can fix it.
 
I've no idea what used spindles go for on eBay but you should probably check over the past 60 days (that's as far back as eBay records seem to go these days) so you'll have a baseline to compare to what the machine shop says that they'll charge for straightening and versus what you know that a new one would cost.
 
Thanks wa5cab
I also checked Ebay and saw one for $100. Just hate to buy one and find out that it has problems too. I am trying to work within my $$$$$, as things are tight for a little while but I also worry that they will do it for nothing like they did the chuck. It feels strange to have people you just met do something for you for free.
Ed
 
Just got back from the machine shop and put the spindle back in the lathe, put on the chuck and it is no better. They said about the only thing they could do was turn the shoulder true. O well I got my moneys worth. I have been there two times and they would not take a dime. Now to figure out what to do next. Think I'll just sit down and :laughing: it beats :drink: or :bawling:. might as well make the best of it.
 
Ed,

Did they check runout in the taper? If so, what was it? And did they get the same 5 thou runout on the register that you did? Did they say anything about the spindle being bent?

In any case, under the circumstances you can probably at least eliminate most of the wobble on the face of the chuck by facing off the front surface of the spindle flange Be very careful not to touch the register area. There is actually a way to fix the register, too. But it would probably cost more than a new spindle. So I would face the flange. But check dimensions on where the thread in the chuck starts and make sure that when you screw the chuck onto the spindle, it stops firmly against the flange and not because it bottomed out the threads in the chuck against the end of the threads on the spindle. Having done this, if you chuck a piece of fairly accurate drill rod (it's pretty cheap) and check the runout near the chuck and farther away from the chuck, you should get the same number. If that is the case, you can still do accurate work if you use a 4-jaw, or if you use a 3-jaw and do not remove the part from the chuck until it is finished.

However, before you do that, answer my questions in the first paragraph.
 
Thanks again Wa5cob
They did not check the spindle, they just faced the flange as you suggested in the above post. I an to the point of buying a used spindle off of ebay. I also suspect the chuck and am thinking of getting a 4 jaw at the same time. I will need a 4 jaw anyway and I can stop fussing with this thing and get on with putting it together and making some chips. Good idea?
Ed
 
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