Greetings
I have a Grizzly G4003G 12 In by 36 In Lathe. To get it in my basement I took it apart including taking the headstock off the bed. I must have done a fairly good job of realignment when reassembling, at least on short cuts I don't notice taper. However, on internal boring I do seem to have a very slight taper. Now this might be tool flex of the boring bar, but it might be mis-alignment of the spindle with the ways. The headstock sits on flats and has a flat base without any locating pins etc. A very brief search of for my manual didn't turn it up, but as I recall the headstock has adjustment screws on on the left as you face the lathe but not on the right of the headstock.
My question is: What are the methods for checking headstock spindle alignment with the ways? I know how to check if the headstock and tailstock are in alignment, but the test bar method only tells you that your centers align with your ways. I do know about spindle bars, but at ~$250 US for an MT5, that's pretty steep for a gadget you might use once or twice. I have thought about a laser center finder, still a bit on the expensive side but with a wider range of uses. Then I thought; how do you know you have the laser reasonably aligned with the spindle bore.
I know I am only going to achieve a degree of alignment, as a hobbyist I know I'm likely not going to achieve the repeatability that the machine is capable of achieving. Nonetheless this potential misalignment has me scratching my head and I'd like an inexpensive way to check spindle alignment.
Thanks for any thoughts.
Olin
I have a Grizzly G4003G 12 In by 36 In Lathe. To get it in my basement I took it apart including taking the headstock off the bed. I must have done a fairly good job of realignment when reassembling, at least on short cuts I don't notice taper. However, on internal boring I do seem to have a very slight taper. Now this might be tool flex of the boring bar, but it might be mis-alignment of the spindle with the ways. The headstock sits on flats and has a flat base without any locating pins etc. A very brief search of for my manual didn't turn it up, but as I recall the headstock has adjustment screws on on the left as you face the lathe but not on the right of the headstock.
My question is: What are the methods for checking headstock spindle alignment with the ways? I know how to check if the headstock and tailstock are in alignment, but the test bar method only tells you that your centers align with your ways. I do know about spindle bars, but at ~$250 US for an MT5, that's pretty steep for a gadget you might use once or twice. I have thought about a laser center finder, still a bit on the expensive side but with a wider range of uses. Then I thought; how do you know you have the laser reasonably aligned with the spindle bore.
I know I am only going to achieve a degree of alignment, as a hobbyist I know I'm likely not going to achieve the repeatability that the machine is capable of achieving. Nonetheless this potential misalignment has me scratching my head and I'd like an inexpensive way to check spindle alignment.
Thanks for any thoughts.
Olin