- Joined
- Jan 22, 2012
- Messages
- 655
question one should be:
How is it possible that you get any reading in the first part of the measurement going in on the faceplate?
The indicator is mounted on the compound and should follow the exact same path the cuttingtool followed.
The measurement on the part going out of the faceplate is logical.
Then indicator will follow the path of the cutter going in, even past the centre where the faceplate actually is coming out.
on edit:
after thinking about it the only way to explain the measurements, which are consistent, is that the faceplate gave way under the pressure of the cutter.
More towards the outer rimm , lesser towards the centre.
As a problem also exists while turning in a chuck i suspect the bearings of the spindle need adjusting.
As PM stated in his post "I've done many shafts and parts that had to be perfect, but almost never when facing". This seemed to make sense to me, get the alignment true using the lathe in the area it will do most of it's work. I suspect the wonky readings I got on the faceplate were do to the carriage not being 100% true to the ways over it's full travel. I used a 1.5" dia steel bar I found in my steel storage and got the same amount of taper as the 2.5" aluminum bar so the taper was not due to flex in the chuck from the bigger bar but is due to headstock alignment. I am still trying to decide what to do about the vibration I am getting when the lathe is running. If I level the lathe the loading on the feet isn't even and I get an oscillation that gets the lathe rocking front to back. I can get rid of most of that by balancing the load on the leveling feet but that tends to through off the overall level. I am thinking about making a base for the lathe that spreads out the adjusting feet in hopes that would stabilize it. I don't want to raise the height too much as it is great right where it currently is so I'll have to think on that.