Simple and easy method of checking wear on lathe bed ways

You guys got me wondering about my LeBlond 13" Regal. It's precision leveled so should not be twisted. To check the bed ways wear I used a length of flat ground stock laid edge down on the ways. Stock showed no bow when checked for flatness on a granite surface plate. Max wear was .002 about 6" from the chuck by feeler gauge. .002 gauge lite drag, .0025 gauge was tight. Simple check and way close enough for what I do................Bob
 
A simple way to check for twist is to set a level on the top of saddle wings when the saddle is up as far as you can crank it to the left and slide a feeler gage under the low side until it reads level. Then crank the saddle to the right and stop every 6" and see what happens.
 
Regarding the procedure in post #1 : A more comprehensive test would be to remove the carriage completely
M
 
When I bought my 1967 Colchester (It was not installed just sat on the floor of a machinery dealer) I checked for way wear by moving the saddle to to the left nipping the saddle lock so there was just drag and moved the saddle to the right. The saddle got tight but I could still move it so I guessed the wear was minimal.

When I had the lathe installed and adjusted. Just for the hell of it I put a mag base on the cross slide at the front then the rear over the ways and indicated off the tailstock spindle, using the saddle to move the tailstock, measured 0.02mm rear 0.03mm front.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top