The importance of Metal Lathe level, plumb, and placement.

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CDarby67

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Hello all,

I recently purchased my first lathe - A Grizzly G 1550 in good condition.
I have limited space (the reason I went with a small bench lathe) and the new resting place for my lathe is a built-in bench inside an old shed that needs to be replaced. The bench and the whole shed for that matter, lists to one side. This causes the lathe to set lower on the left than the right. I know the importance of keeping the ways and bed of the lathe true - I do not perceive any twist or racking, the lathe is on a solid 1.5" platform the previous owner constructed.


My questions:

What would you do to make sure the lathe is in the best possible position to begin work? The bench is also fairly high, the tool post top is about clavicle height for me - I am 5'7".

What maintenance would you do before you started any projects with a new lathe? Is there a link to PM schedule and recommendation for a home hobby lathe?

Any other suggestions for a beginner would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Clint
 
Turn a test bar at both ends and see if there is any difference that would matter for the types of projects you envision- other than that I would use it as is until you replace the shed arrangement
Mark
 
As far as PM, I would change the oil in all of the gearboxes since you have no idea how old it is. Clean, grease and/or oil everything.

Level is not as important as square so as to NOT induce a twist. Doing the test bar will tell you if it is square.
 
Leveling a lathe is one way to make sure that the ways are straight and true so that your lathe will cut without a taper. Turning a test bar as Mark suggested is an another excellent way to check for twist in the bed. I have a 8x14 lathe and it is on a solid rigid base. Since you stated that your lathe is on a solid base, you are probably okay. I would still check with a test bar. If it is off, you can then shim it.
 
Leveling is the just the most convenient way of setting up a lathe to prevent bed twist. On long lathes leveling is used to prevent a humped or sway-backed condition. A lathe could be set up at any off level position and run true as long as there was no twist or hump/swayback in the bed. There is no convenient way to test for these conditions in an off-level lathe. That is why we set the lathe up level.
 
Thanks to everyone.
Is there a good video (link) that goes over how to PM the small bench top lathes like my Grizzly 1550?

Clint
 
CDarby67 said:
What would you do to make sure the lathe is in the best possible position to begin work? The bench is also fairly high, the tool post top is about clavicle height for me - I am 5'7".
Click to expand...

It should be at a comfortable height for you to work safely. In my opinion your lathe is too high. I would suggest that before you permanently mount it take some test cuts to see if it feels right, try all the hand wheels and controls to make sure you can operate them easily. I have my lathe setup about 6" - 8" lower than what you have. Again it is a personal preference, but you want to be safe and comfortable.
 
Good morning, Sir. Behind the curve again, as usual. I am 6'2", m/l. Use a factory(?) base and had to build a stand another 6" or so under that to get a comfortable height for me on a stool. The point I wanted to make is that for the small size of the 1550. the base is fairly rigid as it's cast.

If you're sure of the truth at the git-go, true level isn't that important. I mounted mine on pieces of industrial rubber gasket, appx. 1/2", so the base sort of floats. A couple pieces of a cut up tire would serve almost as well. With only two mounting bolts, one at each end, it was fairly stable. I did check it right out of the box for truth, it was good.

I have a background on ships, so I understand true level doesn't really exist as such. What's important is the twist of the ways and the squareness of the headstock and tailstock. If they are true, it doesn't matter if the machine is mounted vertical, so long as that's where you're comfortable.

.
 
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