Worn lathe bed to be reground or planar milled?

Seems the support/way surface is under the top bed .....would make it difficult to grind with any efficiency.....id agree with adjusting the tailstock slides with an addition .....whether turcite/rulon,or a bronze strip......id also expect the tall ,short bearing tailstock to quickly develop a forward tilt,exagerating apparent wear.....careful measurement needed......and be aware of using a dial stand on the chuck......easy to get incorrect results due to droop in the rods.
 
Not to pile on (even though I am going to lol), I gotta agree with the points made about the amount of wear on the tailstock being too much, as if it was from a different machine. I also have to agree that without knowing if the 60 thou is common along the entire bed, that shimming/turcite/building the tailstock back up is questionable. I think that the $15k to rebuild the ways is possibly in the right ballpark, depending on its size and the accuracy of the scraping that is done to it.

Jon
 
1silica said:
I have a Litton brand table top lathe made for glassworking which has a handwheel operated tailstock that is driveshaft driven to be in sync with the headstock. Neither the bed or the tailstock ways are hardened. There is no oil lube system. ... It turns out the tailstock sits about .060 lower than the headstock.
Click to expand...

The bed isn't worn nor in need of being shipped out, a mismatch can be handled by shimming the
"tailstock" and some of the modern materials (turcite was mentioned) are excellent prospects for a
minor rebuild of sliding surfaces.

Basically, all you really need is a clean place and the right glue, to add a wear strip, or (maybe)
a takeapart-and-shim on the glide surfaces that we can't see. You WILL, however, want to
get a good tight-tolerance measurement of that '.060' number, with respect to the rotating axis
center, before removing the parts to be reworked.

Glass lathes don't take high stress, nor need lubricant, so scraping (which holds lubrication well)
isn't usual.
 
After looking at the Photo's , I have a question. How did you measure the tail-stock? If you used a long small diameter rod, it may have drooped down and you got a false indicator reading. There seems to be a gap there on purpose as does the Head. I have a friend who is a Journeyman machinist and a good rebuilder who lives near Milwaukee and I bet he would be happy to help you figure it out. Email me and I will forward it to him. His name is Matt. Oh and Matt has a friend named Matt too, he is head of maintenance at Black and Decker in Milwaukee . They work for beer, I bet. LOL Richard@Handscraping.com
 
I found this on the net... its a different brand, but it looks like the test can be made the same.
 
Richard King 2 said:
I found this on the net... its a different brand, but it looks like the test can be made the same.
Click to expand...
I bought my first Southbend lathe to make parts for the wife's Bethlehem Lab Lathe like the one above.
1silica said:
I have a Litton brand table top lathe made for glassworking which has a handwheel operated tailstock that is driveshaft driven to be in sync with the headstock. Neither the bed or the tailstock ways are hardened. There is no oil lube system. The original factory ground finish on the bed was not scraped. I bought it used without being able to try it out. It turns out the tailstock sits about .060 lower than the headstock.
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Hard to imagine .060 wear on a Litton. I will be watching this thread to see how you correct this situation.
Good luck!
 
projectnut said:
I'm not sure grinding is what you need, but you might want to check with American Grinding & Machine Co. out of Chicago. They can advise you as to what would be the best course of action to bring the headstock and tailstock to the same level.

Welding and Fabrication - Chicago, Illinois - American Grinding and Machining Company

American Grinding and Machine Company Specializes in Grinding, Welding, and Fabrication Services.
www.americangrinding.com www.americangrinding.com

They ground the bed and cross slide on my Sheldon MW-56-P back in 2001 when it was rebuilt by the previous owner. At that time they did a "dust grinding" which only removed .002". The cost at that time for a 56" bed and cross slide was $425.00.
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I am currently looking for a shop to do my lathe ways and recently contacted American Grinding about the job. They replied that they do not do lathe beds any more which I thought was kinda odd???
 
tbone8 said:
I am currently looking for a shop to do my lathe ways and recently contacted American Grinding about the job. They replied that they do not do lathe beds any more which I thought was kinda odd???
Click to expand...
I'm surprised as well. I must admit it's been 20 years since mine was done, but at the time there was a waiting list. I wonder if the person doing the lathe beds has retired, or maybe they're just so backed up due to the pandemic that they just can't fit it in. My bed was sent in by a shop in the repair business. Maybe they're catering to the professionals, or just not doing it for individuals any longer.

I'd call back again and ask some particulars like:

1. Is the service temporarily or permanently no longer available to individuals?

2. Is the service still available to professional shops? (if so you may be able to contact a shop in your area. It's possible they may send it in for a small fee)

3. If the service is no longer available to anyone can they recommend someone who still provides it?
 
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