pant ONE * dies ts and Reme ior. spindle Wee and Misalignmed "HE, error of regarding a metsl-cutting athe too much as if it wore a roughing. tool is often mate. The fact that a certain piece has to be finished by ‘grinding docs not relieve the lathe operator Of any responsibility in respect to his draw- How Accurate Is Your Lathe? de goed cork corel edited only if hi mas ing or dimensions. Allowing either an ex- ‘cessive oF an insuMicient amount of stock may prove costly at umes. Obviously, the condition of the machine ‘and ite accessories bas much to do with pro- Guetion results as a whole. A two-year ap- prentice can do. better work with a good lathe then a full-fledged graduate with one thats “all shot.” ven an artist in als line By W. C. CHENEY and H. J. CHAMBERLAND MAY, 1939 185can accomplish little if he works with hay-wire equipment. A true lathe hand keeps is machine well lubricated and well brushed up at all times, and this has much to do with Ais output, He particularly attentive to the components of the cross-feed mechanism where chips accumulate rapidly. Of course, the headstook bearings talce the severest punish. The lathe spindle is pried vp gently to tett for possible woer. Note the ‘smell block used to protect the threads The front esting en aed the headstock ore matted ‘vith cholk so the cop con be replaced without dif cally i the proper sition 188 ment, particularly the front bearing. ‘The lat ter has to realst the bulk of the thrust due to pressure from drills feeding into the worl and also the thrust due to pressure from the turning tools feeding against the work. Th latter pressure is the more serious and Is the eause of much chatter- ing and also tapered work. If your lathe is caus- ing trouble, you can usually restore its ac- curacy by the follow- ing methods: ‘Brush the lathe thor- oughly from top to bottom, dig all chips out from hard-to-react, places, give it a kero- Bene bath, and wipe thoroughly. It you make a practice of use ing an air jet, don't Qo it im this particular ease and you will save time in the long run, ‘With mo chuck oF faceplate on the spindle, take an easy pry on the fend of the spindle by using @ board across the ways, & block. a bar, and another ‘small piece of wood to pro- ‘tect the spindle threads, as shown in one of the photo- ‘graphs. If you find no play ‘with this test, ll. the bear- ing oil cup and repeat the ‘test. A minimum amount of wear will be indicated hy the oil's rising and fall- ing In the cup. ‘The same Procedure is followed tor both bearings. Te adjustments have to be made, start with the front Bearing by removing the cap and marking #0 that it may be replaced in its orig- inal position. Do not be alarmed at slight ridges on the journal and extending ‘the full length of the bear- ing; these result trom the fact that a lathe spindle hhas to operate without end Play. ‘The next move is to hhold the bearing cap in @ Vise and evenly fle off @ Slight amount to bring th required fit. If shims have previously boon used ae frequently happens, they will, of course, have’ to be stepped down. ‘You ean now replace the POPULAR SCIENCE‘cap and repent the original test. When you are satisied with these results, take up tne rear bearing in the same way if it neods it Whatever you do, never remove the bush ings from thelr housings or shim under or aleng the sides, All bearing components must At lightly together. Don't attempt to make ‘adjustments with ten- sion on the cap screws ‘The next step is to re move all end play from the spindle. ‘The conven- tional construetion of a lathe allows for a take- up collar, which is threaded to’ the spindle. Loosen the lock screw and turn the collar slightly against the bear- Ing until a light drag ts felt when revolving the ‘spindle, as chown in one of the photographs. Then lock the collar. The ques- tion is now to determine Af the work already done has really restored the Tathe’s accuracy from that. angie. ‘Tho first test is that of spindle alignment for ‘turning and poring. "The bar should have a test- ing length of 8"; the di ameter should be from 2" to 216"; and it should bbe recessed as shown. The shank should be a MAY, 1959 sch ond, ard the perfect ft in the spindle bore and preferably ‘be ground. The test consists of taking a light finishing cut at both ends of the bar with the same tooldepth setting. A variation not ex~ ceeding 0.001” indicates satisfactory accuracy. ‘Tho second tost is for spindle alignment in 1d vith o recessed bor, Identical Finiihing ‘ation should nob exceed 000017 Inaidtion toma fhe. furning. fest, isnecessory to chock the horsontal shane mmert of the spindle odie indicoter St ilesrated obowe: A sinilor teat fs tron Feguited 1° vert cal Glignment. At let mmoling.tranevarss Sijatmabte te tad Sock unl centered Piece tune straight 187PART vo Lathe Accuracy inthis ease whare the colume of a big radi dell is being turned, Loft, testing focoplat FTER a lathe has been chetked up from the point of view of align- ment, it is necessary to fest the cross-foed mechanism, Work already done will avail nothing unless this part of the lathe is alao in good order. The major test, whieh is quite simple, relates to the faceplate. Mount’ the faceplate on the spin- le, but make sure that contact- ing surfaces are clean. Now take two light cuts over the plate. Use a straightedge and a small piece fof 0.001” thick paper, aa shown, to see wnat the results are, 11 the surface ig concave to thix amount fo Tess, it Is considered quite sat- istactory, On the otter hand, even a minute amount of convexity ia out of the picture and indicates wear in either of the dovetailed slides. Check the cross-feed slide land serew rst, then the tool post fand swivel sides, Gibe and adjust. ing screws are provided so that it is easy to compensate for wear. 188 POPULAR SCIENCECHECKING UP ON THE CROSS-FEED . . . CENTERS CHUCKS .. . SPECIAL THROW PLATES . . . TAPERS Now let's consider the va: rious accessories used with any lathe. It is logical to start with the centers Hecause consider able unsatistactory work is regularly traced to detective ‘ones. Lathe centers should preforably be ground all over, although accurately "turned fanil hardened centers are safe to Use, Many lathe operators use soft headstock centers so taey can 0c- ‘easionally true them by turning as Shown. This idea is all right if the point is turned precisely radial: hhowover, the conventicnal method 4s to prickpunen mark the center ‘and spindle x0 nz to align them al wit, ‘Tailstock centers with high-speed steel inserts, made as shown at 4 im the drawings, are particularly recommended for long’ life. Very serviceable ceaters can also be ‘economically made from discarded igh-spoed steel ond mills, as at B. Grind the shank to a Morse taper before cutting off, or use with a ‘combination taper collet. Some heavy work or work with largo center holes requires live enters. These need not. be expen- sive unless they are used constant ly. Ball-bearing live centers ma- hined from good earhoa steel. then ardened and ground all over, as at Suagestions for belh boating lv» sontors« paralel-gouge fib Facing page ts shown a tall cenler with high-speed sel ise ond ove mode from @ dhvcarded end il a8T JONE, 1399 ond o so-cale ol©, will handle @ substantial weight, In fact, centers like the one shown have been used 10 turn 250.ih, crankeshafts Good chucks play their part in accurat lathe production, Keep them right by di ‘mantling them often and cleaning all paris in a gasoline or kerosene bath, Three-jaw universal seroll chucks should carefully be trued with a plug gauge after reassembling, but at times the jaws have to he ground to establish the desired concentrivity. Always clean the threads of a chuck before using it. For this purpose an improvised tool may be lused aa shown in one of the photographe. ‘Work of irregular shape occasionally comes along and is of such a nature as to require extra truing facilities. In other words, some parts have to be accurately bored or rebored ‘and trued to lateral as woll as radial acou- racy. The addition of a so-called “throw plate," shown at D in the drawings, will solve such problems, This plate is aet against the regular faceplate and may be made slightly smaller than the latter. Small adepter plates of varlous diameters are made to sult the run of the work and set between the throw plate and the pices being trued. A va- riety of Wood bushings are required to all the gap between the bore of the work and the long bolt that holds the assembly together. These bushings also afford convenience m truing. ‘The procedure is frst to true radially, then correct lateral errors with the throw screws. A slight movement of one or two screws: against the faceplate—that is, those 80 lo- cated as to throw over the low spot—will quickly give the desired results. ‘The plece is then securely held with a bored strap and two bolts, and the job is ready for boring or grinding after rentoving the long bolt and 188 If you prefer to use soft centers in the headstock, Seo goed idea to check up by mecns of an Indicotar alter they hove been trued Up by turning as of the left Before a chuck fe mounted, it is important to see thot the thread: ore clean. An sesy wey fo do. this is to ter a small teal hoving peint shaped to match the fhreads os llusteated below wood bushing. This outfit ts, of course, sutt- able to use in any internal or universal grinder. ‘The turning and boring of tapers demand that the tool cut precisely radial ag no taper can be accurately generated otherwise. AIL internal tapers should be finished with ream- cera unless intended to be ground, When fin- ished by Doring, final results can, however, be hhad by a lapping operation. External tapers predominate by far because such work in- cludes shanks of all descriptions. Female taper gauges are expensive and require Prus- sian blue for testing, and the whole pro- cedure is slow and inconvenient. A paraile gauge fixture as shown at 2 is advantageous Since it eliminates the female gauge and ex- pedites work to a marked degree. The tool can usually be made from odds and ends ex- cept for the two parallels. These must be hardened and ground all over. ‘After all, the old saying, “A stitch in time saves nine,” applies to a lathe or any other ‘machine tool, Keep your lathe clean and well lubricated af all times, Watch for that frst 0.001” play because it socn multiplies itself disastrously. POPULAR SCIENCE