Chip Charnley
Member
- Messages
- 136
OK, first a little background...
I am finally back in woodworking after a 25 year hiatus that ended roughly 2 years ago when LOML and I built a new house and she let me design most of the basement as a shop. Bought a lot of tools in a 6 month period including an old Delta Rockwell VS lathe. The lathe became available at a great price so I grabbed it as I knew, eventually, I would go down that slope again.
Well, I finally did last week doing a few quick pens for a special occasion. What became apparent is that the lathe is not spinning things smoothly. Now I'm not talking the type of wobble that happens with out of balance pieces of wood before you have trued them up a bit. This is when you are done to the final wood removal. It's not a huge wobble (I think you would call it runout but I'm still learning the technical terms ) but things were not turning true and, with pens, there's not a lot of reason for wobble other than the mandrel not being true (which is not the case). Thankfully things are close enough that sandpaper still produced a quality finish to the pens despite the tearout from the tools 'bouncing' on the surface.
Which all leads to my question. I have a mag base and dial caliper for measuring/adjusting TS, jointer, etc. But how would I go about using it to test a lathe? Or should I even bother and just jump right to disassembly and replacement of the bearings which I suspect are the culprit? Or am I just being overly sensitive? The 'wobble' is very small but it is noticeable.
I'm reasonably comfortable with most WW tools but I never did a lot of lathe work before now and I can't say I feel very comfortable at the moment.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
I am finally back in woodworking after a 25 year hiatus that ended roughly 2 years ago when LOML and I built a new house and she let me design most of the basement as a shop. Bought a lot of tools in a 6 month period including an old Delta Rockwell VS lathe. The lathe became available at a great price so I grabbed it as I knew, eventually, I would go down that slope again.
Well, I finally did last week doing a few quick pens for a special occasion. What became apparent is that the lathe is not spinning things smoothly. Now I'm not talking the type of wobble that happens with out of balance pieces of wood before you have trued them up a bit. This is when you are done to the final wood removal. It's not a huge wobble (I think you would call it runout but I'm still learning the technical terms ) but things were not turning true and, with pens, there's not a lot of reason for wobble other than the mandrel not being true (which is not the case). Thankfully things are close enough that sandpaper still produced a quality finish to the pens despite the tearout from the tools 'bouncing' on the surface.
Which all leads to my question. I have a mag base and dial caliper for measuring/adjusting TS, jointer, etc. But how would I go about using it to test a lathe? Or should I even bother and just jump right to disassembly and replacement of the bearings which I suspect are the culprit? Or am I just being overly sensitive? The 'wobble' is very small but it is noticeable.
I'm reasonably comfortable with most WW tools but I never did a lot of lathe work before now and I can't say I feel very comfortable at the moment.
Thanks in advance for any advice.