# Problems with face cutting on lathe, wavy pattern



## Bryanbdp (Apr 19, 2019)

I have an Enco lathe that is giving me a weird wavy pattern when I face a piece of bronze bushing stock.
I have tried different spindle speeds, feed speeds and cutters.
It almost seems like the pattern follows the turning of the cross screw, even though I have snugged up the gibbs tight and locked down the compound slide.
I just installed the new tool post, but it seems quite rigid.
Any suggestions as to what is causing this and how to fix it?
Does it have to do anything to do with the bronze material?
Thanks,
Bryan


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## goldstar31 (Apr 19, 2019)

As you seem to have tried most alternatives, I'd guess at a slack feed screw/ nut.

Maybe putting a dial mike at the back of the saddle would show  the amount of slackness there

Only a guess from a distance


Norm


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## XD351 (Apr 20, 2019)

Are you using the power cross feed ?  If you are then it might be something with the drive that is doing it , if you are doing it manually try auto feed also try locking the saddle as well . I think Norman may b on the money with the cross feed screw nut having too much end play . Do you get this with steel or aluminium ? Bronze can be funny stuff to machine depending on what is in it , what cutting tools are you using and what tool geometry ?


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## petertha (Apr 20, 2019)

I'm guessing your lathe has a power feed rod that drives the carriage & cross feed? When you see stripes its a hint that its cyclic. If you are seeing a similar stripey pattern in longitudinal power feed turning, then I would suspect something in the power feed drive line. It could be bowed power feed rod, worn worm gear assembly, possibly junk in the powerfeed keyway slot or the worm gear key is loosening up. f the longitudinal is fine & only on the cross feed, that that narrows things down to lead screw, lead screw nut, possibly bearing assembly or the gears that are transferring motion up from the apron. If you can hand feed rotate the wheel as consistent as possible & you don't get stripes then I would suspect something in the power feed.


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## goldstar31 (Apr 20, 2019)

What we tend to forget that is that ' we are always cutting a thread'  in  lathe work.

The finest shiny surface is 'still' a thread. and so is the roughest!

Regards

N


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## XD351 (Apr 20, 2019)

The concentric rings are extremely regular which to me would indicate an intermittent feed with a regular pause , like feeding one turn then stopping to reset ones grip in the feed handle . That is why i asked if it was manual or auto feed and if it is the same for other materials using the same tools. If you can do the same facing cut in aluminium or steel  using the same feed and cutting tools and get a good finish i would be looking at  tool type and geometry . Bronze , brass and copper have many different types and some machine better than others although in your photo the finish looks ok .  I’m guessing that you are facing from the outside into the centre , if so try a very light cut from centre out - sometimes this will improve the finish .
We can only offer suggestions from what we see in the picture and it will be up to you to go through these to find the solution .


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## goldstar31 (Apr 20, 2019)

I've been carefully following the excellent resume of  XD351's thoughts and am prompted to ask whether there is a piece of swarf on one of the gears causing the cut to 'miss' regularly.

Clearly, it is a most interesting  and thought provoking  post

Regards
 N


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## TonyM (Apr 20, 2019)

They look pretty uniform in distance to me. You could do a quick measure of the pitch to see if it coincides with one full turn of the cross slide. Could be a slight bend in the cross side screw


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## HWF (Apr 20, 2019)

I have a Grizzly G4003g and there have been reports of finish issues related to motor vibration.  As I recall the issues had to do with the single phase Chinese motors.  A variety of solutions were offered including changing of the motor and isolation mounting of the motor. I replaced my motor with a 3 phase and a VFD.


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## petertha (Apr 20, 2019)

That's a good point too HWF. I changed the belt on my lathe motor & noticed a kind of superimposed cyclic looking finish over & above the cut I had not seen before. The motor is mounted on a kind of a hinge plate to accommodate  belt size/wear. You have to get the belt tension right but more importantly have to lock the plate in position so it doesn't 'bounce' which is exactly what is happening a a certain frequency. Amazingly that can transfer to the work. Mine has kind of a threaded post with a lock nut. In this case (and I assume yours) if it was cutting without incident before & now has a problem, should be easier to isolate. You hear about the bad motors or distorted sheaves on new Asian lathes & that takes more work to investigate because all you know is you have a problem 'somewhere' right off the bat.


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## Bryanbdp (Apr 20, 2019)

Thank you for all the replies. I am starting to think it is the material itself, and the wrong type of cutter. It is 660 bronze, and I guess it has a tendency to pull the bit into the part. That does seem to be what's happening. It loads up, then releases.
I'm going to try a 0 rake tool, and see if that helps...


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## petertha (Apr 20, 2019)

I didn't have any issues straight turning or boring bronze with a sharp single point uncoated carbide insert cutter used for aluminum - which was a bit counter intuitive rake angle wise. But drilling was another matter. It progressively wants to grab the larger the diameter so it wanted the same dubbed tip geometry as drilling brass.


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## BaronJ (Apr 20, 2019)

Hi Guys,

The pattern appears to be very regular and not a spiral.  So I agree with Tony on this one. A slightly bent feed screw would also be my guess.  If that is the case feeding by hand would produce larger or smaller spacing in the pattern.


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## banjoT1 (Apr 20, 2019)

Before I post my first message on this forum about the topic I would like to make the comment that now retired and getting set up to resume personal projects [suspended while ‘’life got in the way’’], I have a great deal of respect for the pool of knowledge available here and the veteran folks that have spent a lifetime learning their trade and craft of metalworking – so thank you for taking your time to help foster folks like me.

Although my background is in the furniture design and manufacturing area, and education, from first-hand experience I’ve come to learn there are many basic concepts of materials processing, engineering, assembly, troubleshooting – to name only a few – that are easily transferable to almost any other activity.

To keep my message brief but relevant, troubleshooting as I se it often requires a person to quickly think on their feet by sorting through a vast mental library of successes and failures to conclude what might be the most likely and simplest gremlin in the mix.

I lack the knowledge to chirp in about feed, feed rates, or other likely mechanical problems because at this point I am apprenticing on this forum; however, I agree with XD351 when he says that [paraphrased] ‘’here are possibilities – now you figure it out’’. Also, I believe that HWF offers a very interesting possibility that, because the root cause is virtually invisible, such problems of vibration can easily be overlooked or not even considered at all.

So, what is ‘’transferable’’ [as mentioned above] is the term ‘’resonant frequency’’ or otherwise described pretty much as the frequency at which an object will naturally and inherently vibrate due to its physical properties and certain energy acting upon it. As a stringed instrument player and instrument set-up tech, I’ve had several years in learning about energy/sound/vibration transmission and many of the problems unwanted vibration can create with stringed instruments. 

With regards to the second photo showing the ‘’weird wavy pattern’’ I am not necessarily stating that vibration is the culprit but only that it could be a very quick troubleshooting option – that is, try the simplest and least expensive possibility first; then, if not that is a cause, go to the second possibility.

A loose motor, sloppy belt, line surges, lathe connected to the same circuit as a fluorescent light, worn bearing, incorrectly sharpened or positioned cutting tool, wooden floor, floppy metal parts (such as a lathe back panel), lathe with very little mass, etc., etc., could all be contributing factors conducive – each as a singular vibration or when combined as vibration ‘’harmonics’’ – i.e.,, multiple overlapping vibrations, or ‘’beats’’ (also described as ‘’wolf tones’’). 

Just saying……  that if Bryanbdo’s ‘’weird wavy pattern’’ is due to vibration sources as explained above, then the face of the bronze turning I a real and actual recording of that vibration in the same way as we know a musical recording to be.

Hopefully this posting may contribute to the forum, to the learnin’ process, and to identify machining problems not easily seen.


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## BaronJ (Apr 20, 2019)

Hi Bryce,

Thank you for your comments.  I completely understand what you are saying and don't in any way disagree.  The pattern is very regular and a vibratory resonance is a possible cause.  The only time I've seen something similar is a visible but an unmeasurable pattern on a turned rod.  That turned out to be a drive belt that was in the process of disintegrating.


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## John Antliff (Apr 20, 2019)

I've seen this type of problem occur when the end thrust nuts have come loose on the lathe mandrel.  With a tough material like bronze the use of a dull or incorrect tool form can cause repetitive marks to appear due to cycles of rub and cut as the tool tip pressure rises and releases.  I have also seen vibrations being transmitted to the mandrel when using a variable (VFD) drive, certain speeds settings can induce harmonic cycles (beat frequencies) which can be alleviated by changing the speed setting slightly.  Good luck with the investigation.


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## Eoin (Apr 21, 2019)

This thread has been an interesting read and reminded me of a similar incident with a new Lightburn production lathe back in the 1970s.

I was the Machine Shop  Foreman (civilian) in an Australian Army workshop when the new lathe was installed and became the "personal" lathe of our top machinist.
First thing that he did was to turn some test pieces and he soon discovered that he was getting a wavy pattern on finish cuts.
The suppliers were called and they sent out a couple of men with electronic test gear who eventually, despite the evidence, proclaimed the lathe to be 100%, and, in truth the pattern didn't mean anything from a production viewpoint, but it didn't look nice!!

Further talks with the suppliers resulted in the "legendary" old hand arriving without any gear other than a wooden dowel about 12 inches long and with well rounded ends.

He started the machine, had a listen via the dowel, varied the speeds, listened some more then declared that a particular gear was the cause.
Next day a team arrived, stripped the head and changed the suggested gear....and never another wavy pattern.

Magic!!


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## Dubi (Apr 21, 2019)

Bryanbdp said:


> Thank you for all the replies. I am starting to think it is the material itself, and the wrong type of cutter. It is 660 bronze, and I guess it has a tendency to pull the bit into the part. That does seem to be what's happening. It loads up, then releases.
> I'm going to try a 0 rake tool, and see if that helps...


Not sure if this will help or hinder. I was machining some Delrin plates and had a similar pattern to yours. I had been machining manually but changed to auto on the slowest feed I could and reduced the speed to about 350 rpm. They came out perfect.


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## john_reese (Apr 21, 2019)

The material and the tool can be interacting to produce the pattern.  Some bronzes require a very sharp tool to cut them. If you are using carbide inserts with a honed edge that might be the problem.  As the tool is fed into the work it tries to penetrate the metal but doesn't, deflecting the tool and machine components.  At some point the tool pressure will be high enough to overcome the cutting resistance.  At that point the tool penetrates the work, releasing all the elastic energy stored in the deflected components and it takes a big bite.  The cutting forces build up again and the scenario repeats.

The solution appears to me is to change tools.  A very sharp HSS tool should work or a carbide insert designed for aluminum with a sharp edge and polished surface.


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## john_reese (Apr 21, 2019)

If changing the tooling does not work then investigate problems with the machine.


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## OldRon (Apr 21, 2019)

Bryanbdp said:


> I have an Enco lathe that is giving me a weird wavy pattern when I face a piece of bronze bushing stock.
> I have tried different spindle speeds, feed speeds and cutters.
> It almost seems like the pattern follows the turning of the cross screw, even though I have snugged up the gibbs tight and locked down the compound slide.
> I just installed the new tool post, but it seems quite rigid.
> ...



Question: Does that condition exist with a substantial depth of cut or only on light finish cuts?

Put a known to be straight edge such as the ruler out of a combination square in the chuck and tighten the chuck just enough to maintain the ruler. Level the ruler and then dial indicate the ruler edge using the cross slide.  Chances are you will have discovered your problem before you have the ruler dial indicated parallel with the cross slide. If that does not replicate the condition that is effecting the surface finish then you need to be checking the thrust clearance on the spindle bearings.

Good Luck,
Ron


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## Bryanbdp (Apr 21, 2019)

I think tooling was the issue. I played around with bits and some worked much better than others. It is hard to get a really uniform cut in this material. Surface cuts are easier than face cuts.
Thanks to all,
Bryan


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## XD351 (Apr 22, 2019)

Try a HSS tool with zero or even some negative rake


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## bobden72 (Apr 22, 2019)

My opinion is that you are all looking too deep for a none existing problem with the machine.  It is just caused by not turning the cross slide handle at a constant speed, when you momentary stop to move your hand for another turn the tool drags for a sec and causes the patterns.


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## Naiveambition (Apr 23, 2019)

When I first started I too produced the pattern like yours.  At the time I was off center using a the cheapest carbide bit I could find and was using a candle for lubricant.  It smoked like crazy plus made the room smell nice , and cut okish while producing a spiral pattern.  After switching to hss and finding the true center I never have had theses issues.  I used braised carbide on bearing bronze recently, with no issues, I can't remember but I'm pretty sure 660 is bearing bronze, but I may be wrong.   
Although it did look really nice and I've thought a few times of trying it again for decorative parts.   
I notice you said it pulls the cutter into the work,  on mine if it's doing that it's either off center or the gibs are not tight


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## mortimer (Apr 23, 2019)

as  a thought , try a negative top rake on a HSS tool with a bull nose profile  , it works on cast iron


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## johwen (Apr 23, 2019)

goldstar31 said:


> As you seem to have tried most alternatives, I'd guess at a slack feed screw/ nut.
> 
> Maybe putting a dial mike at the back of the saddle would show  the amount of slackness there
> 
> ...


Johwen from Australia, Many years ago now we had this problem on some Asian lathes and it was caused by the drive belt, they were molded and had hard and soft spots and in some cases had uneven sections causing the belt to ride up in the groove as it drove the pulley. I would suggest checking and changing the belt for a quality one. This fixed the problem in these cases. Hope this helps to solve your problem Norm. John


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## Neil Lickfold (Apr 23, 2019)

I am assuming that you had the saddle locked to reduce any movement there and the top slide/compound slide as well. Does the cross slide feed freely and uniformly? ie no easy and then a little resistance? The easy and little resistance can be from a slightly bent cross slide screw, or from miss alignment between the nut and the handle support. It could also be from the cross slide being slightly too loose.  If you run a DTI on a straight edge mounted on the tool holder, is the dial running dead true, or do you see a very slight wobble in the DTI. Sometimes dull tools will give a better result as it has a higher tool pressure to cut and the variations are less than the tool pressure required to cut the surface. A very sharp tool can often show up machine tool irregularities that a dull or not so sharp a geometry tool would not show. Other issues like belts and vibration can also show patterns, but usually if you change the feed rate or the rpm, the pattern will often change with it. Your pattern looks to be the pitch of the cross slide screw to me.  
Neil


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## goldstar31 (Apr 23, 2019)

No probs. John.  I was merely trying to help Bryan.

However, it is certainly quite alarming.

Cheers

Norm


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## dkwflight (Apr 23, 2019)

Hi
You might look at how close the tool tip is to the hold down bolt. Closer is better. Less leverage.
I have seen this type of tool flexibility in my 9 x 20 enco.
The tool geometry will have an effect too. If it digs in and tips toward the work you will get odd finishes.
These small lathes are not as rigid as would be desirable.
Get your tool as sharp as possible and take small cuts.
Good luck
Dennis


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## john_reese (Apr 23, 2019)

Keep our tool sharp.  Hone it until it shines.  Zero or neg. rake, up to 5*. Small end radius.  Keep the tool stickout as short as possible.  You should be fine.   You may want to rig a chip deflector close to the tool.  Bronze sprays ships everywhere.


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## trently (Apr 24, 2019)

Bryanbdp off topic question,   I have the same lathe as yours.  Mine is wired for 110v and I want to change it to 220v but I have no schematics. Is yours running on 220?


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## Rolland (Apr 24, 2019)

johwen said:


> Johwen from Australia, Many years ago now we had this problem on some Asian lathes and it was caused by the drive belt, they were molded and had hard and soft spots and in some cases had uneven sections causing the belt to ride up in the groove as it drove the pulley. I would suggest checking and changing the belt for a quality one. This fixed the problem in these cases. Hope this helps to solve your problem Norm. John


I changed my belts to link belts and the problem went away. I have a Grizzly lathe 12x36, belts were from McMasters.


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## Bryanbdp (Apr 24, 2019)

Hi. Yes, I'm running it on 220v. The wiring diagram is on the motor label. I'll attach it here.
I don't know if you have the same motor or not, but here's the label.

NOTE: If you rewire the motor for 220v, you also have to adjust the connections to the transformer in the control box. Change input leads from 120v to 220v screws, note that BOTH leads are hot when using 220v.

What's interesting to me, is that the lathe works in both directions with single phase 220.
I don't know how the motor reversing is done, I thought AC motors only ran in one direction, except for 3 phase.

If there's a way to lock the saddle or top slide, I don't know how to do it. Am I missing something?
Indicating the tool holder seems like a good idea, i'll give that a try.
Thanks,
Bryan


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## goldstar31 (Apr 24, 2019)

Looking at the right side of the front of my saddle ie the Sieg C4 ,there is a number of   a number of allen bolts and one of the rear part locks number one shear with a hexagon key

Yours may be similar. Let us know if yours is similar

Norm


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## trently (Apr 24, 2019)

Bryan, to lock the saddle on ours there is a 14mm but to the right of the crosslide on the top of the carriage. Yours might be newer than mine (1981) the motor is different. I am wanting to hook up the 220 to the main panel so that the switches and other controls will still function as built.  I'm not sure how to connect the 220 and not over volt them. I may not be making sense with my description


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## Bryanbdp (Apr 24, 2019)

I took a few photos of my carriage assembly. I found a hex headed bolt under the DRO scale I never noticed before. It's loose and wiggly, but it does seem to tighten down and lock the carriage in the X direction.
Still can't find a lock for the cross slide, it may be under the scale as well. Perhaps I can add one to the other side.
As to 220/240 volt hookup, look at the photo I posted above, it has the wiring connections listed for both 120 and 240 volts.
Th























 anks,
Bryan


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## goldstar31 (Apr 24, 2019)

I guess that 'your wiggly thing' is the clamp which is sort of replicated in my Sieg.

Does it need a hex key?

I would guess that all the other clamps/handles do not tighten up the saddle  sufficiently. This may solve your original problem and I guess that you should now allow proper power facing without  getting ' wavy' results.

Norm


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## Bryanbdp (Apr 24, 2019)

That clamp has a hex head, so I can put a wrench on it...
I think it would have made a difference in the cut.
Now I have to see if there are gibbs or other adjustments on the carriage, I feel it could be snugger...


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## retailer (Apr 24, 2019)

I have the exact same lathe but sold under a different name, my lathe is around 30 or so yrs old and I had a few issues that gradually crept up over a number of years, I initially put the cause of the issues down to "tool spring" but as  parting off became more problematic I started looking for answers and found that the spindle end float/bearing preload nuts located on the left side of the head stock could be done up over half a turn, the locknut needs to be loosened first - I'm guessing that the bearings have bedded down over the years and allowed a very small amount of end float in the spindle. It is quite easy to check this you only need a small brass drift to loosen the lock nut I found I could easily tap the adjusting nut around almost 3/4 of a turn, you might want to check this if you haven't done so already.


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## petertha (Apr 24, 2019)

Your carriage lock clamp may well be the same poor design most of us Asian lathe owners have. Mine never clamped very well. It was fiddly to get engaged because the round shoe allows it to rotate slightly and it has very minimal contact area. So I made a rectangular shoe which aligns much better to the bed, can never rotate out of position & has much more surface contact area. Now it is very positive. Hopefully the pictures are self explanatory, but if not ask any questions.


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## trently (Apr 24, 2019)

Bryan, do you see the goofy little wing screw on the left side of your compound? The crosslide has one of those on the right side. I imagine that it was removed too mount the dro scale


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## trently (Apr 24, 2019)

Oh and I forgot, that not is the lock only need to snugly tighten


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## Bryanbdp (Apr 24, 2019)

That is a nice mod. I'll have to do that. Maybe I can even mount a new one that's not under the DRO!
Are there any adjustments that you can make to snug up the saddle?
Thanks,
Bryan


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## petertha (Apr 25, 2019)

I used the existing top hole through the apron top casting for my new carriage clamp. It didn't interfere with anything so no need to make a new hole in my case. I machined a longer flanged bushing so the threaded stud was contained axially with a sliding fit. I thought I would use one of those adjustable handles for lock down but in the end I just went for a nut. It clamps so well often times I just twist it by hand for non critical but the wrench is handy to fully secure it. I did this work while the carriage was off the machine and I had a good looksee. Of course the power feed rod, clutch, threading leadscrew, power/reverse rod, tailstock bearing block... all has to come off before apron can be removed. Its not horrible, but there is a specific disassembly sequence.

My cross slide DRO is on the chuck side. The plus side is I have access to my cross slide lock (which engages the gib strip also on that side). The downside is scale & encoder head is in the chips environment (although well protected with a tight fitting guard plate). I also used the threaded holes for travelling steady which simplified DRO installation but was a tradeoff because detaching the DRO to use the travel steady would be a pita. I'm in the process of designing a lighter duty steady that mounts to my cross slide T slots for smaller scale finicky turning, so ask me a while from now how that panned out.


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## petertha (Apr 25, 2019)

If your lathe is like mine then there are 'some' adjustments to tweak the saddle, but not really. My lathe is actually quite accurate & tight which is why I was shocked at the underside Vee & horizontal slide surfaces. Those nice shiny induction hardened ground surfaces you see on the top side of the machine are slid upon by some pretty underwhelming *cough* scraped surfaces that are in no way comparable. That was a bit disheartening actually. Or maybe the surfaces were pretty good & what I'm seeing is hackish oil frosting job. I didn't have an issue in that regard & didn't want to create a new one so I blued the surfaces, just kissed the high spots with a stone & called it good. It slides very nice & maintains position well. There are some rudimentary CI block sliders that engage the underside of the casting rails with gib-like set screws so you can snug things up there. I cleaned those up while I was in there.

I figure if I ever wanted to undertake an upgrade I would coat those sliding surfaces with engineered systems like Turcite or more likely Moglice. But I really don't have appreciable wear to justify it  and there is some specialized technique involves (says the midnight YouTube watcher LOL).


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## banjoT1 (Apr 25, 2019)

Bryanbdp - I composed the message below off of the forum. then I clicked on the forum to post it without knowing what all the other posts were above. So, rather than throw away the reply to you I'm just going to post it anyway below - perhaps it will be helpful to someone in any event. (Then....if I need to ask for anyone's forgiveness I'll be back.)

here it is:

Hi Bryan……………

Due to health reasons primarily, I haven’t had my lathe cranked up for quite a few years now but [feeling much better now] I am getting it ready (with some additional tooling) to get back at it.

To answer your question: Frankly, I don’t recall what is energizing that thing – either 110 or 220 – just don’t remember. But it wouldn’t be hard for me to know…….I would just look at the configuration of the plug end. I was in the shop tonight but wasn’t around the lathe. So Bryan, from where I am in the house as I write this I can’t answer you at this time of checking emails.

However, I can tell you this: Any respectable motor manufacturer with affix a schematic diagram usually pasted inside the motor junction box that is typically mounted directly onto the motor somewhere. Now again, from where I am as I write this I can’t say whether that sticker/label is affixed to my lathe motor or not but it should be.

So, let’s assume that somewhere around your motor, or in the motor’s junction box, there IS a label/schematic - then it will tell you how to convert or changeover the ‘’line’’ connections to operate on 220. Likely, given that it is a ‘’fractional’’ motor (i.e., anything under 1hp) it probably is a 110v only. I would be very, very surprised if is designed for 220 configuration. And, if there is no such schematic affixed somewhere then it would be safe to assume that it is not 220 capable.

I don’t know if you’re in Canada where I am but we have not only UL certification on electrical devices but a ‘’CA’’; designation as well (certifying of course that it meets our National Electrical Code. I would think also that part of their certification requirements is that motor manufactures are REQUIRED to have a proper schematic diagram [label/sticker] attached some where. I do not believe that certification authorities would permit manufacturers to OMIT affixing a label to the motor and only have the schematic printed some where’s inside the operator’s manual. A schematic would/should ALWAYS be part of the motor.

Lastly, in view that the entire machine is an ‘’off shore’’ model – an otherwise polite term for the dubious term ‘’ Chinese’’ – I simply do not trust much that we receive from them anyway. That is, even though there are UL and CA requirements, you and I both know that what ‘’off shore’’ stuff that we purchase is often hit and miss in terms of quality or even properly worded manuals or documentation……….at least that has been my experience – but that’s a whole other topic aside of your direct question.

Also Bryan – one last point……… I don’t know what your electrical knowledge and experience is but I will take the safe route and advise you with this: If by chance you CAN rewire your motor to a 220v configuration then of course you will be bringing in to the motor 2 hot wires from your electrical panel, or a secondary junction box, or electrical outlet. First, the plug-in end MUST be for 220v operation that in itself the 220 prongs pattern are configured for a specific operating current (i.e., amps). And, since there are 2 hot wires, the code says that – if you end up using a white and a black wire from the source – that at your electrical connections - at BOTH ENDS of the white wire - that you give it a couple wraps of black electrical tape to designate that the white wire is actually a ‘’hot’’ wire [*see off-topic comment further below]. I hope you can envision this because it’s a bit hard to explain only in words. And, it is by code that in your electrical panel where your 220v current uses two 110v breaker spaces – be sure that those 2 breakers are tied together by the little clip that attaches the two breaker toggle levers together.  Now mind you…..if you use a dedicated 220 breaker then the previous sentence is a moot point because the toggle levers of a legit and dedicated 220 breaker are tied together anyway.  Have I got you all confused by now? If you know all of this anyway due to experience and general shop knowledge then of course you won’t have any problem.

Let me know how you end up with this situation. Its now nearly 1:30AM here now but tomorrow I’ll be back in the shop and will take a look at my lathe. (It’s a King that I purchased in 2004 at a time when the manufactures did not offer any additional tooling accessories to fit – such as a quick change tool post.) I’ll look to see if my motor is 220v capable – but as I say, likely not. 

Hope that it works out well for you.
Bryce.

[* This is way beyond your original question but it may be helpful to someone:  In another life many years ago I was a sparky for awhile......... I soon learned that taking on any renno jobs or re-wiring can be very dicey and dangerous due to working around electrical circuitry that has been tampered with, modified or expanded by D.I.Y homeowners who were unknowledgeable about electrical code requirements nor even some of the most basic electrical wiring practices. Therefore, if you are the second owner of your home or home shop, as you probe around in your home shop electrical wiring an abundance of caution would be in order. Likewise, I would encourage anyone to ensure that whatever electrical work they undertake is correctly done so that electrical work does not inadvertently create electrical hazards ready to befall the next homeowner.]


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## goldstar31 (Apr 25, 2019)

Petertha, Thank You

An admirable dissertation on 'what should happen'-

This is why lathes like Myfords have laminated shims as backings for gib strips.

My very old Myford Super7B has  Turcite glued under the saddle. It was done when my lathe went in for a 'slideways grind professionally.

As for my cheap as chips Sieg C4, I added extra gib screws and some time back Bazmak and I had a discussion here.

My thoughts- it depends pn how much my eyes will improve today with surgery, is to simply add car body metal filled resin behind the gibs to 'stop them rocking about' and just as importantly, minimise the time wasted resetting gibs during cleaning and oiling maintenance.

A peeled shim on a Myford is 0.002" and it is not uncommon to scrape or grind them thinner to create 'a snug fit'


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## Bryanbdp (Apr 25, 2019)

Wow, some great information. I switched my machine to 220 when I got it. You have to wire the leads as shown on the motor, BUT, you also have to rewire the transformer in the control box. Simple to do, you just change the two power leads to the transformer to the 220v marked input screws.
That's all it takes, except putting on the correct plug.

Petertha, thank you for the photos and information. It will be very helpful. I suspect just tightening the saddle would have helped a great deal when machining the bronze!


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## Bryanbdp (Apr 25, 2019)

Since we're on the subject, here's the manual I have for the lathe. A little blurry, but helpful.
Thanks,
Bryan


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