Lathe Question

[phrog]

A few months ago I asked a question about my HF 34706 lathe running hot. Many of you suggested that I take the lathe back to HF while still under warranty. Kudos to HF for making the return very easy and painless. That was about 3 weeks ago. Today, I finally got the new lathe together and everything looks great except that the point on the headstock's drive center is not lining up perfectly with the point on the tailstock's live center. You can see that if you look at the photo. The perspective is from above and the two points are about 1mm apart. Viewed from the front perspective, they line up perfectly. My question: "Is the 1mm separation too much to expect to get good turnings since the axes are not the same?" I haven't tried it yet and just wondered if this much separation will cause the misalignment to vibrate the machine apart. "How much separation is acceptable?" Thanks.

[LCHIEN]

Not a turner but doesn't seem desirable to me.
can you shim the mount or something to make them line up?

[SteveO]

Hi Richard,

I'm new here, but I have that lathe and love it. Did you try loosening the headstock pivot handle and rotating the headstock without pulling out the rotation lock pin? Mine has about that amount of play before needing to pull the pin. I just line mine up and then crank down the pivot handle. Mine is dead on.

If that doesn't work, I think I'd want another return. HF is great about returns, even when it's more than once. I think it would cause issues on pens and tight-tolerance turnings.

Let us know what happens,
Steve

[Bill in Buena Park]

Richard - since you have the reversible head, there should be something to loosen the head and potentially correct this alignment issue. I'd try that angle first - loosen the headstock, and attempt to realign, tighten, and recheck.

[leehljp]

1 mm is too much. It should be dead on. Don't settle for less.

Even .1 (point 1, or 1/10th of 1) mm is too much if you are turning pens.