Wobble problem

[blake waller]

I have a very old AMT lathe that I bought recently. I am turning my first bowl and noticed that the chuck has about a 1/16" out of round wobble. A friend said the shaft may be bent and needs to be straightened. In the mean time, is this wobble the kiss of death for turning a decent bowl? I've noticed that while trying to sand the bowl, it seems to take a good while and there are spots on the bowl that don't want to sand nicely.

Am I wasting my time with the ancient lathe? I only paid $75 for the lathe so you can tell I am on a minimalist budget.

Thanks,

Blake

[Skip Spaulding]

Blake, is it the shaft thats out or is there a problem with the chuck? Try removing the chuck and bring your rest up very close to the side of the shaft, turn the shaft by hand, you should be able to see if the shaft is running off. Also check for play in the bearings.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Blake - have you checked the face of the spindle to make sure nothing there is interfering with the chuck seating? Easiest way to find if the spindle is bent is to put a drive center in the headstock, a live center in the tailstock and then move the tailstock up so that the 2 points are almost touching. If everything is aligned correctly - the points should meet. If not, then you can start checking out possible causes.

Let us know if you have any questions.

Looking forward to seeing some of your turnings real soon!

[ROY DICK]

Blacke,
What Skip and Steve said.

Roy

[blake waller]

I will give this a try. Thanks!