Headstock Alignment Question - Vintage Delta Lathe

[Bob Coleman]

Hi All,

I'm finishing up cleaning a 1955 Delta Lathe and am re-assembling. There is quite a bit of slop in the bolt holes that attach the headstock to the bed. I'm new to turning and don't know how much the alignment of the headstock matters. Should I attempt to get the spindle axis perfectly parallel to the bed? Does it really matter that much? If I need to align it, how do I go about doing it?

Thanks in advance!

245366

[Peter Fabricius]

Hi Bob;
"It does matter" If your alignment is off then when you try to drill a hole with the Jacobs chuck in the tailstock you will make an out of round hole.
Your headstock looks like it will be a fixed head. If the bolts are sloppy you might try to put a little sleeve over the bolts as they go through the Lathe ways.
To line everything up put a pointy centre in both the headstock and the tailstock and bring the two close together and adjust as needed. Remember to tighten the tailstock down while you adjust the headstock into perfect alignment.
Good luck.
Peter F.

[James Combs]

First let me make it clear that I have never aligned a lathe FIXED headstock and tail stock. With that out of the way, if it were me I would first make sure that the center line of the two stocks were in the same vertical plane. This might require shim stock under the head stock or slight lapping of the headstock base. When I was sure the vertical center lines were in the same plane I would then focus on making them parallel. Typically quick alignment of headstock to tail stock is accomplished by making sure the points of two centers(one in the HS and one in the TS) are lined up with each other(Peters Fabricius's point), however, in your case they could appear to line up both vertically and horizontally and still not be on the same axis(parallel) due to the play in your bolt pattern. Picture both points together with the headstock pointed 0.5* CW and the tailstock 0.5* CCW. To the eye they appear to be perfectly aligned but their two axis are actually making an "X" or cross in space rather then being parallel. To solve this problem(after the vertically alignment was complete) I would install something in both stocks that would lock them together in axis alignment, for example; I might install drill chucks in each stock then clamp the chucks down on a short piece of 1/2 steel dowel rod, one end of the rod in one chuck and the other end in the other chuck. You would then effectively have one assembly that included a head stock and a tail stock. Then simple install and tighten the headstock mounting bolts and you are done. To make alignment easier after any future dis-assembly I would take a chisel and chisel a couple inconspicuous lines(one each side) that crossed the headstock and ways.

There are probably other ways of insuring alignment of the stocks but this is what I would do. I am sure there will be others that will have perhaps better ways of doing it. Good luck and hope I have helped somewhat.

[Jerry Marcantel]

Looking at the drawing of the parts, that lathe looks like a Delta Milwaukee Homecraft. It has an aluminum head and tailstock. Also, the tailstock has an adjustment built in for "off axis"? turnings. You need to make sure that is centered to both the ways and head stock. The headstock also has alignment things (can't think of what they're called) that fit the gap in the ways (see drawing), so to me, the slop you have in the bolt holes shouldn't matter as long as the stock's gap things fit snugly in the ways.... I could be wrong, but it sure looks just like my first lathe. The bearing seals are felt, and can be replaced with regular modern seals. Keep your oil level up, and it should be a good lathe until you get caught up in the Vortex.....Jerry (in Tucson)

[Jamie Donaldson]

Some slop in the headstock bolt holes allows alignment variances, and a jig that aligns both Morse tapers would be a good guide. JD has made good points above about aligning in all planes rather than just point to point, and some shim stock may be required when tightening down the headstock. There is just such a jig available, but you can make one out of a good hardwood dowel, turn a Morse taper between centers to fit the headstock spindle, then mount in the headstock taper and turn another taper on the opposite end. This will align the 2 tapers fairly well when inserted in the headstock and tailstock tapers, at least as well as a wood lathe of that vintage is concerned.

[Bob Coleman]

Jerry is correct, its a Delta Homecraft, 1955. It was my brother-in-law's. It does have "keys" for lack of a better term that fit in the center of the bed. The back key fits pretty well (~.005 gap) but the front one is looser, about .030". I get about a 32nd of wiggle with the bolts loose. Unfortunately I don't have any drill chucks or the know-how to turn a taper, so for starters I'm going to set the head parallel to the edge of either the bed side or machined gap, whichever I can manage to get a measurement off of, and then check that the spindle is parallel to the bed, and hope that works. If not, I'll see about getting jigs, chucks, etc.

Thanks for the advice!

245416

[Jamie Donaldson]

If you roughly align the headstock/tailstock points you should be good to go for now. I always hated that saying about "good enough for government work," especially when slamming in a fresh clip of M-16 ammo during a firefight in Vietnam! I always wanted to believe that the stuff we depended on was also "good to go!"

[Jerry Marcantel]

You could get a couple feller guages at .015" and a couple at .002", put one on each side at each end, and then tighten the bolts. It should be centered then. Does the tailstock have an adjustment for side movement?.......... Jerry (in Tucson)

[James Combs]

Some slop in the headstock bolt holes allows alignment variances, and a jig that aligns both Morse tapers would be a good guide. JD has made good points above about aligning in all planes rather than just point to point, and some shim stock may be required when tightening down the headstock. There is just such a jig available, but you can make one out of a good hardwood dowel, turn a Morse taper between centers to fit the headstock spindle, then mount in the headstock taper and turn another taper on the opposite end. This will align the 2 tapers fairly well when inserted in the headstock and tailstock tapers, at least as well as a wood lathe of that vintage is concerned.

Jamie, thanks for the memory jogger, the double MT-Taper device is exactly what is needed, I had forgotten about it.

Bob, if you know what your headstock and tailstock tapers are you should be able to pick up the appropriate dual taper device similar to this one (http://www.packardwoodworks.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=packard&Category_Code=lathes-acc-mrstool).

[Jerry Marcantel]

Bob, it is a MT2... Did you remove the spindle when you did you clean up on the lathe? If so, check for end play on it. The only reason I'm not using my Delta Homecraft is I have about .030" slop, and that's way too much to have..
Jerry (in Tucson)

[Bob Coleman]

Thanks for all the info! My attempt to line things up may or may not have worked. I clamped a machinist' square with the base inside the ways and the blade perpendicular, put another square up against it and tried to align the side this way. It seemed to work ok by eye, but who knows! I think for piece of mind I'm just going to order the alignment taper.

Jerry, some previous owner had packed the bearings and headstock with grease, so rather than clean the bearings and hope that nothing was damaged by a small metal bit or anything else, I just replaced them. I haven't put the spindle back in yet, but I'll let you know how it turns out.