Linky.....Linky.....Smooooth Linky....

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

OMG do the "Linked Belts" make a HUGE difference on the C-man lathe for smoothness.

I cannot believe the difference, unreal!

The whole lathe is SO much smoother now, that I see the Grizzly chuck is running out of true! :eek:

According to my dial indicator it is out by 30 x 0.01 mm =0.3 mm or 0.01181"

Enough to see, and feel, but I don't know if it will make a big difference in turning a bowl.

Oh well, the DVR should be here soon enough.

I got all of my pen turning stuff, but I'm still waiting on the live center I ordered from Grizzly (May 5th deliver, I think they said, :rolleyes: ) because I have only a dead center, can't use that on the pen mandrel (says so right on the package).

Bummer, I have a few hundred blanks to turn! ;) :D

Cheers!

[Henry C. Gernhardt, III]

Was a linked belt original equipment for the Craftsman, or was it an aftermarket thing?

Glad to hear the beast runs better, and I hope you get your live center soon. In the meantime---do you have an extra jacobs chuck or something of that ilk you could stick in the tailstock?

[Steve Clardy]

Yep. I try to run link belts every time I need to replace a belt on machinery. Cheaper for me to just keep some on hand, other than driving 25 miles to a parts house to get a new belt for something.

[Jeff Horton]

...I see the Grizzly chuck is running out of true! :eek:

According to my dial indicator it is out by 30 x 0.01 mm =0.3 mm or 0.01181"

It could be that the shoulder on the shaft is out of square with the shaft. I found the same thing on my J-line and about panicked! Someone on the OWWM list suggested I just true up the spindle myself. Sounded crazy till I thought about it.

Turning tools are HSS and so are metal lathe tools. So I ended up using the parting tool since it was all that fit in the recess in the headstock. Took VERY light cuts and got what looked like steel wool coming off the shoulder. I am sure it is not as flat as it should be but it is square to the shaft now. When I put the chuck back on it runs near perfect now.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Hey Jeff, thanks for the idea, but I knew that one already, I sharpen my dead center all the time with the parting tool :D

The spindle is dead on, I checked, the part of the chuck that screws on to the spindle is dead on, it is the moving parts that have enough slop in them that they are off a bit.

At first the wobble was much worse, so, I took the whole deal apart, and I found chunks of steel from the machining and such in there, and other crap too. I cleaned it all out and then I tried it again and it got down to what it is know, really it is not all that much, and as long as I don't launch a bowl, I'm fine, as the wobble is consistent, and I'm not that good anyway :o

Cheers!

[Corey Hallagan]

Stu, I have read on several different websites that often the difference between the pricey chucks and the Tawaineese chucks is the burs etc. left after machining. I read where guys unassembled them and cleaned out all the machining junk ( they both found filings) and on the scroll keys filed down any burs and the performance was much the same as expensive chucks. Glad things are working out for you and you soon will have two spinnig machines! You definitely need that live center for pen turning. I use the grizzly one myself. First one I got didn't spin at all, second one works like a champ! Good luck on the pens!
Corey