can you adjust your taile stock on a delta to line up

[John Nowack]

my tail stock is of center and pulls a pen mandrel to the side---also if i turn something after I hace founr teh center and then want to us the tailstack for support later it pulls the peace off center or meets at a point just right of center

it is a dealts mid size lathe

[Jim Becker]

If your lathe is fastened down to a structure, loosen the screws/bolts and see if there is any change. Cast iron bends... If that doesn't get you into alignment, you may need to play around with shimming or filing your tailstock. Which is a pain. For small things like pens, any deviation in spindle alignment can be magnified.

[Frank Kobilsek]

Before you start shimming or filing, because Jim is right it is a pain, make sure your lathe is dead level. I had trouble with my Jet 1642 even as far as ordering a new tailstock assy. My Dad talked me into leveling the thing just perfect and the problem was reduced to satisfactory levels. It doesn't make sense that that much iron would sag or bend because of gravity but it happens.
Frank

[Jim Becker]

Frank, it's not just gravity...it could be a machine that is fastened down tight to a work surface that is not flat, thus bending the bed slightly. I discovered this early on after getting my Stubby. If the base was not set up perfectly flat (all points in the same plane, the heavy, heavy cast iron structure could bend enough to put the centers off center, as it were!