Tail stock movement?

[James Williams 007]

What is the acceptable amount of movement side to side of the tailstock. I attached a picture of how far off center the tailstock moves now I can get it to line up, but if I push it to one side or the other it will go off center.

[Roger Chandler]

Your bed is not level, and likely one of your lathe feet is raising one end and causing the lathe to torque, causing the centers to mis-align. Common problem with a lot of folks when they set up a machine they are not familiar with. Level end to end and front to back, and diagonally using a level. That should bring your centers in alignment.

[William C Rogers]

James
if I understand correctly, when you tighten the tailstock down pushing it one way it aligns and the other way it is off as shown. I'll let others comment on the amount, but looks like less than .005" to me. My other suggestion is to use spur centers (no bearings) to check this and eliminate any bearing stackup tolerances.

[terry mccammon]

I suspect Roger has nailed it. Also double check for any debris under the tail stock. Also, if you have a rotating or sliding headstock, be very sure it is absolutely clear of debris under this as well.

[John K Jordan]

James, I agree with one foot needing adjusted. I've seen this so many times. It seems odd but even a massive cast iron bed is flexible and can easily twist. What I do is just crank up one foot until the points align. In your case, the back leveler foot at the tailstock (or the front one at the headstock) should be turned a bit to raise the leg. If the lathe doesn't have leveler feet I've used a thin shim to align.

However, it may not be necessary to level the lathe. Wouldn't hurt though. Everything should work fine if the lathe is out of level a bit as long as the bed is in a flat plane. That's true for almost any woodworking equipment except perhaps for something on ball bearings that can slide (like the sliding table on my table saw.)

Now if there is play in the headstock or tailstock, that's a different issue.

JKJ

[James Williams 007]

The gap between bed and tailstock is .012 or .30mm which allows it to move slightly side to side.

[John K Jordan]

The gap between bed and tailstock is .012 or .30mm which allows it to move slightly side to side.

Then unless the lathe is new, I'd take the tailstock off and fix what is causing the gap. Maybe with shim stock or with some other means depending on what I found. If the lathe is new, perhaps a call to the maker would be in order. My lathes have no such gap.

That much play would be nothing when turning a long spindle but could be a problem when the tailstock is close.

JKJ

[James Williams 007]

It's brand new just got it Friday. I'll contact them to get a new tail stock. I just wanted to make sure this wasn't an acceptable amount of play.

[Roger Chandler]

Likely your tailstock will tighten down in a "true" position unless you have something unusual going on. A little play is needed, as you have the sliding headstock feature, and positioning along the bed is necessary. The clamp plate which is underneath on the tailstock eyebolt should be looked at, to make sure there is no burr on it from the machining process, and also realize that with the cast bed ways, there could be a burr on the underside of the ways, which could possibly affect alignment. That would likely wear to a normal state with sliding the tailstock back and forth a number of times and with usage of the lathe.

[brian zawatsky]

Did you try tightening up the locknut? I have an 0766 too, and when I clamp down on the tail stock, I can't push it one way or the other without a mallet.
Once you get it all tight, maybe check your bed ways for twist.

[Sid Matheny]

I know you would like it to be perfect with a new lathe but I don't think it will be a problem.

[Roger Chandler]

I truly believe it is a matter of being out of proper adjustment, and that with some tweaking, his centers can be dead on. My G0766 has perfect alignment of the centers.

[Jason Edwards]

I don't think the play is that big of a deal. Make sure you have it setting level or in the same plane as others have described. For spindle turning between centers, this amount of play has no consequence. When you have something on a chuck or faceplate and want your best alignment, have the work spinning before you bring up the tailstock. Then bring up your tailstock to the work and have it find the center by itself, and then lock down the tailstock and finish tightening things up.

[Roger Chandler]

Another observation. - Going from a mini lathe to a large lathe like the G0766 will mean proper setup is more critical and any misalignment will be magnified way beyond what is noticeable with a mini lathe. For anyone upgrading to a large lathe, or a new turner who is not familiar with proper setup/adjustment can lead to missteps and misunderstanding of the proper dynamics of getting things tweaked correctly, and in some cases raise alarms where none is justified.

I am NOT saying that is the case here, but I have seen a few new owners of several makes of lathes have to be walked through steps to get things right, and many turn to the forum like this,which is one of the reasons why this forum is so valuable.

[William C Rogers]

I don't have this lathe. There has to be some clearance for the tailstock to move on the lathe bed. I would suggest you measure the width between the bed and the tailstock width. I don't think putting a feeler gauge really gives a good indication. Seems the thought is the tailstock is bad, but the bed ways may be too wide and a new tailstock may not be the answer. I don't know what a reasonable clearance should be, maybe Roger can measure his. If the clearance is reasonable (or within the Grizzly specs), then the likely cause would be as stated above regarding leveling. The first picture with the centers does not appear to be .012". However using centers with bearings IMO is not the best way to check this. Good luck in getting your lathe up and running.