new to me lathe,HELP!!!

[mike falconer]

i just picked up a new lathe, i upgraded from a HF 10inch to a grizzly 0462. when i got it into position in the shop it was horribly out of level. i add some small furniture leveling feet, but they dont quit have enought thread to get it set perfect. what do you guys use to insure precision leveling of your tool? i began turning a 15" plater that was rough cut on the bandsaw, so should be fairly balanced, but my lathe walked all over the place. i was doing more chasing than turning. please help me get this dog leveled up and stable.

thanks mike

[Chris A Lawrence]

take a piece of wood drill a 1/8 to 1/4 inch deep hole in the center of it that the foot can sit into. put it under the foot that doesn't have enough threads and level it. Build a weight box to put between the legs to fill with sand to add some weight.

[Peter Christensen]

While it is nice to have the lathe level it isn’t essential. What is important is to not have the bed twisted. Adjust the lathe so your level’s bubble is the same at the headstock and at the tailstock end. It doesn’t have to be centered. When you have time you can get better levelers and get it perfect.

[John K Jordan]

While it is nice to have the lathe level it isn’t essential. What is important is to not have the bed twisted. Adjust the lathe so your level’s bubble is the same at the headstock and at the tailstock end. It doesn’t have to be centered. When you have time you can get better levelers and get it perfect.

I agree with Peter, like most other machines having the lathe aligned to some reasonable plane is far more important than having it aligned to the plane perpendicular to the gravity vector.

One way to check the lathe is put centers with points in both the headstock and tailstock and bring the tailstock up close to the headstock. Start with all adjusters about the same. If the bed is twisted (cast iron will twist and flex a surprising amount) the two points will be out of alignment. If the tailstock point is towards you, crank up on the front right adjuster a bit (or lower the back left adjuster). This should bring the points into alignment. I check this every time I set up or move a lathe. Once during a demo Mark StLeger commented that the misalignment of the centers was giving him grief on a small piece he was turning. During the break it took me all of 20 seconds to correct the alignment with the leg levelers which fixed his problem.

I have also made blocks with shallow holes in the top to fit the leveler feet as Chris mentioned, but to raise the lathe a little instead of level it. But a variation should work for leveling if the floor was so far out of level that it bothered you.

I have difficulty pinning the lathe dancing on the out-of-level condition. I'm not familiar with that particular lathe but if it's walking around, the blank is out of balance, the speed is too high, or the lathe is not heavy enough. Note that even perfectly round wood can be out of balance due to density variations within the blank or piece, perhaps due to the location of the heartwood and sapwood. Try reducing the speed for truing the blank. In extreme cases another thing you can do is stabilize the lathe mechanically - a friend turned large out-of-balance blanks outboard on an old lightweight Delta lathe by using pipe clamps from the lathe to the shop wall.

JKJ

[David C. Roseman]

Mike, further to John's excellent comments, the specs on the G0462 show the rated speed range as 600 to 2400 rpm. 600 is very fast for starting any rough cut platter or bowl blank, especially 15"! You can have a lot of fun with that lathe, but the minimum low-end speed is going to require careful preparation of rough bowl and platter blanks, and will make some simply unsafe to turn with that machine.

Important to get the blank as balanced as possible beforehand by first bandsawing it round. Then, after mounting on the lathe but before switching on, spin it by hand to see where the imbalance is most pronounced. You may be able to remove more material in specific places, perhaps with a reciprocating saw (sawzall) or sharp handsaw. Then remount it and spin again by hand. If you still can't get it balanced enough so that the lathe doesn't buck when you switch it on, that particular workpiece exceeds the practical limits of your machine. Stay safe.

[mike falconer]

thanks for all the advise guys, i will check the plain of the lathe next time i make it into the shop.
David-- ive been looking for a variaralbe speed motor to replace the reeves drive ( to be honest well before i even bought the lathe) anyone have a lead on those?

[John K Jordan]

thanks for all the advise guys, i will check the plain of the lathe next time i make it into the shop.
David-- ive been looking for a variaralbe speed motor to replace the reeves drive ( to be honest well before i even bought the lathe) anyone have a lead on those?

What some people do is duplicate the system used on many lathes today: replace the motor with a 3-phase motor and drive it with a VFD (variable frequency drive). The VFD plugs into single phase 115v or 230v and converts it to 3-phans. This method gives a wide speed range with good torque, smooth continuous speed changes, soft acceleration/deceleration with turning on and off, and reverse.

An inexpensive motor can sometimes be found used. I paid about $100 for a VFD; programming it was an educational experience but not a show stopper. The most difficult thing might be constructing a motor mount and pulleys to adapt to your lathe.

JKJ

[bobby stout]

I change out my lathe with a 3 phase and VFD form automaton direct control I easy to program and you can get a 3 phase as large as you want I bought a 2hp works great. In fact did this to my drill press and metal lathe evern if you have to buy all new not a sticker shock and you will love the performances.