[eartaker]

Well I received my Lathemaster 9X30 today and have yet to wipe off all of the protective grease as I am making bench space for it. What else do I need to do to the lathe to get it fully operational? I have a 7X10 but I bought it used and already cleaned and setup. I'm not sure where to go as in break in and proper setup. Any suggestions?

[hoss2006]

Why, the Warfields of course.
http://www.cnccookbook.com/MTLatheFirstChips.htm
Hoss

[eartaker]

Thanks hoss

[knudsen]

Yay! Please take/post pics as you go!:rainfro:

[eartaker]

Ok I got it on the bench last night and I thought I was going to destroy something when I did it. I put some lag bolts an the rafters of my garage and hooked some ratchet straps to them and slowly cranked it up onto my bench. Didn't have any help at 9PM.

Once I got it up I installed the QCTP I ordered from Lathemaster. Unlike the QCTP for the 7X10 it moved gibs up and down to lock the tool holder in place rather than pushing a cam mechanism out on the holder. I then put the belts on, and wanted to get this thing going. It has 2 safety switches, 1 E-stop and 1 direction switch. Unlike the HF 7X10 the chuck guard bust be down before the lathe can be turned on.... it took me about 20 minutes of playing with power cords and taking the back panel off to check the wiring before I figured this out. So because of that I wanted to add an indicator light to tell me when all safety's were on and it was able to run. I also started cleaning up all of the ways and everything that was coated in grease.

Here is the indicator light I added. When the belt cover is closed, the guard is down and the direction switch is turned, it will light up telling me I can hit the start button.


Here is a pic of the belts and change gears.


Here you can see a 12" rule cross way on the ways to get an idea of the size.


And once again the 12" rule at the bottom of the bed.

[knudsen]

Awesome! Looks like a lot of lathe for the money! The HF 4 x 5 also has the lockout for the guard, but fortunately came not installed, so I didn't have to bother taking it off. Yours might have a better cover, but the 4 x 5's is only good for a false sense of security. I'm definitely adding this one to my wish list if I don't go for a used SB. Really would like to have a longer bed like that. :rainfro:

[eartaker]

Yeah I can see the guard having use here. Unlike the little lathes this one will take off some fingers. so far this lathe is awesome, I love the bed length on it. I thought at first not being able to change speeds by hitting a lever wound be a problem but the belt drive is super quiet and easy to change.

[knudsen]

I'm down to ten fingers and don't want to loose any more!

[eartaker]

Looks like I might need to find another 3 jaw chuck. After cleaning and do as much as I can it is still holding the work .008" out of round. I checked the spindle holding the chuck and it doesn't deviate at all. I am thinking it is the Jaws in the chuck because the outside of the chuck moves .002.

Any ideas?

[eartaker]

It has to be the chuck. both sets of jaws hold the piece out of round at around .008" I don't know where to go from here.

EDIT:
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P_i5rvVwp4"]YouTube- New lathe runout[/nomedia]

[hoss2006]

Bob W. has somewhere on his sight, where he recut the chuck backside
by putting a piece of stock in the 4 jaw, indicated in of course, then mounted
the 3 jaw by gripping the piece of stock protruding from the 4 jaw in the lathe..
they were face to face holding one piece of stock. Maybe it was a collet chuck instead, but still,
same principle.
A bit of work though, maybe see if Lathemaster will replace it first.
Hoss

[eartaker]

I have actually been E-mailing bob about the issue and he has given me a few ides on what to check, and how to fix it. I have also E-mailed Lathemaster but will have to wait till Monday to hear from them. Guess ill just be using the 4 jaw for a bit

[eartaker]

looks like it is the chuck base that is giving me the problems. I could face it off and mount it back up.

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G05I7KqDjc"]YouTube- Chuck Base Deviation[/nomedia]

I checked the spindle face and there is no change as it rotates.

[eartaker]

BAM I GOT IT!!!!

Thanks to Bob suggestions from E-mails. I faced off the base plate and now have a run-out that I will accept .002" is way better than .010". I could probably get it better but for now this will work.

[eartaker]

Well after I explained what was wrong with the lathe and showing the little youtube clips to Robert from Lathemaster he offered to send me something since I had already fixed the chuck. I didn't want to ask for much but he will be sending me some bar stock for free. I will defiantly buy from Lathemaster again.

[eartaker]

UPDATE:

at the beginning I said I got the TIR of the 3 jaw down to .003" and it would be acceptable for then... now I have gotten it down to a repeatable .0015". I i did thins by facing the chuck base plate and running a boring bar down the inside of my chuck jaws. =]

[alfiius289]

Thanks for posting the solution. Question: I had the impression that the chuck jaws were hardened? Were they hard to cut with the boring bar? I'm going to check my 3-jaw when I get a chance.
Regards, Al

[eartaker]

They are hardened and will eat up the boring bar if you try to go to fast. I ran it with them open about 1" at 420RPM.

[alfiius289]

I always noticed a small runout problem with the 3jaw on my 8x12. For example, if turning a piece of 4"L x 1"D round stock down to 3/4"D, when you turn the piece around to finish cutting it down, the ends never match. I'm going to mount a piece of drill rod and test for run out like you showed. I'd love to have repeatability on the 3jaw.
Regards, Al

[eartaker]

This is a problem with all chucks. The bast way to get around this is to cut off more bar-stock that you need and machine the entire piece without having to flip it around, you can then remove the piece from the excess with a parting tool. This will not work when modifying an existing piece though.