Aligning your Lathe - More Woodturning MagazineAligning your Lathe by Dick Veitch If you are just...

AligningyourLathe

byDickVeitch

Ifyouarejustturningachairlegbetweencenters,itdoesnotmattertoo

muchiftheheadandtailofyourlathearenotperfectlyinline.Likewise,

youcanturnabowlwithoutusingthetailstock.

But,ifyouwanttodoanythingwherethewoodisheldinachuckandthe

tailstockisbroughtuptothewood,thentheheadandtailneedtobe

correctlyaligned.Iamsureyoucanthinkofmanytimeswhenbothachuck

andtailstockareinuse.

Sphereturningisanotherwherethetwocupchucksneedtobenicely

alignedtoturnaperfectsphere.Itwouldbeniceifalllatheswereperfectly

alignedatalltimes,butsomehaveswivelheadsandtheiralignmentneeds

tobecheckedeverytimetheheadisreturnedtothelineofthebed.

Somelathesareonunevenfloorsandthebedistwisted.Somelathesarea

littlewornandneedadjusting.Somewillbeoutoflineforanotherreason.

Ifyouareabsolutelycertainthatthetailstockofyourlatheisperfectly

aligned,thenyoucanputadrivespurinthehead,livecenterinthetail,

andbringthetwointoline.(SeeFigure1.)

Figure1.Usingtwocenterstocheckalignment.

Ifthetailstockisnotperfectlyinline,thenthismethodmaylooklikeitis

workingbutyoufinishupwithbothheadandtailoutofline.Thehard

metalmethodistouseadouble-endedMorsetaper.Teknatoolcallsthis

theAcrulineSystem.(SeeFigure2.)

Figure2.UsingtheAcrulineSystemtocheckalignment.

Simplyinsertthisfirmlyinboththeheadandtailstockwhilebothareloose

onthebed.Tightenbothdownandtheyshouldbenicelyaligned.

Ifyouneedtochecktheheadstockalignmentwithalittlemorecare,then

gripalonglengthofwoodinachuck(SeeFigure3.)

Figure3.Alengthofwoodmountedinachuck.

Nowrotateitslowly(100-300rpm)andmarkthecentralpointonthetail

endasshowninFigure4.

Figure4.Markingtheendoftherotatingwoodwithapencil.

Thenbringthetailstockcloseandthiscentralpointshouldbeatthecenter

ofthelivetailasshowninFigure5.

Figure5.Thetailcentershouldalignwiththepencilmarkontheendofthe

wood.