specweldtom
Well-Known Member
I have checked my tailstock for radial and axial misalignment several times, mostly with a Jacobs chuck on a #3 Morse taper, with a 10" length of 1/2" drill rod chucked in it. I travel the carriage with a Joeblock on it and a dial indicator reading the drill rod in the horizontal plane and then in the vertical plane.
All that out of the way, I'm wondering if it would be worth it to turn a #3 Morse taper on a piece of 1" drill rod and stop wondering if the Jacobs chuck and #3 adapter are causing the approx .003" of deflection in the horizontal plane. I also anchor an indicator on the face of the lathe chuck and hand rotate around the drill rod and get some horizontal misalignment. I can move the tailstock horizontally and bring the end of the drill rod into perfect concentricity with the spindle, but the traveling indicator still shows angular misalignment along the length of the drill rod. The tailstock base has provision for lots of lateral offset, but nothing I can find for angular adjustment. Presumably it shouldn't need it.
I'd like to know how you should check for perfect tailstock alignment. Am I on the right track?
Thanks, Tom
All that out of the way, I'm wondering if it would be worth it to turn a #3 Morse taper on a piece of 1" drill rod and stop wondering if the Jacobs chuck and #3 adapter are causing the approx .003" of deflection in the horizontal plane. I also anchor an indicator on the face of the lathe chuck and hand rotate around the drill rod and get some horizontal misalignment. I can move the tailstock horizontally and bring the end of the drill rod into perfect concentricity with the spindle, but the traveling indicator still shows angular misalignment along the length of the drill rod. The tailstock base has provision for lots of lateral offset, but nothing I can find for angular adjustment. Presumably it shouldn't need it.
I'd like to know how you should check for perfect tailstock alignment. Am I on the right track?
Thanks, Tom