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Advice please from scrapers

To all you scrapin' fools out there in RCM LAND: I have an Atlas 6" lathe. It's dis-assembled to the point where the bed is bare except for the legs (or bases). These are affixed, at each end, with three screws. Setting up the bed on the surface plate and getting the headstock end to read zero at the end of both ways and zero at the end of one way at the tailstock end by just resting on shims reveals a twisted, warped, and worn bed. The wear is slight. The twist and bow is the problem. By looking at the numbers it appears that taking out the twist will also remove the bow. It could be bolted to a rigid base and twisted back into alignment.But, as a continuing effort at re-habiliting my hands I want to scrape this bed in. So, after all the precedding rubbish is it better to leave the bases on or off? Thank You, Eric R Snow, E T Precision Machine, not hands.

Reply to
Eric R Snow
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It is probably best to bolt the bed to a length of I beam, and shim it until the warp and bow are minimized.

But, for a true non-stressed bed, you should remove anything that is attached to the bed, and then mill flat surfaces on the bed and legs so that there is no stress when you reattach them.

Jon

Reply to
Jon Elson

Eric,

How many projects to you have that you have not finished? If you are like me then it's quite a few. So this is what I would do. Place the lathe upside down on your surface plate and place a weight on it to remove the twist and bow. Now wait 6 mouths and retest. You might want to put a reverse twist and bow in it and check in one month, but that would be more trial and error.

If you want to finish it faster, then follow Jon's advise.

Vince

P.S. I waited a year >

Reply to
Vince Iorio

They are already milled flat (I think). If not, they will be. Then the bed can be scraped without them. Thanks. ERS

Reply to
Eric R Snow

I Know what you mean. But this is more than a project. It really is to help get my hands working better. Physical therapy. Hopefully, more and more practice will help good nerves make up for damaged ones. So stuff stops falling out of my hands and the like. The goal, more than getting the thing flat, is to re-gain some control. The mill that got the AJAX control took about twice as long as it should because of lack of dexterity mostly. ERS

Reply to
Eric R Snow

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