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Tailstock shimming

evening all, whilst doing some tiny (1 - 2mm dia) work on my hulking great L5 I noticed my tailstock is low, by about 8 to 10 thou. Is there an accepted way to shim this up? I have currently got 8 thou of feeler gauges in both ends, but its not quite perfect (by indicating inside the MT on the ram). unfortunately Im not sure exactly how much its off due to the bentness of the indicator pin (bent up to contact the taper without the indicator body touching it) which gives a cosine error IIRC. Its a PITA to add another shim, as you have to dismantle the thing, and then recenter it so you can take a hi/low reading. Im sure Ill get quicker, but it took 2 hours last night to get this close..... Are feeler gauges ok to use as the final shim solution? I seem to have inherited about 3 or 4 sets, so have spares. cheers Dave

Reply to
dave sanderson
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Not familiar with the L5 tailstock construction, but when doing a similar job on my Colchester Master 2500, I started with feeler gauges to set it to where it should be, then cut custom flat shim from shimstock to give a larger surface area.

AWEM

Reply to
Andrew Mawson

An easier way to measure the height error is to fit a chuck to the tailstock, hold two bits of the same size bar in both headstock and tailstock then run a dial guage over the top of them. I use bits of 3/8" silver steel of which I have plenty knocking about. Obviously both chucks have to be true but you can check the tailstock one easily by taking it out and fitting it back after turning it 180 degrees.

Reply to
Dave Baker

Hmm, I see that would be easier, and It is the tailstock chuck I mostly need on center for drilling anyway, Ill give it a go. :)

Dave

Reply to
dave sanderson

The L5 tailstock spilts into 2 just above the ways plate (for want of a better description), and the top casting sits on the bottom,the top one is machined flat, and the other has a 1/4" rasied machined bit. There is a L-R raised machined rib to guide the offsetting, and the screw bear on this. So 2 pieces of shim would work admirably once I figure out the correct thickness, and there is some space for a bit of glue to stop them shifting as well :)

Dave

Reply to
dave sanderson

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