Reply To: ADVICE, Aftermath of a Lathe Bed regrind.

[John McNamaraParticipant @johnmcnamara74883]

Turcite? an alternative is Moglice **LINK**

The turcite I know of is glued on in strips, it then has to be scraped down to fit. Moglice is an Epoxy composite that is spread on then you use the bed as a pattern.

I used this method for my lathe. it has run on Epoxy bedding material since 2010 **LINK**

For one job it would probably be less expensive to buy Moglice.

The tailstock on my lathe was also worn, I was able to grind 2 exact shims to pack the front and rear back into line. the shim was placed under the top section where it meets the base (the joint used to set over the tailstock)

On my lathe the headstock is located by an extension of the actual ways, so there was no alignment problem there, it simply bolted back on….. Ok with a tiny bit of scraping.
That covers aligning the headstock, tailstock and bed.

The saddle is a more interesting project. It must be set in exactly the same position as it was when the lathe was new and not worn, otherwise the driving rack and pinion, leadscrew, and control bar if the lathe has one will be out of line.

The geometry of the cross slide must be set back to tool room specification.

The method I used was to make 4 jacks….. a piece of 12mm plate with a 45 deg V in it and jack screws with lock nuts facing into the V. Each plate was bolted to the saddle using the wiper screw holes. You may have to drill your own if they are not in the right position on your lathe.

Using the jacks I was able to suspend the saddle above the bed adjusting and measuring until it was perfectly positioned in every plane. it was then lifted off and the bearing material was applied to the underside of the saddle.

Before doing this the bed was very carefully masked off exposing only the V ways the ways were given a coat of release applied very carefully….. Epoxy sticks very well.

It was than a simple matter to replace the saddle this forces the epoxy to conform to the bed and once set overnight you are almost done. There will be excess Epoxy to carefully remove. and the top of the V groves filed out carefully so the the saddle only rides on the V's

There is a minimum thickness requirement for epoxy you may have to grind or mill a little off the saddle V's

The process worked really well for me the tired old lathe was transformed.

This is not a process to be undertaken by anyone that does not have the skills to do it. it requires (very) accurate measurement and an understanding of the underlying principals that define a lathe.

Regards
​John