Does this bother you ?

[JoeyInCali]

Well, that's taking what I said a bit out of context. My point is that the machines endure a lot of abuse & there's no change in how well they operate. I gave examples of my personal experiences of being a machinist, and my thoughts from those years. I don't think there's a machinist on the planet that would read what I wrote & disagree or be unable to understand what i'm saying. But that's just it, a machinist, not a cue maker.

As for misleading anybody, that's not what i'm doing. The original purpose of the thread is a cue maker cringing because of a pic showing a couple chucks being displayed on lathe ways. Some folks who have never pushed a machine like that to it's potential & used it in the environment it's designed for, may not understand that those chucks lying on the ways is no big deal. That was my point. As cue makers who haven't worked in a heavy industrial environment, they might think it's a bad idea to put chucks on the ways for a picture. I have worked machine shops & know there's no way at all those chucks will damage or adversely affect how that lathe operates. I know it because I have seen what a lathe can endure & still work just fine. I'm not sure what else to say, or feel there's a reason that I should have to explain myself for what I wrote.

In the end, it's your lathe & do what you will with it. It's nobody's business. If you want to find out what it takes to dent the ways, then go for it. What would it have to do with anything I have written in this thread?

To me, that just shows lack of respect for the lathe.
You cringe at the thought of melamine and Juma powder on the ways.
Yet, that one doesn't bother you
I cringed b/c accidents do happen .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYni5QP0qyw&feature=relmfu
Tubalcain at the 1-minute mark places a chuck back on the ways with a plywood on the ways. The man is a master machinist. He was the one who said don't even put a file on the ways.
I bet MOST machine shop owners tell their machinists not to place heavy metal resting on the ways.
I haven't worked in an industrial machine shop.
But, I've knocked down partially a few lathes ( Logan, Jet and Clausing besides some at the local college I went to ). Completely knocked out a Logan 927 and re-assembled it one time. That was fun. In to time did I place a part on the ways without a board.

 

[qbilder]

Disrespect of the machine? That's pushing it a little. But if "disrespect" is what it means to utilize the ways as a resting place for stuff while you work, then I guess it means I disrespect machinery. The world doesn't stop turning, nor does the lathe. It's a tool & in the real world they are used as tools. The wooden block to put the chuck on is called a cradle, and not because it prevents damage but because it helps you hold the chuck up there so it's not so hard on your arms. We had cradles for each machine, each chuck, shimmed to exact height so the cradle could be slid up to the spindle & chuck installed without lifting it.

 

[DaveK]

I would also add that a lathe IS built heavy in order to absorb abuse. Why else would the ways be hardened? Exactly so they can take a ding without sacrificing accuracy & operation.

I believe that ways are hardened to reduce wear over time.

Hardened or unhardened ways with a nick will perform exactly the same, assuming the same machine geometry.

Avoiding damage to your lathe seems like simple common sense.

All reference material I have read says don't put things on your ways.

Dave

 

[Pancerny]

That lathe

Wow, that is an oldie but goodie...have the exact same model and paid $400 bucks for it...it was steal at the time. Anyone who buy sthis is still better off with this than a Chinese made lathe, everything is smooth as silk on it after 50 years...like buttaa.