Does this bother you ?

I'm with you Joey, the ways are precision guides and one should protect them. I have several boards (all nice hardwood of course) that I lay on the lathe ways or mill table when changing tooling, they stay on the machine always ... those boards certainly have a few dents that might otherwise be on my table or ways.

Dave <-- sometimes too weak to keep a good grip :o
 
DaveK said:
I'm with you Joey, the ways are precision guides and one should protect them. I have several boards (all nice hardwood of course) that I lay on the lathe ways or mill table when changing tooling, they stay on the machine always ... those boards certainly have a few dents that might otherwise be on my table or ways.

Dave <-- sometimes too weak to keep a good grip :o
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Dents below the chuck are caused by dummies who don't use boards.
I lightly oil the ways every day, top, bottom and the back side.
 
The ways are hardened. The chuck (minus the jaws) is not. Only dropping the chuck on the ways will dent, scratch, etc. & cause damage. Lying them on there won't hurt anything, IMO. Granted a board to buffer between isn't a bad idea and would be a nice precaution, but that's like the mail man putting on a seat belt to drive 60 feet to the next house. Theoretically there could be a disaster. But realistically, what's the big deal?

These machines are being marketed to machinists, not cue makers. These machines cut metal, big chunks of metal, daily on an all day basis. That's what a metal lathe is designed for. They get nicked & dented & scratched from literally continuous abuse of metal banging on metal. A chuck is a feather compared to the rods & chunks that get dropped or rested on those ways every day. And the lathe still cuts true & smooth. It's what it's designed for. No sweat putting a chuck on the ways to display for a picture.
 
qbilder said:
The ways are hardened. The chuck (minus the jaws) is not. Only dropping the chuck on the ways will dent, scratch, etc. & cause damage. Lying them on there won't hurt anything, IMO. Granted a board to buffer between isn't a bad idea and would be a nice precaution, but that's like the mail man putting on a seat belt to drive 60 feet to the next house. Theoretically there could be a disaster. But realistically, what's the big deal?

These machines are being marketed to machinists, not cue makers. These machines cut metal, big chunks of metal, daily on an all day basis. That's what a metal lathe is designed for. They get nicked & dented & scratched from literally continuous abuse of metal banging on metal. A chuck is a feather compared to the rods & chunks that get dropped or rested on those ways every day. And the lathe still cuts true & smooth. It's what it's designed for. No sweat putting a chuck on the ways to display for a picture.
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Sorry, I can't agree with that. Those chucks are humongous and the backs are really hard.
Rods and parts drop in the middle.
The V-ways should have no beastly metal put on it. They can easily stand them in the center and rest on the flats.
I have no clue why they put the chucks on the beds anyway.
They can put them in the pan easily.

[
A: its just a Clausing
B: you are oversensitive
C: machinery dealers suck
D: its just a Clausing

C
__________________
Randy
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That, we both agree on.
 
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If you can't put anything on the bed of your lathe without damaging it, you need to get it hardened. The "Hardened " bed is harder than the soft chucks which are just sitting there. I would be willing to bet that the dealer didn't drop the chucks from a great distance onto the beds rather he just put them there.

When buying an imported lathe, the very best you can hope to do is get one as good as a run of the mill good Clausing and there is no way that your import will run as long trouble free. I've got 35 years use on 2 Clausings and the only problem I've ever had was an operator error. My Jet got returned to the dealer 6 weeks after I got because they didn't have parts to repair their screwed up lathe. I was able to fix my Sharp lathe myself. Bill Stroud managed to get a little done with his Clausings as have a lot of other legendary cue makers.
 
Paul Dayton said:
If you can't put anything on the bed of your lathe without damaging it, you need to get it hardened. The "Hardened " bed is harder than the soft chucks which are just sitting there. I would be willing to bet that the dealer didn't drop the chucks from a great distance onto the beds rather he just put them there.

When buying an imported lathe, the very best you can hope to do is get one as good as a run of the mill good Clausing and there is no way that your import will run as long trouble free. I've got 35 years use on 2 Clausings and the only problem I've ever had was an operator error. My Jet got returned to the dealer 6 weeks after I got because they didn't have parts to repair their screwed up lathe. I was able to fix my Sharp lathe myself. Bill Stroud managed to get a little done with his Clausings as have a lot of other legendary cue makers.
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The remark I made on Clausing was sarcasm directed at Joey for his LOVE of them. I wasn't being critical:smile:
 
Paul Dayton said:
If you can't put anything on the bed of your lathe without damaging it, you need to get it hardened. The "Hardened " bed is harder than the soft chucks which are just sitting there. I would be willing to bet that the dealer didn't drop the chucks from a great distance onto the beds rather he just put them there.

When buying an imported lathe, the very best you can hope to do is get one as good as a run of the mill good Clausing and there is no way that your import will run as long trouble free. I've got 35 years use on 2 Clausings and the only problem I've ever had was an operator error. My Jet got returned to the dealer 6 weeks after I got because they didn't have parts to repair their screwed up lathe. I was able to fix my Sharp lathe myself. Bill Stroud managed to get a little done with his Clausings as have a lot of other legendary cue makers.
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I guess it's ok then.
I got a Clausing myself.
If that one were any closer to me, I'd probably snag it.
 
pescadoman said:
The remark I made on Clausing was sarcasm directed at Joey for his LOVE of them. I wasn't being critical:smile:
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Thanks.
I'm always on the lookout for them here.
Their drill press are pretty darn good too.

I don't mind Taiwan imports as well.
 
Those ways are hard, much harder than almost anything you'll use the lathe to cut. Resting chucks on the ways is no different than using the ways as a bench or catch-all for the work. The only times I wouldn't use the ways as a bench was if the part I was working on was delicate & I never wanted to damage it. I never worried about the machine. There's nothing delicate about a machine room lathe.
 
qbilder said:
Those ways are hard, much harder than almost anything you'll use the lathe to cut. Resting chucks on the ways is no different than using the ways as a bench or catch-all for the work. The only times I wouldn't use the ways as a bench was if the part I was working on was delicate & I never wanted to damage it. I never worried about the machine. There's nothing delicate about a machine room lathe.
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Unless, while unloading it by yourself(because I was pissed the help was too hungover to help), it falls over and onto its face...:frown:
 
DoubleD said:
Lathe ways that get dented on a daily basis are used by people who don't like making money, making compliant parts or having a job. I'll go look at the four lathes in the machine shop at work tomorrow (used 100hrs per week, each) and report back if I see any dents.

dld
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From my experience, ways only get dented if the machine falls out of the truck in transit, or somebody tries to use the machine for work that's far too large for it. I used to be that guy working all day, day in day out, making parts or facing valve bodies for steam lines. I have dropped many, many, MANY things on the ways & never seen one dent or distort. I rest tools, parts, raw stock, etc. on the ways until i'm ready to use, and never seen any sign of damage. Tool room lathes are built exactly for that, by machinists for machinists. The most severe damage I have ever seen on bed ways was caused from years of neglect. Guys in garages buy a lathe & never lube the ways, and eventually the dirt & grit begins to wear them down. The carriage & ways both will be worn & pitted, and no longer true. Otherwise, I haven't personally seen a lathe get damaged from resting things or even dropping things on the ways. Not to say it couldn't happen, but I have never seen it & I have dropped more things than I can count. Lathes are tough.
 
DoubleD said:
I'm confused. In the previous post I quoted you said they get dented every day. Now you say you've never seen one get dented?

Not trying to be argumentative, as I have seen ways get dinged and dented and pushed out of alignment while being used.

I also think that you, as a respected member on this forum, may be doing a disservice to less knowledgeable users of this site.

The long and short of it is that heavy things being dropped onto lathe ways is BAD. It means that something went WRONG. Forget the lathe, that is simply time and money. When heavy objects cease to be constrained on a lathe, they either fall and bounce off of things or spin off in a random direction. Either of these have serious potential to cause long term damage to the sacks of flesh operating the lathe.

I design large machines for a living. I have seen and heard about enough injuries to last me a lifetime.

dld
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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?
 
DoubleD said:
I actually wanted to say the same thing about the jaws being set on the ways not hurting them. I did not because it is a bad practice.

The problem is that people take things out of context all the time. You'll notice that I refrained from saying anything until after you made the comments about things constantly getting dropped and thrown from the lathe.

It was an irresponsible remark to make and I applaud you for removing it. I, however, am not going to remove my quoting of it.

A lathe is an instrument. It is built big and massive so it can provide fast and accurate results, not so it can withstand abuse.

dld
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I didn't remove anything. Everything I wrote is exactly as I wrote it. Are you sure you read it from me? Or maybe read something wrong? I got a feeling we are crossing lines here.
 
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 don't care who you are, if you have ever worked with a lathe to make or service larger metal objects, then you have dropped work, tools, etc. on the ways and have probably seen work fly out of the jaws, though I did not mention work flying out while cutting. But it does happen. And the machines endure it.

Again, I think were crossing lines here. I never edited any of my posts. They are what they were when I originally posted them. Nothing to argue about by any means, just don't think we are totally on the same page.
 
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