My new spindle

Forgot to lube up the steady rest though. It made a loud squeal when I turned on the lathe spindle. Oops.
Use lots of butter. Smells good when it heats up.

The tangle of wire must have been hell, too.
I had to make the 2nd pass in reverse to untangle it :-)

Did you just eyeball the 8* on your compound as close as you could? Robin Snyder
No. A sine bar works well.
 
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I got mine wired up,
When you say quiet, you mean it!!!!
I still don't have my collets yet so I can't use it.
I chucked up a 1/8 rod and I didn't even put my dial on it, looked like a 1/4" or so of runout :(
I'm hoping its just a cheap bad collet that came with this thing, but I kinda doubt it.
Will keep posted.
This spindle is much quieter than my quiet router on the TS.
I may need to buy another
 
Fixed it.

I recut the taper in the spindle bore & it is now within spec.

FYI, I received a lot of PMs & emails that verify that up to .020" TIR is typical with these units. The seller was no help. He suggested I get it "calibrated" locally and refused to exchange the unit as he could not guarantee the replacement would be any better.

Considering this 30 minute fix, these units are suddenly a decent investment.

Video showing my set up HERE

A great video showing the setup and how to correct the spindle taper.
You also could have referenced off the outer body of the spindle for the compound slide angle. It is all relative.
The only difference for me, I would have used a mounted point or stone, but clearly the spindle is not that hard as you managed to get the job done with a cutter.
Well done .
Neil
 
Awesome, Ya Think Bob has all is equipment dialed in??

I Would love to see his shop. I bet you could eat off the floors?? LOL

Rick
 
For those with smaller lathes that can not put the spindle through their steady rest.
Make an adapter sleeve, that fits the front of the spindle, then on the outside end, have that step down to the diameter that you can get through your steady rest.
Then carry on like shown in the video.
 
Update

This has been a learning experience. Since recutting the spindle bore, I found that my runout still varies a bit. I haven't seen it out more than .0015" but I've gotten into the habit of checking it regularly, depending on what I'm doing. Loosening & retightening the cutter usually brings it in within .0002" - .0004" TIR.

I suspect it's a result of tolerance stack-up between the spindle, the nut & the collet. I tried upgrading the collet & nut but new nuts won't fit the spindle. It seems the spindle threads are slightly oversize. It's always something, isn't it?

All in all, I'm happy with how it works now. Quiet, smooth & vibration-free.

Also, the seller has agreed to work with me by sending me another spindle at a lower cost. This one runs much better & is, in fact, as good as the one I repaired. But it, too, needs to be "jiggled" now & then. At least I now have a backup that I can now use on my lathe.
 
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