Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] How to scrape lathe ways

Anyone thinking of scraping in machine ways really needs to invest the
money in the book Machine Tool Reconditioning.
It is tough enough for a beginner to scrape a flat surface. It can be
done, with patience. But to rescrape machine ways is another matter
entirely. To scrape in a cross slide, you have to scrape the two flat
surfaces flat and to the same plane, or height. They really should be
parallel to the bed of the as well. Then, the sides of the dovetail need
to be scraped. This surfaces not only need to be flat and parallel, but
square to the spindle as well. The procedures for checking all this are
outlined in the book in detail.


For what it's worth, I had a SB 10x48" Heavy lathe, with a well worn
bed. I was considering a range of options from just getting the bed
ground and fitting everything myself, to a full scrape and fit job to
original SB specs. The cheapest I could get the bed ground was approx
$450 from an old timer in Fremont, CA that had a bed grinder in his
garage and did it as a side line. (this means he'd do my bed whenever he
felt up to it) A full restoration to original specs was quoted at $2800
or so.

My .02, don't even think of trying to scrape in a lathe bed. Find
someone that can grind it and do it right. If you really want to end up
with a good lathe, you're going to have enough to do fitting everything
to a good bed and insuring proper alignment.

Jon