LeBlond Lathe Restoration - Part 18: Setting up and Fine Tuning a Metal Lathe 

I forgot how much you've changed! I love my leblond lathe.

Man these videos are pure gold.

This is great! Thanks to Keith for demonstrating the tuneup. Not my line of work, but it is great to watch an expert tune a production machine like a race car.

The grand old lady has been given the makeover she deserves.

just like getting a new car you have to learn and remember where every thing is, so it becomes second nature to you. it took a long time to get to this point thanks for bring us along for the ride.

Keith you did a really great job of explaining the entire process. Best video I've seen on the process.

Another great piece of American engineering restored to use; it should be good to go for another 50-60 years or so with proper TLC and maintenance. :)

This is useful and timely for me. I just leveled a new lathe yesterday, haven't turned any chips yet or even tried the tailstock alignment. Much to work on here. TYVM for this.

Take care when using this tailstock alinement method. The Nebel I ran at Kennedy Van Saun had a center-taper that was not concentric with the tailstock spindle OD. Maybe an "off-center" center is something unique to very large lathes (the Nebel had a 32" swing and 36' (yes, feet) between centers, but we used a similar method to line it up. One of the tool-room guys made up a 1" cylindrical test bar with a #5 taper on the other end. Set up was simple: put the test-bar "taper" in the tailstock spindle, crank it out to the 3" mark (I'm not sure why 3" was significant, but that was the procedure), turn a piece of stock to as close as 1" as the old Nebel could get it, and run your dial indicator over the point where they meet. This worked great, and there are no issues of concentricity with the tailstock spindle. I suppose the only problem would be turning the end of an old super-hard Armstrong dead-center to 1", but I'm fairly certain the Nebel had a #5 Morris taper in the headstock (and we had a tool post grinder). That would make the job pretty simple.

Thanks Keith! Great Video. I am just now getting into working metal with at little Mini Lathe. I am sure all of your comments are relevant even for a MUCH smaller machine. Looking forward to more great videos!

Thank you so much for posting this video. I have been wondering for years how to test my tailstock! This will be such a big help to me! Thanks Keith!

Good job on the clean up/ restore looks like you got a winner sounds real smooth and quite still like to see the plainer matcher run with all knives running at full operation all that work done and no joy to see it do what it was made to do really let down

probably one of the most informative videos you've done big guy,thanks

!!!!EXCELLENT!!! Now I'm going to do the same thing with my little 7 incher.

at last an American lathe!! Congrat!

What a sweet lathe. You just can't beat the older machines. I can't wait for your next one to get the "Treatment".

Congratulations! Thanks for showing your work on this lathe, I've learned a lot!

Thank you so mich Keith! When i get home tonight i will be using the methods you learned and showed us to level my old worn lathe. excited to see the results!

This video has some really good info, the way you line up the tailstock and the racking of the bed, I had no idea, thanks.

Great video, learnt a lot! This sort of thing prepares me for the day I get my own lathe. I love the tail-stock alignment method!

Excellent video! This information will be extremely useful for a lot of us home shop machinists! Thank you for sharing!

Nice job Keith, I would not have thought the machine was that sensitive to leveling. I also liked the way you checked the tail stock alignment I am going to have to compare it on the shop machine to using a alignment bar, which was the way I did it originally.

Great video Keith, good looking lathe, you did a great job on it.

fantastic to see it up and running keith

Great video Keith. I'll refer back to this when I get my lathe up and going.

well i learned something today. i've been running lathes for over 30yrs and i also worked as a machine repairman ,but i never saw either one of your alignment techniques . i will file them both under things to remember. thanks keith

Excellent Keith - I have a Harrison to tune in and this will be invaluable. Please convey my thanks as well to Mr. KIng for being a paragon of knowledge.

That's a great tip about the tailstock alignment thanks Keith.

Hey Keith great vid as usual. Love the tailstock alignment procedure, like you I was in the same mind trying to align the centres or machining a test piece between centres. This method speeds up the process. Cheers from Down Under.

This a great plan to check alignment. Thanks for demonstrating it.

Keith, it's exciting to see old machines coming to life again. I know what you mean about being used to how another machine works. It's muscle memory. You don't have to.think of what you are doing, just automatically reach and make it happen. It will be interesting when you get the marathon lathe running, that is yet another group of controls with a different feel.

That's a really neat way to check tailstock alignment. I'm going to try it on my old Colchester. Many thanks! Steve

Very useful information Keith! Thanks!

Great tips, that tailstock alignment trick is sweet. On my clunker, the tailstock wore faster at the business end; presumably that sees more chips and grit on the ways. So besides being low, mine also nosed down. I needed about 3 thou more shim under the nose than at the heel.

Well done Keith, I enjoyed this content.

Great series. Thanks for sharing the knowledge.

thanks Keith this formation will be very helpful on my old Logan lathe

Thank you for sharing an alternative way to check tailstock alignment practiced by Richard King. I plan to try this for technique with my production chuck.

THUMBS UP Keith. I learned a thing or two or even three. Thanks for posting. Since you aren't making parts for a moon rocket or a Swiss watch, the LeBlond looks like it can still do a lot of useful work. It was a good buy.

Thanks for the good info on adjustment and aligning.

cool, more things to do this weekend.

I have the same issue with a tailstock on my town and Woodhouse lathe. But only by leveling the ways the tailstock came close to the right height. Also thanks for the videos!

very informative video. must be such a proud feeling to finaly be turning on this machine :)

Excellent discussion/instruction

Very interesting. Definitely a good skill to have. That is being able to properly check the ways.

I had no idea...... Thanks for the education, Keith.

That was great Keith. Thanks very much!

Outstanding video as always Mr. Keith! Let the beard grow!

Great video & tips. Thanks for sharing.

That is funny that the tailstock alignment method I suggested in the video last week was the same one Richard taught. Maybe great minds think alike. LOL I would suggest not setting your tailstock high by this method though as since the way you twisted your bed that end of the lathe is extra high now so as you move the tailstock out it would actually be coming up even more. I would set it 0 or maybe .001 low so that when you are backed out to a normal tailstock use length you won't end up being .005 or more high.

great video. i am looking for a lathe so your vids are very helpful

Great video Keith, very educational. Once you learn the science, it becomes an art, or trade. Funny how that's not considered a profession. Thanks for sharing.

Wonderful lathe and video.

Another great vid for us very newbes Thanks Keith

Thanks Keith. Very good info

Nice explanation of how to level tools.

If anyone is wanting to follow another lathe restoration series. I have just started one on my channel of an old Porter McLeod lathe. The videos may not be as well done as Keiths but it's only the start.

Thanks for a very useful & informative video. Will use these methods on my Myford ML7.

Great video Keith! Having just set up my machine in its spot, this couldn't have come at a better time, it's a little longer than yours at 11'. I wouldn't have thought some twist would be a good thing. (thumbs up!)

Very nice instructions (refresher) on lathe setup... I had not guessed it to be that sensible... 8th of a turn... or even a 16th... wow... but you are getting there. Can hardly wait to see you turn some bigger stuff for the museum... you are entering the big leagues now... competing (in the friendliest of ways) with Keith and Abom. ;)

Keith, as always keep up the good work. I just read a post over on hobby-machinist.com where Richard King directly talked a guy through the same thing a few years ago regarding the tailstock alignment method. FYI, Richard King contributes in the thread so I encourage others to take a look at those if you want to see more.

Thank you Keith!

Good tips I had not known about. My lathe is just a SB 10K bench so aligning may not be as easy as yours, but I intend to at least perform the tests you showed. Thanks for another helpful video!

Hi Keith, It's probably worth mentioning that many lathes have adjustable headstocks. I've seem people jacking the bed all over the place, when in fact it's the headstock that is out. Having to hit a precise diameter seems a slightly fussy way of doing the tailstock alignment. The way I was shown is to turn a diameter (size not important) and cut a centre. Part a slice off the bar and hold it against the end of the bar with a dead centre, then do the checking the same way you did. Something few people seem to know is that the headstock and tailstock are matched as a pair and some lathes can have a large discrepancy in the centre height from machine to machine. It's unlikely anyone would ever complain if their lathe had slightly more swing capacity than quoted and I've heard of machines varying by 1/4" or more. It's not uncommon for tailstocks to be removed for transport and then get mixed up. I've even heard of auctions where all the lathes had the tailstocks removed and sold as a seperate lot!

nice job, Keith

What a great machine! , l found a good way to settle in a lathe after moving it. I simply installed the 4- jaw and clamped in a block well out of center. After running the out of balance load a while things calmed down nicely. Best of luck

I learned here Keith , Thanks man , I really enjoyed this vid.. Thumbs up man

Nice tailstock alignment trick. I've been meaning to check mine out, now I have a way to do it. I think I've got some mystery metal in a suitable size to make this happen too.

You will get her figured out Keith.

Thanks for the education!

Very interesting, thanks for sharing.

Great video! Thanks.

nice tip on the tailstock Keith

WOW, Beautiful Job Weldon Man. Very interesting indeed. I just wish, you had clean the Chuck, after all this work the clean chuck would have add a much better look to the over all look. But anyway really interesting....

GREAT VIDEO !!!

Muscle memory, hand-eye coordination, controls being in a different location, tactile feedback. they all make a difference.

Great playlist just started watching your channel as suggested by Adam booth aka abom79 watched rebuild start to finish look forward to seeing more

Keith, those are simply adjustment jewels, thanks for sharing

I saw a Colchester once that used a hardened precision shaft with pressed on pucks that could be machined to check for lathe alignment.

Colchester shows a test bar with two disks pressed on so in a production setup you can have inches of metal to remove before the work gets too thin. The thicker material would also allow heavy cuts that would check for flex in the machine or wobble in the carriage. Otherwise you could just check your test bar with an indicator.

Super educational video as always. Thumbs up :-)

hey Keith love your your work on youtube you are a great mentor ,you said the lathe at the museum is different, than the Leblond , when you said that it hit a bell in my mind from the passed ,if it is 3 phase it may be wired backwards and the oil pump will not work please check your site glass when running it. Tom from Canada

Wow. I've never seen that way of lining up a tailstock before. Think ill have a go

nice job and thanks for sharing.

I recognize your tapered level block as the deburring stone Richard gave us at the beginning of his class. Mine is missing, and I'm hoping it turns up when I unpack in the new shop. Fingers crossed!

THANK YOU...for sharing.

Excellent!!!

very good information

Awesome Sir

brasil, estou adorando seus videos, parabens amigo pelo conteudo de qualidade

I see you are missing the cover for the cross feed ways. On my LeBlond I tossed the cover and fastened a piece of 1/8 thick rubber to cover those ways. Since my digital readout encoder fits back there also: two birds, one stone. Thank you for your videos, and I have purchased and used your sponsors phase converters. Great converters and great videos.

Very enjoyable. Info i can use. thanks.

Positioning the whole thing slightly higher makes perfect sense to me, i mean, in architecture, you make a beam have a slight upper bow in it so it takes the load and comes out even. Same here. Great advise there.

Great video! I am a little bummed, would've loved to see the shim process of the tail stock but oh well!

Greaqt vid! Thanks Keith

Parabéns , muito bom !

Thanks a lot. Great informations Regards

Thanks

Everything is different, somehow. I'm mainly a Cat man and every time I got on a Case I had to learn to run it all over again. Glad the lathe is 'flattened' now so you can sharpen the clipper blades because it won't be long till the baby face returns.

I recently checked my L&S, and got shim stock that was 2 thou too thick, and was unhappy about it. I forgot about the idea of having the tailstock a bit high. If you think lathes are bad, try going from a Case to a JCB backhoe. Not only did it take ages for my hands, but feet are also involved. Thanks. I can go ahead and throw that thicker stock in.