@cncConfusion How are you setting Y0? I can see by the pics that Z0 looks spot on. I can’t see how Y0 looks.
@gwilki Y is set with the rotary Y zero built in macro. It’s had to get a pic that shows it but I will will try again. It seems pretty much dead on to me. Stby
@cncConfusion I believe that I am stumped. The end-on pic of the left hand spindle in your most recent pic seems to show that neither the spindle nor the centre hole are round.
I want to go back a bit. You are chucking up a bolt in the headstock and it fits into the hole in the blank. How are you driving the blank?
At the tailstock, the live centre fits into the hole in the blank. Is the blank running on the cone end of the live centre?
Ideally, this is what you should have. You should have a dead centre in the headstock chuck. The cone at the end of the dead centre will pull the hole in the material the the centre of the axis. This pre-supposes that the cone in the tail stock is doing the same.
I’ve turned literally hundreds of pens on a Jet mini lathe using this exact set up. I’ve turned a few on the Vortex using that setup.
Last question: If you slide the tailstock up the the dead centre in the headstock, do they line up?
I’m not a turner so I refrained from responding to this post. But if I had to guess as to the cause of the problem, this would be the first thing I’d correct. The hole doesn’t seem circular and might not sit correctly on the cone. I’d suspect movement there during the carve.
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@gwilki @Chucky_ott I think the hole not being round is just a trick of the camera, from what I can tell it is perfectly round.
On the last two photos I uploaded on one I used a counter sink at the chuck centered in the predrilled hole and then the tailstock fits directly in to the hole as they are both 8mm.
The second one I used the new 4 prong center drive with the 8mm smooth shank and the same tailstock setup.
@cncConfusion The last pic seems to show that the headstock and tailstock do not line up in Y. Again, it may be a distortion in the pic but, if not, that is likely the cause of your issue.
It does seem to be a smidge off, not sure how I would correct that…
@cncConfusion IMHO, your issue is caused by your setup. I’ll try to clarify what I have said previously. Your best holding method would be a dead centre cone in the headstock and a live centre cone in the tailstock. The cones will automatically pull the spindle to center around the hole.
You seem to be using a rod and prong centre in the headstock. The rod must be smaller that the bore by a small amount. If it were exactly the same diameter, it could not fit into the bore. So, you have introduced some degree of slop at the headstock end. I can’t tell at the tailstock what is going on. If the tapered end of the live center is large enough to pull the material into centre, it should be fine. If, however, the straight part of the live centre is in the bore, again you have some slop.
I believe that I am doing nothing more than repeating myself now, so I’ll bow out here.
What you want to do is certainly possible with the Vortex.
@gwilki Thank you for all your help and suggestions, I understand what you are saying about the cone drive and tailstock centers. I should be able to get a larger drive center cone no problem.
Only question is, how would I change the tailstock center to a larger cone?
Again, thanks for all your time and effort to help me figure this out. Much appreciated.
Edit: I’m going to predrill the through hole with a 1/4" bit instead of the final 5"/16 bit and see if that fixes the issue utilizing a cone center on the drive side and the cone on the tailstock side.
@cncConfusion When I’m home, I’m going to look at the tailstock to see if I can come up with some ideas. Why are you drilling it? Do you need the through bore for something?
@gwilki No worries bud, I hope a smaller hole will work,
I am predrilling the hole because it is required for the final product as it is a handle and I found drilling a 4 1/4" long hole through the finished piece very difficult to keep perfectly centered.
I will predrill a 1/4" or smaller hole through and then after carving I will bore it out to the final size of 5/16". Hopefully that works out, I will report back later today.
Support is also looking into it as well.
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@cncConfusion I just measured the outer diameter of the live centre shaft. It is 5/16". Even if you drill 1/4", it’s likely that, when you tighten the tail stock up, it will push the shaft into the hole. Then, you will have the chance of having the same issue that you are having now.
Another way of going about this is not to drill your bore all the way through the material. Mark the centre at the tail stock end and bring the point of the live centre up to that mark. As long as your headstock attachment (whatever that is) is in the centre of the headstock end of the blank and your tailstock end is, too, you should be fine.
@gwilki So I drilled a 5/16" hole in the center of each end of the stock and ran another test.
One is measures out basically centered, the other end is not. I forgot to mark which end was the headstock and which was the tailstock but I am almost certain that it is the tailstock end that is off.
I drilled the holes with a Rockler dowel drill guide and jig and not all the way through this time.
I’m going to run another one off and mark which end is which but I have a feeling that the tailstock is lifting up slightly when I am applying the pressure to lock it in place.
I will measure the tailstock when locked down with no pressure on it and then once I twist down on the center to lock it in place and see if there is any difference. I have the tailstock screw as tight as I can get it and still be able to slide it into the track.
Some pics just for the hell of it.
@cncConfusion I would agree that it’s likely that it’s the tailstock end that is out because the 5/16" at that end it too big.
To go back, I assume that the vortex is parallel to the X gantry???
Crap, sorry I was used to typing 5/16 but I meant 3/16!!
So 3/16" holes were used this time.
I’m out of stock so it will have to wait till tomorrow so I can go get another stick of stock.