Guess who just trashed 5 out of 5 pocket watches because the tail stock on his el-cheapo Central Machinery lathe can not be set true to the headstock. That caused the 1 3/8 Forstner drill to bore well over-sized.
I can redeem the watches by adding thick CA to the ID of the recess for the watch ... but being able to repair something is not on a par with being able to do it correctly to start with.
Just for kicks I turned a cone in the headstock and ran a center up to it. Well, guess what? The tailstock is about .030 (eyeballed) BELOW center. I need to lower the headstock.
If I had a Bridgeport and a surface grinder handy I could simply machine the headstock down. But I don't, so I can't.
There are no gibs on the tailstock so I am looking for suggestions as to how I might align the headstock & tailstock (preferably without having to retrue it after every movement.)
Not only are 5 watches messed up, but there is no way I can drill pen blanks on the lathe. (My drill press is just too frustrating for words.)
Bill