i own a Delta 46-700 which has not been used in a few years. i purchased it new, and worked fine when last used. now, when i power it on, the headstock's morse taper turns off centre. is there a way of adjusting this without returning the unit to delta?
jacques
It won't go out of center in storage. If it was fine before, it should be fine now. The first thing to check is if there if there is anything that could cause the drive center to seat improperly - dirt, sawdust, burrs either on the spur center or inside the morse taper in the shaft.
Another test it to put the spur center in the shaft, bring up the tail center, rotate the shaft, and mark the high spot on both the center and the shaft. Then rotate the spur center 180 degrees in the shaft and find the high spot again. If the high spot matches the mark on the spur center, then the problem is with that and the lathe is fine. If the high spot matches the mark on the shaft no matter how you position the spur center, then the problem is somewhere in the headstock.
You weren't by any chance talking about the alignment of headstock to tailstock were you? The tailstock has a slight amount of play in it. See if you can wiggle it into alignment. The headstock on the 46-700 rotates. There is a big allen head bolt underneath. Loosen that and rotate the headstock into alignment.
Give all this a try and get back to us with the results, and we'll go from there.
-mike pauls>i own a Delta 46-700 which has not been used in a few years. i
thanks for the quick reply. well, before even trying your suggestion, i must add 2 things to my original post. first, when i turn on the lathe, i can actually see it turning out of centre. second, when i last used this machine, i wasn't( and still am not) an expert. to "try" things out, i took well seasoned maple from the fireplace woodpile, stuck it in there without roughing it out, turned it on, and (once i got it to stop bucking like a bronco)turned out a couple of primitive (but respectable) vases. could i have damaged it that way, and if so, what now?
jacques
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