Very well thought out, there are many ways to do a task. Keep making videos I want to see this lathe run as intended.

Steve; Should work just fine. As you said, some of the grinding services only get the ways back within 0.002". Taking your time, you should be able to at least get that. You might look into valve refacing wheels to do the grinding. I have an old Black and Decker Valve Refacing machine that uses 45 degree and 60 degree stones to reface valves and seats. Might work on your die grinder to get the results you are looking for.

Steve, I have no doubt that this plan will work, but I would recommend a modification: have just ONE of your rails with a vee top to guide the carriage laterally, and make the other flat. That way, setting-up would be quicker and there would be no risk of two fighting one another. The other thing is, I would prefer sliding pieces, not wheels.

Two suggestions. 1. Please make full videos on you building all the components no tic tok version crap.. 2. Tell Donn play time is over and get back in the shop to help out we miss his grumpy ass lol. i am looking forward to this part of the build....

Steve, I had the pleasure on meeting Clarke a few years ago at the Bar-Z Summer Bash. I didn't know who he was and sat down next to him. We started chatting about anything and everything for more then an hour. That night when I got home I looked him up and became his 96th subscriber. Long story short, like you said he's a good'ol boy and the nicest guy you'll ever meet.

Thanks for the series. For 5 years, I had the pleasure of running a very well cared for 10EE made in 1986, what a great machine. I changed careers and would like to find one in good shape for myself now; like all of us. The tubes went out in my old one once, that seems to be the Achilles heel of them all.

CANNOT WAIT to see this all come together. Waiting on these video updates is like waiting on new episodes of really suspenseful TV show lol.

Met a fella in Portland Oregon years ago who had developed a method of using an angle grinder in place of hand scraping.

Hey Steve Once again, details matter. Thank you for taking on this project. When I first started watching the $7000 mistake series, I never would have imagined that you would end up building a precision sled to take out the 0.007" of wear. Bravo!

Thanks for the video. Waiting to see the next one from t foundry.

Looking forward to your adventure on this one Steve as all your other endeavors.

Looking forward to meeting you Steve👍

Keith Rucker is also doing all the electronics on 10ee if you haven't seen his project you should watch him doing the electronics.

I’m excited to,I’ve been drawing rail idea’s over the pond,but the sanding disc on a air tool simply brilliant solution,great video,thanks.

I enjoy your videos. I can't wait to see the end result.

Looking forward to seeing how you do this, have a great time at windy hill.

Just a thought, the idea is to get the ways to be parallel to a line extended from the spindle to the tailstock. If you put a large precision ground rod between the spindle and the tailstock and use this rod as a support for a "sled" to move along and grind the bed. Not as rigid as what you plan but with light cuts might be accurate. Your idea is great, you have the experience and ability to pull it off. Thanks for showing all this, looking forward to seeing the result. Cheers from fellow Texan.

Yes it's going to work! When I suggested using planed areas on the bed, I wasn't referring to using the ground surfaces of the tailstock ways, I was saying use the planed areas that nothing has ever run on! Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing your way, starting with your trip to Windy hill! All the best, Matthew

Absolutely it will work although I don’t fully understand all the details. Point is I’ve got confidence in your experience to get ‘er done right. With Don’s help of course!

I'm very interested to see your grinding sled. I can see lots of applications for a set up such as what your suggesting. It could be tweaked to allow grinding of vertical ways on a knee or the bed of a mill. A fella may want to a set of plans for said sled so please keep that in mind. Nice job Steve, as always.

I can't wait to see this in action Steve. I'd also like to see your "set-up" for a PeddloDon. It may be the next big thing. Bell assisted maybe?

I saw a video of a japanese guy scraping a machine component for alignment. He used a grinder on the really bad spots. He used it with an expert touch, just like a scraper---repeatable cuts, slightly overlapping, working systemmatically. ALSO, I know it's annoying to get feedback like this but about 10 minutes of this video are review for those of us who are following along. You already have a catchy title, which is easy to search. If you use the format "... Part x" in the title, people who are interested in the full back story can search for "Part 1". Saves you a lot of explaining, it's OK for new audience, and it's good for the dedicated fans. BTW, I don't know if it came through for everyone---if you make the rails out of cast iron, you can plane it in-house and scrape that rail really straight. Also, see if you can find a tool-post grinder, at least. The die grinder's spindle may not be accurate. With abrasive paper, 0.007 is a lot. You might need a stone wheel. Good luck with the casting. I'm also a big fan of Clark, so I'm looking forward to that video.

Looking forward to seeing your plan pan out. My thought was as you have 2 four foot straight edges, couldn't you use them as rails? I know you want the sled self centering, hence the 90 degree steeple, that could be achieved by machining the aforementioned hot rolled, which would rest on the straight edges. Anyway, I know you were just secretly looking for an excuse to go to the foundry.

Pretty ingenious plan. I do think it’ll work.

Steve , The rail system you describe should work fine . I am worried about the accuracy of the die grinder spindle . I would think a lathe tool post grinder would be better if you have one. Bill

Interesting concept.

Schaffer Grinding in LA reground my 10ee bed ways taking the absolute minimum of material off and it is accurate to better than Monarch specifications new from the factory. And it wasn’t very expensive. They even ground the underside of the outer bed ways so they are parallel with the top of the ways. The ways were originally ground by Monarch so the headstock sat right down on the reground bed ways and was so accurately placed it exceeded Monarch specs. No scraping required. You’re approach should work fine, but I’m not sure it will be as accurately ground as if you lifted the spindle off and had Schaffer do the job. Don’t get me wrong, you are a very smart and creative man so I am hoping it turns out fantastic. And, then you’ll get business from other 10ee owners. Life is an adventure. Cheers, Will

good video steve

Steve I think you are going to figure this out!! I believe you are on the right track......can't wait to see all the videos.

I think that is a brilliant idea! I can't see any reason that it should not work perfectly, but the weak link is the bearings in the air grinder, if you could build something around a small tool post grinder with a proper spindle, or even a small bench grinder with two bearings set a good distance apart, it might be better. I am thinking that as the grinder develops more play in the bearings it will run out more and take a more erratic cut. I have an old Black and Decker valve refacing machine, which has a very accurate precision spindle on it, which is also very compact, and easily removable from the machine, but you can't have it! However, if you could find similar locally you would be adding another level of precision to the whole machine, even if you did use a sanding disc, as you say, you are removing 7 thou max! I have ordered my beer and popcorn! Phil, UK

Sounds like an amazing idea..eager to see how this turns out...I have a hendey with .030 wear...hopefully I can eventually get it on the planer though

Hi Steve! When the going gets tough----- the tough get going! That heart attack doesn't seem to have effected your little grey cells! My vote goes toward this working using something other than a die grinder! Best Wishes! Gary

Hell of a plan Steve, can’t wait to see the results. Wouldn’t a tool post grinder be better than a die grinder? Easier to mount and adjust ( you could bolt the compound onto your sled) and less runout

The determand man will achieve his wanted outcome with alot of work.

6:31 I agree 100% with you ,even crappy lathe can make a bearing fit its just the matter of time ! On a good lathe you set your depth and thats it on bad ones you have to see how lathe turns the parts(if you own it or work on it every day you kinda connect with the lathe on some spiritual level and you know its soul and all the flaws) and then bump the handle slightly as it goes forward to compensate for wear or when it cuts taper(DRO makes things easier but i worked on pure manual lathes with nothing but handle dials). Its painfully annoying and accuracy will never be superb but you can make a part that can be used within certain tolerance of 0.05mm .

As long as the spindle in the die grinder has no axial play where it might float in and out instead of cutting it seems like a great idea. Also if the angle that the grinder is set to is consistent along the whole way you can always scrape the saddle to match. Love it best of luck!

sounds good but could be a real pain getting dead parallel and level to the existing bed. The screw adjust sounds good but over the length you are grinding three brackets may be better to prevent bow in the unsupported center area also the extra bracket should help with chatter on the grinder. I am probably over thinking this given the cutting forces involved here. hope you do not mind my ramblings here. Stay safe, regards to Don too, looking forwards to seeing the casting process.😀

I think your plan is the best bang for the buck. The sanding disc idea I'm not sure will work because sanding grit and hardened steel may not have much longevity. I'm thinking a high quality grinding "stone" of surface grinder type material might be better.AL B.

Steve!!!!!!! I can't wait to see this come together.......I like your idea of using sanding discs.......Cheers Steve, Paul over in Florida

Really looking forward to see this plan in action. Can I suggest that you make your trolley reversible so that when you start to work on the back rails you swap the trolley around, keeping two wheels under the grinding head. I am also curious why you have chosen to go with wheels rather than sliding surfaces. I would think that 3 low friction surface points would eliminate any possibility of run out in the wheels and bearings and minimize the chance of the wheels running over some of the grit generated in the grinding process if you added a wiper or a raked leading face.

sounds good😄

looking forward for that journey, Steve. Thats goin to be very interesting to see.😲

Brilliant idea to use a sled! May use somethimg similar on the knee of my mill. Can't wait to see the results..

I believe your biggest problem will be getting a way to set the angle grinder in a fixed rigid but adjustable position to do the various grinds with. And allow all those different setups easily. But I like the idea. That platform fixturing will need some thinkin.

Sounds will though out and logical. I cant come up with any holes in your theory. I think the high RPM and low pressure of the die grinder will offset any tolerance errors it would have compared to a true grinding machine. I think the hardest part of all of it will be the initial set up and measurements to ensure the "sled" is tracking dead true to both axis of the chuck (lateral & vertical) to prevent grinding the ways into a built in taper attachment!!! All that said ... could two well calibrated 48" straight edges have been used instead of making new rails? The traversing setup would be almost the same ... points of the 45° .. and a simple gibb system.in the inboard 90° to account for micro elevations and lateral stability. Thanks for sharing 🇨🇦

Can’t wait to see the outcome

Good luck! Want to see how it turns out. You might consider using a woodworking router rather than a die grinder. Basically the same thing but already has the 90 degree platform made for you.

I think it’s a great idea and am looking forward to you achieving a precision flat bed!

Am looking forward to seeing the grinding process. Take some video at the foundry.

Have a chat with Keith Rucker @ Vintage Machinery. He is restoring a 10EE and has come up with a modern electronic solution for your lathe

I can see the issue with trying to grind the ways where they run by the side of the headstock. Have you thought of trying to use an abrasive belt running around a thin ground and polished radius on the end of a precision platten? A bit like those air files you can get. My friend has a belt machine that I use for plane irons and wood chisels that produces some fine finishes and I'm pretty sure that with a decent rigid setup an abrasive belt would get you close enough for minimal scraping afterwards. In fact you might find that with a suitable drive system and some "custom" plattens it may be the way to grind the whole bed. Good luck with it anyway, whatever you do.

My prediction: you and Clarke are going to BS all day and become great friends, then at some point in the future on another trip actually get the furnace fired up, molds rammed, and metal poured. You're also probably going to come home with at least one broken muller to add to your project list. Spare yourself and give that project to Don. One more thing, PLEASE mount that die grinder by the angled gear housing itself and not the motor body, they have a terrible tendency to vibrate the jam nut loose under load/vibration (especially when mounted solidly) and then the head swings around and digs into the work or just blows up. There isn't enough red Loctite in the universe to hold the danged things secure.

Hi Steve, rip it apart and mount it on the planer, perfect candidate for doing the job. Mount a toolpost grinder on the head. You can cover the ways on the planer with plastic sheeting. Coolant might be a problem, jury rig a pump. Cant see a die grinder being the right tool for the task. Unfortunately all machines wear out and so do we.

I think your idea will work fine AND you'll modify it as you go along when and if things change. But you better put toe clamps on Dons bicycle speed control on the pedals. He may get wound up and sling a shoe and if not captured to start with he might end up in Houston. BLESSINGS!

I would probably find two old surface plates with enough length and align them on both sides of the lathe. Once you got them aligned to create a plane then you can shove the lathe in between them and adjust it so the spindle is in the same plane. Then buy a couple of linear bearings and bolt them to the granite plates and you have made a gantry style way grinder.

Exciting! Nice idea.

Thompson rod and ball bushing ? Thanks for your time. Pete

Thanks for sharing 👍

Go for it. 👍

Love your confidence and getter-done attitude. About the sanding disc, r u planning on the ubiquitous rubber sanding pad. Are you concerned that will deflect? What about the spindle runout on the die grinder?

Interested to see if this works. good luck...

You and Clarke at Wendy Hill? I see breaking rotors in your future. Should be VERY interesting. I suspect ot will be a LONG video with motr yack than work but entertainment deluxe. Can't wait to see it. I think your plan will be derided but turn out to be a pragmatic solution to a common problem. Go for it.

How will you ensure the grinding rails are in a parallel plane to the spinal rotation over 48 inches? Also, should you use a larger diameter grinding wheel instead of the die grinder? Wouldn’t this be a way to limit the wear on the diameter of the wheel as it traverses the length of the bed?

Sounds good to me. Go for it

Food for thought: why not just do the face of the worn side of the prismatic way and makeup the difference under the saddle with moglice or some other material? There is no reason that both sides have to be the same angle. This way you only have half as much grinding to deal with. Good luck! Cheers Zed

i have exactly the same plan for some time, my angle on it is to make a single rail, almost like a bedway. with a cross slide and maybe compound to adjust the tool. what ever you use to do the cutting. lathe bed repair is a big problem in south africa. seems to not be any one doing it ,and the grinding co, i have spoken to will only do flat horizontal surfaces.......my boley 5lz is warn to 0.46mm from what i could measure having no real reliable reference surface. very bad. am looking at single pointing it , almost like a planer the mount to the job rather than the job to the planer. plan on making this rig extra long, maybe 2m . will see what budget allows. following to see how yours work out......

What do I think? I don't think...from having listened to your plan...I know it will work! So...let's get on with getting it done. Best wishes.

I also watch Keith Rucker vintage machinery and I think he has a 10EE doing the same thing curious as to whether or not yours is the same Yes I will Clark over at Windy Hill knows Keith Rucker also looking forward to the build and complex fix

Just my 2 cents worth, make 4 rails not just 2, even if the extra 2 are just rough castings at the end You may change your mind about the design of the rails after you've already built 2 Worst case (with 2 only) would mean another trip to Windy Hill Best case, you would have a second set to sell off to another 10EE owner My father taught me this.. Why have only one, when you can have two at twice the price(now) and you'll have a (relatively) cheap spare, instead of paying through the nose in the future, when you Need to have another. Best regards from Australia

It can work but there are a lot of other factors. If you're satisfied the extra moments that you put in that you losing adjustment if you can overcome them I think you've got something. Because the outside housing of the bed is not necessarily precision getting it to run parallel and at the same depth it's going to be quite a feat. Sincerely Nick PS good luck I hope it works.

Curious to see how a die grinder spindle would hold up for accuracy (assuming nothing else added). I don’t see why it wouldn’t work in principle. My immediate thoughts are whether mounting the rails inboard to the tailstock ways would be easier. That way you piggyback on the beds’s stiffness already. This may not provide as wide of a support however and I see why you think the way you are. Not sure if there is a way around that by going vertical in some fashion, or adding length to the sled so as to help alignment.

I think you have quite a plan there! My only suggestion is that you make up a pattern for your sled and have that cast at the same time.

I want to do something similar to my 32" G&E shaper. What I'm starting with is an old military Dumore Versa milling machine. Along with the Versa I found a portable bed for it. My problem now is how to mount the bed to the shaper. Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing your solution. Good luck.

Hi Steve, a point worth checking, the vee on some lathes is 94 deg. inc. and not 90 deg. I'm open to correction as I am not familiar with the lathe you are working on. Thanks for the video, always good stuff.

Small air grinders do NOT have preloaded ball bearings like a toolpost grinder. All that rigidity you talk about wanting in your iron guide rails will be lost in loose bearings. Bear that in mind. Also, you might be fighting wheel wear on very small abrasive stones. Maybe think about using CBN wheels, as they wear very slowly. Something resinoid bond should be good enough. I think the nickel plated wheels will just cause chatter and burning. Consider designing your iron rails so they can bear on the UNDERSIDE of the bed ways, where the uplift straps usually affix the carriage. Usually the uplift straps never actually touch, and there should be no wear on the bed under there. Best of luck. --Doozer

Skip the sandpaper and die grinder it will just chatter and glaze up after 12". Get a old bench grinder and a good surface grinder wheel wide enough for one pass width, maybe some coolant. ......

Have at it Steve, I know that you like the taste of grinding dust! Save some dust for Don, I think he will like it too. LOL Edit; I have heard that it goes well with Icecream just sprinkle it on!

Like everyone else - I am hear for the crashes. er - I mean the racing! 🙂 Love the ingenuity. That is one scary cut to have to make. One thing you are going to have to watch out for: flex in your die grinder, AND flex in what ever wheel or bit you use in it. I've played around with doing some grinding of hardened steel bearings set in the chuck (on my 10EE!) and ran into the issue of the grinning wheel itself deflecting. Will that cause any issue for you if it does?

You didn't discuss *how* you were going to ensure the new sled rails are all in a plane. Are you going to use one of the King way level devices that Keith Rucker has demonstrated in the past? Also, if your ways required, say, 50 thousandths taken off, will that affect how your carriage (riding on the ways) interacts with the leadscrew? Wouldn't that change the geometry? Thanks for the video.

I think that is a great plan. I have never met Clark but I like him. I bet he can make some rails that fit your needs. Just be careful he has a dog that will piss on you.

good idea!! I wonder if the twist strain on the cold roll would be more than the twist moment of cr might even go thicker? In my vast lack of knowledge, it seems to me, that, although the grinder is putting a twist, on the deck, the spinning will eat the twist? I don't think you will be putting 5 ton of force on the. grinding wheel. please correct me if I am way out in Don's land. btw did he get a short cut or a trim? lol 73 dan

I know I’ve said this before Steve, but it’s difficult to see how this bed got to be so worn. The only thing I can think of is that the lathe was used for grinding, and the idiot who did it never covered the bed or cleaned it off. My South Bend FOURTEEN has a hardened bed. It was made in the mid 1970s. There is no wear to speak of. I’ve had it since 2002, and I’ve used it a lot. That’s what a hardened bed lathe should show after a fair amount of use. And that’s what makes this so startling. But then, this lathe has been so abused in so many ways, I suppose nothing about it should be surprising. Of course, once you straighten out the bed, you’ve got to straighten out the saddle. I seem to remember you saying that you were going to use Turcite.

A three leg chair all ways sits flat on the surface I was told by a master

Oil your stool pivot, It is really annoying hearing it continually groaning when you move.

Take it from someone who is only an interested observer and does not know much about the matters that your are explaining. But since most of the wear on the ways takes place near the spindle and the rest of the ways (towards the extreme right) hardly gets to do any heavy lifting, would it be possible to simply turn them (the rails) around? That, of course, if the rails can be removed, which should be since you can send them out for grinding and there are no issues with the symmetry of the rails. Then the rail that is closest to where you sit would turn around and be installed on the place of the other rail. Likewise with the other rail, which would now be turned around and installed next to you. Now both the portions of the rails with the least wear would be close to the spindle and the heavily worn portions of the rails would be where they will get to do the least amount of work.

Could you temporarily repurpose the cross slide and mount it on the aluminum plate? It would definitely be rigid enough and yet adjustable.

Don’t know how or if it would work but could you possibly mount the grinder on the head of the planer and use the planer to grind the ways rather than cut them?

yes it would work, could you set it up on your planer with grinder spindle? or get Thompson ground rods as your temporary ways

I am still wondering how you get 7 thousandths wear in a hardened rail. Was this from a place that considered lubrication an expensive frill? I would have done the same thing except I would have used linear bearings and a precision ground rail. If I had the money.

With only having one shot at this to get angles and finish right.... Even though it is only 7 thou, I'd question if pneumatic angle grinder spindle bearings are going to be rigid enough to provide a precision surface without radial or axial deflection. Leaving ripples due to inconsistent speed or loads. Definitely not with a flexible sanding disc. A cup face wheel if trammed true to the surface being ground? Although leaving circular grinding marks. I'd speculate you will end up hand scraping to finish anyways to match the apron ways to the bed ways or visa-versa if turciting to restore apron position to whatever is removed from the bed. Maybe practice on a throw away lathe bed to prove your theory first? Mount that grinder to your planer to prove best results on scrap similar to the 10EE material hardness? I've known field service guys years ago with similar portable mills putting the crown back in press brake beds mounted exactly like your plan.

Do you think you can find a cup grinding wheel for your grinder? A sanding disk is not stiff enough to do the job. I know linear bearings are expensive, however you don’t get the grief of a wheel jumping off the track you designed.

Does the monarch bed come off the base? If so you could put that and the rails on the planer bed as a level surface to line everything up.

I think the plan should work but watch those die grinder bearings. I have a couple of 2.5" x 8" x about 15" 6061 drops as well as some 2" x about 4" x 6" A514 drops if you can use them on this project.

Steve, do you have enough room to put the lathe bed on your planer and then mount a grinder in place of the clapper box ?

I have heard it said, the only thing that beats a try is a failure. if so try something different till it works.

Better summon your inner Brian Block up.

Interesting just have to keep the wheels clean of grinder dairie. I would think that could be problematic. Just my thoughts on it

Steve, why not use your existing 4' straight edge, get a second 4' straight edge and use them for the rails? yeah they will be bulky and a little more tricky to hang off the edge. but you wont be left with 2 large gobs of cast iron that you probably wont ever use again....

Be sure to bring a bone for Dollar.

I’m not crazy about using that little air grinder, it’s going to have runout. An NSK Nakanishi precision spindle or something similar would seem more suitable.