I'd be interested in a video on aligning and levelling a lathe please.

I would like to see how you align and level the bed, you make fantastic videos and it would be one of the best on KZfaq. Also surely if you make a ring on a chuck that's out the the ring is going to out too?

Appreciate you showing your mistakes , makes me feel a little better knowing that I’m not the only one who screws up occasionally. So many channels show these how to videos that we are not capable of accomplishing with hobby machines that were warn out before we ever got them , but it’s still fun making chips . 😊 ! Thanks for the. Video .

You are right the sharp tink of a hard faced hammer will break the rust better and you weren't hitting it hard enough to damage anything

The most important thing to know about scroll chucks is that the scroll has some clearance around its outer edges. It can be (and is) pushed one way and another within the chuck body. Which way? It gets pushed in the direction that the most recent tightening adjuster pushed it. As it gets pushed around, it carries all the jaws (3, 4, or 6) with it. The only way around this is to be consistent about the order that you tighten the adjusters, and that you always end up tightening the same adjuster last. (It usually has a mark by it.) If you always tighten by rotating the chuck towards you and finish on the marked adjuster, you should end up with the scroll (and the jaws) offset by the same amount and in the same direction every time. Once you have that consistency, you can then grind the jaws to be concentric with the body of the chuck when the scroll (and jaws) are in THAT position.

I always pick up something interesting from your videos. From Land Rover to chuck repair and everything in between. Thank you

Hi Im from the UK, been in engineering a long time and think i can offer some information that might help you. The issue lies in the wear between the scroll and the boss it sits on, if you strip the chuck down again and check the clearance between them im sure you will find its greater than it should be, any wear here will allow the scroll to 'float' radially and when you tighten the jaws down it jams it in that offset position. Hence why the thicker grease helped accuracy but didnt cure the problem completely..and as the grease gets squeezed out the innaccuracy will return. This is why you get a different reading each time you either loosen and retighten or you tighten using more than one of the chuck key sockets. If you eliminate the wear here your chuck will improve massively, and that is why old or well used chucks loose their accuracy more than any other reason unless they have been stressed from overtightening. Another way to prove this is chuck up a bar and clock it, take the nearest high chuck jaw to a high point and with a block of aluminium and a hammer give the jaw a moderate but not hard tap and reclock. you will see the bar shift if the scroll is floating inside the chuck body. I hope this helps. Vic ..V.B.Engineering

I can't imagine even owning a six jaw chuck, but I couldn't tear myself away from this video. Very engaging

Hi! Yes please do the aligning and leveling video, thank-you. Mike.

Love the racing stripe on the wall. Mine is on my shirt. 😀

Great, ofc I would like to see how to align lathe, good video idea, keep it up !!

By holding the grinder at 90 degrees to the surface all load is being put on the grinder radially and with that stick out it would enable some deflection. Depending on how much of each jaw was coming into contact with the grinder you may have been experiencing some deflection. The amount of deflection would change based on how much pressure each jaw was putting on the grinder. IE 1 jaw might be 2 thou further out than the next. The outcome of this would be that depending on how you your held your stock it could change every time you re-chuck something (I think). If you used a cone style grinding bit and came into it at 45 degrees you'd reduce the amount of deflection because it would transmit roughly half axially and the other half radially. This may also make exactly 0 difference. Just throwing out a possibly fix/suggestion.

How much play does the scroll have in the bore of the chuck body? The tapper of the chuck key gears will push it back and forth in its bore if there is a lot of clearance. You could even test this by tapping on the jaws when a part is chucked in the chuck. Can you adjust the run out that way. In fact that is exactly the way we use to do it before set true chucks were available. This could explain why the thicker grease helped your run out problem. It sort of helps the scroll center in its bore when chucking. Also as you say the scroll could be worn on not made accurately so if you test bar is not the same diameter as your grind it may not run true at that diameter.

The align and level the lathe tip is golden😎💯... 2 years ago I grinded my first chuck and made everything all right I looked very carefully that everything is exactly how I was told to do.. But the result was not very good so I tried again and again and whatever I tried it didn't work. One month later I became my new big lathe with D1 4 Camlock spindle and a friend gave me a good old ROEHM 4 jaw chuck as a present which I had to grind first.. I didn't like the idea of grinding a chuck again but I had to give it a try and the result blow my mind it still is the best 4jaw I ever saw.... Why that? The lathe was leveled and aligned not long ago and so the result was that good 👍😎😅

I remember a video with a plumb Bob in it for "leveling" but I'd like to see a whole new one on alignment. I like the way you explain things like that. It really helps me out.

Yeah Dale, we want to see that lathe leveling video! Thanks for your time

just a few hopefully constructive comments, sometimes a thin oil is better than thick grease. Although the grease takes up play it also acts like a form of shock absorber, oil on the other hand being thin can be more consistent. if you think of the case of a cross slide lead screw, a thick grease may sound a good idea but its not. Under heavy cuts it will get sqeezed out of the way but under light cuts it doesn't, leading to inconsistent depth of cuts on finishing cuts. Someone with DRO on their lathe could experiment to confirm or deny the hypothesis. It is better to have the jaws very slightly tighter furthest from the chuck face, a reverse bell mouth in effect. If ground trully parallel, once under load, they will become bell mouthed, due to inevitable play in the system, and cause problems especially when parting. At least these are my experiences. keep up the good work and ignore the tr-lls.

Great video! Just rescued a PB 6" chuck that I considered scrap. Followed you method and it worked perfect. Keep the content coming. Neil, Newport South Wales UK

Very interesting on how grease type has an affect on the assembly. I never really thought about it until you mentioned it. Achieving repeatable high precision has many variables!

You're absolutely right about the sharp blow of a hard hammer versus the soft thud of a soft face hammer.

I liked your previous video on leveling a lathe. Would be interested in a new one. Some finds, such as the six jaw chuck, are rusty for a reason. LOL

This is a very good lesson. Thanks. I'd enjoy learning about lathe alignment as well. Thanks again.

I have a 10” Cushman 3 jaw chuck that is unusable do to bell mouthing of the jaws. I need to do this! Last time I ground a chuck it was an epic failure, so I’ve been hesitant to attempt it again! However I do have a much better understanding of the grinding process! Thanks for sharing!

As a thought one way to remove debris from grinding is to place a magnet inside a zip-lock bag and as you move it over the lathe surfaces it would pick up the swarf. Then simply invert the bag on itself and the swarf would be inside the bag and the magnet would be clean

I'm late to the party, but I'd also like to see the align and level video. However, I'm just glad you are back to putting out videos more often, so I'm good with anything honestly.. Thanks Dale!

Interesting video, been there myself with frustrating effort as well. A lathe level and alignment video from you would be welcomed.

That's a good method to grind a chuck . Cheers .

This is a common mistake a lot of machinists make thinking that simply grinding the jaws will align the whole mechanism ... it will not. The issue is the scroll and how accurately it’s been made and how well it stays centered in the chuck body. Thus the only way to correct this problem is to re-grind the scroll on a precision setup. grinding the jaws will only make them accurate with the diameter they were ground at. scrolls wear over time at the most used diameter just like the bed ways are most worn near the head stock.

I would like to see how you align and level a lathe. I think I know what you mean by align but I would like to be sure. I also enjoy seeing how you do things like this, because you always seem to put a little different twist to it.

Nice to see you shown this even though it hasn't worked out quite as you wanted it to, just a thought have you seen Solid Rock Machine Shop he has a great way of truing up lathe chucks, may be worth a look if your doing another one. Alan.

Another great video Dale. Always great info and instruction. Keep em coming !

I felt your frustration. I have similar challenges, with similar results. Once in a while though everything works correctly and it all comes together.

Yes please to how to align and level a lathe. I'm hoping to buy my first lathe soon. Seems like a good thing to be able to do when I buy one!

Please make a level and alignment video. You're great at explaining things!

The six jaw chuck in principle is a thing of beauty, can really see the advantages of using one on a lathe when you are trying to grip a part that may crush or distort by trying to hold in a 3 jaw. Those extra jaws offer a more even pressure similar to the way a collet holds small items, which can be very helpful. Too bad the design has no way to indicate it in like a 4 jaw chuck. Great effort in trying to rescue this one.

Whats up chuck? Ah, I'm just hangin' 'round. I liked this video. Keep'em rollin'

Only machinist really get a good grasp of what you are talking about. Been a machinist ten years myself.

I want to see a video on how they design and cut the jaws and the scroll ring. Also how to avoid full chuck of chips. My jaws are regularly jam packed of chips, special if i am doing any type of deep boring or ID turning.

My practical experience with it is to always use the master key for tightening, it gives the most repeatable results. I never use the other keys unless I just happen to need to get it held in that position before I can rotate it and finish the tightening with the master. Not going around and hitting everykey the same saves a lot of time and these style chucks are supposed to be time savers if you have to hit every key might as well use a 4-jaw.

Excellent presentation. On my three jaw I always use an indicator. I can affect quite a change by adjusting the pressure on different adjusting points. Typically mine will range from 0.08 to 0.02mm with some adjustments, but I always use my indicator. I rarely just tighten the three jaw with out checking.

I'd like to see your technique on aligning and leveling. Every time I've talked to someone or seen someone do it, I've learned something. Teach away!!!

TROLL, no, it's just me Dale. Great to see you back in front of the camera my friend.

Please teach us how to align and level a lathe. Even though there are many videos on this topic I still end up with questions. The more advice on this topic the better

You are terrifyingly brilliant.

Congratulations for your videos! Oh please make a video about aligning the lathe....

You show that you tighten the chuck using all three holes to get precision hold. Good quality chucks have mark on one of key slots and you are supposed to use that one for final tightening. This is how the chuck was set up in the factory.

Great video on the chuck grind!.Would love to see a video on alignment and leveling of a lathe, thanks.

I love what you do and the ways you do them, I hase a Jet13x40 gap bed lathe. Sign me up for align and level. This lathe has been a nightmare to get it dead nuts. I will watch for that hopefully soon. Thahnks for all you do.

I don’t believe it’s the grease... it’s more likely debris in the grease... The scroll and work piece try to rotate the jaws when clamping... the slots on the sides of the jaws an the corresponding keys on the chuck body hold jaws in alignment... debris on these surfaces will cause or at least contribute to the problem you where having... the poor scroll means you will have inconsistent pressure on the jaws which in turn leads to inconsistent run out grinding doesn’t help this much... wear on jaw slots and “keys” will let jaws rotate ... grinding should help this by compensating for the rotation of the jaw

Excellent quality grinder (Metabo) you using!

Excellent video! Part about lubrication was very interesting.

You’re right about the hammer. I’ve gone through the same problem over the decades. As for lub, I use CHUCK-EEZ. This is made for power chucks, but works well on any chuck. It’s recommended by Kitagowa. Made in the USA. I’m not familiar with the WD 40 product, so I’m not saying anything about this being a competitor. It’s just what I use. Also, I wish people would stop making a deal about leveling a lathe. We NEED to align the lathe, but as long as it’s not way out, being level isn’t that important.

Love to see a lathe set up video. Got an early 1900s American Tool Works lathe to set up.

Maybe you could do a cooking show.

n would be great if possible. Great to have you back again. Kind Regards, Mike

I would also like to see a video on levelling and aligning a lathe. Keep up the good work!

I would like to see more about machine leveling. Maybe you can answer the question of when it is needed, and when it's probably not absolutely critical.

I use the technique you already showed on leveling the lathe. Joe P has a good explanation on the geometry. Would like to see how you measure and correct alignment.

It would be great if you made a video on leveling a lathe, thank you for all your help with these videos.

Dale, next time try a brass taper punch. I get what you were saying about needing a sharp blow. I have found in chuck dissembling a brash punch and steel hammer carefully directed are your best friends.

Definitely would love to see an alignment video.

Great. A new video from you. Keep it up

I believe the rotation of the lathe should have been reversed for the outside grind. Great video, thanks.

Yes, please, a video on leveling and aligning a lathe.

i'd love to learn how to properly align and live my lathe ! had lots of trouble doing it (probably the wrong way)

Dale: First project should be to put up either a piece of plywood or sheet metal to prevent oil from splatering your drywall! 6:18 BTW: I am not nitpicking, just trying to provide some third party observations. I know its hard to shoot video & do the work at the same time. Not sure that using a scrap piece of alum with possible concentric errors (ie not perfectly round) is the best idea. Ideally using a ground shaft for measuring run out would be a better way. The stock (with mill scale) likely has concentric errors. Perhaps cut the ring & test shaft on a four jaw that you can dial in with better precision. Then use them for grinding and testing on the Six Jaw. Not sure if the gear teeth on the back of the scroll disk matter much, since they are just used to adjust & tighten. The scroll side is the important side.

Nice art work on the wall 😄

This is what you call polishing a turd and is an example of why it is rarely worth the effort

Hey Dale just an FYI when I grind my chucks I never take more than about .002 per pass I might take a heavier pass if I had some really high points just to get those knocked down I can always get my chucks to dial within . 001 after grinding also never use heavy grease in a chuck it just is a big magnet for chips they get in the scroll and really cause problems I use a 068 hydraulic oil on my lathes never use way oil on a lathe in a room where you have grinding dust and lots of dirt floating around it is terrible to remove from the lathe also if you want a machine that will grind a Chuck really well Look for a brake drum grinder

Nice video,, I would really like to watch that alignment video,, I'm in the process of "trying" to align my lathe

If you tried a lead/brass/whatever hammer first you should try and show that in the video. Not only will it reduce the amount of complaining people, it also helps us because it shows the reasoning immediately :)

Hello Dale Derry Sir, Which Camera DSLR you are using for shooting this Chuck grinding video .

There does seem to be a lot of variables involved in this Chuck doesn't there, I just wonder if there is a way to refurb he scroll?. I guess you can go past the point of where it's economical to proceed. Thanks keep up the good work.

Thanks for sharing. Recent subscriber. I notice you frequently comment about trolls. Too bad, just seems there are a slew of people out there that have nothing better to do but look for something to criticize, but overlook the 99% of the other information that could or would be useful to them. If the content wasn’t useful, and they already know how to perform whatever operation is being done, why are they watching the content? They can do whatever, however they want when they perform the process. I think constructive criticism is always appreciated, however most seems to be argumentative opinion. I watch another channel OTW, and he commented one time that he could give the winning lottery numbers and someone would comment negatively or give a thumbs down- great analogy. I value contributors that don’t always get the results they expect, and have the intestinal fortitude to show it. I value learning from successes, failures and different methods or processes. Keep doing what you are doing and I will keep watching.

Hey Dale that was a real "slick" video...get it? Slick? WD-40, slick? Oh never mind...

You added the ring feature based off of the old jaw geometry.

Really enjoy your videos. At the 4:00 minute mark you mentioned cutting a little shoulder in the jaws for grabbing a washer or similar piece. I like that idea and want to do it to my lathe chucks. I would love for you to provide a little detail on this operation. I have a 3 jaw and a 6 jaw chuck for my Monarch EE10 Should I do it to one or both chucks? Keep the great videos coming! Tom

Ideal educational video!

Yes I would like to see the method of leveling and alignment it would be useful to me thanks

Lathe bed alignment is important. It will be a great video.

Great video Dale...keep it up..i learn alot from your video...thanks...

I think the video is educational in the process & would have worked if the chuck had been a higher quality ground. I would suggest renaming the video with the words "Failed Attempt and Why!" in the title somewhere. I like the tool grind, I was concerned about that until I saw your process. Thanks for the informative video. Definitely congrats are in order on the sponsorship. I have never leveled or aligned my 17" X 31.5" Chicago Machinery Lathe. It would be nice to see how it's done. On a good note for me, today I hit 3K subs on my small channel, Yippee! Thanks again for sharing, I look fwd to your next video. Best Wishes & Blessings. Keith Noneya

Sometimes how it goes, Dale. I've wanted to go back in time to undo a project but that's not how reality works. Learn and move forward. ----Aaron

Aligning the lathe is something I would love to see

Ben, I question using outside pressure on the jaws instead of inside pressure. Should you not use a ring on the inside and squeeze the jaws tight, then regrind?

Damn flipflops in the shop. That’s why you were having trouble grinding that damn thing, wrong footgear. Jesus Dale! Cmon!

I would also like to see how to align and level a lathe. The American pacemaker I have has a 54" bed. I would say after 25" the carriage no longer moves because the lathe is so unlevel. So seeing a video where you explain and show how to level a lathe would help me out alot!

Joe Pie did a good video recently on the theory of lathe leveling. Check it out. He didn't actually do any leveling though. I'm sure Dale would do a great real world leveling video; I'd watch it.

Working on a metal lathe is like having a girlfriend somedays are good and other days a total pain.

I had the same Problems with my six jaw. Try turning a one inch brass rod about 6” and turn a half inch dia end for the drill chuck . Run the lathe at your 45 RPM with pressure on the brass , using lapping Compound running it back and forth in the tailstock , lap the jaws. Takes time but u can get it much closer to .001 or a half thousand.

Cool to see you mounted one of those metabo die grinders on a dovetail! I've been using one for years....the slower model gear head die grinder is what I use, & mostly for small endmills & drills.

Being a watchmaker I have to scale down everything when it comes to grinding any thing. Run-out is no as serious as you might think since a runout of five thou over eighteen inches is practically nothing when your part you're making is less than a quarter inch long. Ood vieo though it made me think more about lubricants.

Trying to regrind old chucks is very frustrating. Most successful one I did was done completely the wrong way, just progressively tightened the jaws down on the stone and ran it back and forth while held in the tailstock.

If you want to grind chuck jaws on the inside, you have to apply pressure from the inside (like when you clamp a piece of metal). When you want to grind the outside the opposite will have to be done (like when you clamp a ring from the inside). It doesn't work any other way.

you also have to number your chuck jaws by stamping numbers into the chuck, the order can no longer change

Very good and thanks for everything

I know that there will be 1000 possible answers/arguments to this, but it raises a question that I've always had about buying machinery - (in this case a lathe) - do you buy old and recondition it or buy 'high end' new and cross your fingers that it's as good/better than the old machinery will be now, but without the hassle of scraping in beds etc?

If the scroll wear is not consistent grinding the jaws will never truly fix it.

With chucks, the clearance and the concentricity of the inner stub to the run of the jaw slots is very important. So some need the inner stub turned down, and built up again with a shrink fit ring, and then re trued. The inner of the scroll gear needs to run true to the scroll itself, and not the outside. Not easy to find centre and to re true. The clearance of the scroll to the inner stub will determine the consistency of the scroll itself. The next issue is wear on the jaw dogs that engage on the scroll. Keeping the scroll clean and not using too much tension to hold a part is key to the long life and precision of a chuck. Basically, don't do the roughing out of a part with a precision chuck. Precision chucks should only be doing finishing passes as their greatest depth of cut. The heavy grease works better as it has an ep compound and takes up the excess clearance of the scroll and inner stub. Using the same one key will obtain the highest level of consistency for that particular chuck. But with a worn chuck, different keys will yield a different result with different diameter bar. To close down the jaws, I used some pieces of hard wood, like Maple in the jaw relief area. I cut them all the same width, and placed them in the jaws with a bit of cyno onto 1 jaw. Tighten it up, and then recut the jaws at the diameter that is 1/2 way in the practical clamping range of the chuck.

the case you tight 4 dirction evenly make me think, the gears contact maybe a bit loose? can you try to add a thin spacer (washer) on the outer face of scroll? I think maybe it improve it on the rigidity and repeatability.