Nova Comet II alignment

[Jack L Davis]

I have been woodworking for many years, but only recently got the woodturning bug. I started off on an old Craftsman lathe last year and turned enough to know that I wanted something a little more modern. While the Nova Comet II was on sale at Christmas, I pulled the trigger and bought one.

It finally came in a couple of weeks ago and immediately I noticed that the centers were just a bit out of alignment. I then noticed that the bolts through the headstock into the bed were just a little lose. I monkeyed around with it for a long time and got them aligned fairly well, but they're still off by like a 32nd or so. The problem is that every time I line them up and then start tightening the bolts, it goes out of alignment. I tried putting a drill chuck in the tailstock and tightening it on a small shaft held by my scroll chuck and got it that close, but can't seem to get it just right. Just wondering if there was some trick or tip anybody might have to get this lined up properly and bolts tight.

Thanks
jackd942@gmail.com

[Allan Ferguson]

Call their service center. They sell alinement tool at teknatoolusa, ph 1-727-623-0902.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I found on my Jet that I had to put a shime under one of the legs on the bed to make it line up. I have mine bolted to the bench and if I am standing where I would be turning I had to put a shim under the bolt on my right tailstock end closest to me. It didn't take much but put it dead on. Can you put a thin shim under the side of the headstock that takes it out of alignment when you tighten down the bolts? Just a thought.

[Thom Sturgill]

Use a pair of winding sticks to make sure the bed is true. Being true is MUCH more important than being level, and the beds can warp. If not true then shim the feet to make it so (but not so much as to crack the iron), then check alignment and shim the headstock as needed.

If the ways are too far out of true contact Teknatool.

[Ryan Baker]

As mentioned, start by making sure that the bed rails are level and not twisted. Shim the legs as necessary to get them right. Then, most of the turning tool vendors (e.g. Packard) sell a plastic alignment tool that is a double morse taper (tapered on both ends). That will hold the headstock spindle and tailstock in line while you tighten down the adjusting nuts. That should get it sorted out.

[Jack L Davis]

Thanks for all the suggestions. After returning home last night, I went out to the shop knowing that I probably wouldn't sleep very well until I checked things out. Using my winding sticks and straightedges, I determined that the bed was flat and true. There was no twist in it at all as far as I could tell. I then loosened up the bolts from the headstock into the bed slightly and used a plastic mallet to align it the best I could. I then torqued the bolts down just a tiny bit at a time going from one to the next. This seemed to work as I got the tips lined up about as close as my eyesight would allow. I then chucked up a block of wood in the headstock and put the drive spur in the tailstock. I slowly extended the tip of the spur up to the wood to see if I would get a point or a circle. I got a point both when the tailstock ram was in close as well as extended all the way. I felt good at that point.

Now, for another test I took out my old pen mandrel that I used on the Craftsman lathe with a 1MT taper, took the taper off of the shaft and inserted the shaft into my drill chuck in the headstock. At this point, I had quite a bit of runout. This was one of the main reasons I started checking everything in the first place. So I kept messing with it, re-chucking the shaft trying to figure out what was going on when all of a sudden, the chuck fell off of the taper in my hand. Lol...after cleaning and checking the shaft and the chuck, I reseated it firmly and voila...no runout in my mandrel. I guess a whole lot of fretting when it was the drill chuck the whole time.

Anyway, I'm glad to know that there's no twist, the bed is flat and the points line up a little better now, even if not by machinists standards. Again, thanks for all the suggestions.