Lathe Vibration

[Dick Rowe]

I have just started to notice a slight vibration when my lathe runs between 2000 and 2100 rpms. Up to 2000 and past 2100 it is dead steady, but within that range I can hear and feel the vibration. The lathe is not anchored to the floor and I haven' added extra ballast weight, but it hasn't displayed this issue for over the year I have owned it, until recently.

This happens with or without anything attached to the headstock spindle (drive spur, chuck etc) so I don't believe an accessory is causing it.

Nothing has changed with the lathe in a year, and it hasn't been moved or altered in any way. The ways are dead level in both directions so it isn't leaning at all.

I have tried repositioning it on the floor a bit, and tightened everything down I could get at, but these things didn't help.

If anyone has some ideas of what I can try to find and fix this I would be grateful.

[Brian Kent]

What kind of lathe?

[Russell Neyman]

A build up of sawdust and debris on a pulley, perhaps? A worn drive belt?

[Dick Rowe]

It is a Robust Liberty.

I checked for sawdust buildup, and the drive belt looks fine, but I will check again .. thanks!

[Russ Denz]

I'd bet you already did this, but in case you haven't already called Brent, call him now. He's been great and knows his machines well.

[Roger Chandler]

Be aware that lathes do have dynamics related to harmonics. Not sure why you experience this without anything mounted on the lathe, but on my Delta Midi 46-460 there is one spot that always has the same problem you describe, and it is on the highest setting on the dial, regardless of the belt position on the spindle......everything else, and everywhere else it runs dead smooth.

Sometimes harmonics become a factor. I am not sure whether certain conditions of the floor, bench or stand it sits on just brings that "spot" out of the whole of the lathe running, or just what makes it occur, but I have seen this occur with lathes at our club. Sometimes it manifests and there is nothing wrong with the lathe. Our 3520b at CVW would do that at certain speeds, and one of our regulars brought 3- 5lb buckets of sand and put it on a shelf on the bottom and it helped a great deal, but with the wood floor in the community center [former elementary school] where we hold meetings, vibration has always been an issue and more so at certain rpms.

Oh yeah......we are getting close to halloween here, so maybe the goblins becoming active and are messin' around your shop!

[Jeffrey J Smith]

I have tried repositioning it on the floor a bit, and tightened everything down I could get at, but these things didn't help.

Dick: You didn't mention whether your Liberty has legs or you bought it as a bench model. It looks like the Liberty's leg setup is similar to the AB with independently adjustable legs. In the AB manual, there's a procedure to 'settle' the legs on the floor. Don't know if this applies to the Liberty, but, with the legs 'settled' and the lathe leveled a slight vibration in the mid-range of the speeds that I had noticed when I first brought it home was totally eliminated.

[Reed Gray]

If you are turning out of round pieces, like big bowl blanks, they can make the lathe move across the floor. It doesn't take much movement to get the feet out of level, or off balance. I have marked my feet on the floor, and one foot on the end of the lathe is up against a cabinet. Other than that, I don't really know.

robo hippy

[Dave Cullen]

Grease or oil as appropriate any bearings or bushings you can get to.

[terry mccammon]

Be very sure that the surface under the headstock is absolutely clean. On my AB I suddenly noted that I did not have good alignment between head and tail stock. I checked the manual and Brent suggests being sure about the possible buildup of stuff under the headstock. I won't go into how much fun getting under there was by myself but sure enough there was a small amount of crud and sure enough that fixed it. I strongly suspect that this sort of thing will affect all of the dynamics of the system.

BTW, call Brent who is simply the best example of customer service in the world.

[Dick Rowe]

Yes I have legs, and yes they settle the same as the AB. I did that procedure when I originally set it up, perhaps I should do it again.

I have a call into Brent on another small issue, but I planned on calling him again after checking for a possible quick solution from this group.