Complete CNC Lathe Alignment - Part 2 - Turret

The second part of the complete lathe alignment. Stay tuned for the alignment of the spindle!

I was fighting a cold when I made this. Sorry if I sound disgusting.

[nickdouglas]

Thanks for this video series. VERY helpful for learning the basics. We have a Nakamura Tome Slant Jr built in 1986. It is a real testament to the Japanese engineers that designed and built this machine, as well as the machinists that crashed it multiple times without telling anyone.

BTW our machine is also not a true slant bed, rather an angled carriage holding the x axis slide and ball screw.
Our machine has a tapered gib insert that was cracked from one of the crashes and it might be worth mentioning to check it, because it's an easy quick check that can cause "mystery" play on the x-axis.

[kanoa]

Thank You Much for this video series ! ! ! I bought a used lathe and it was way out of alignment, both turret and head stock, with your videos I got it aligned perfect. Never would have known where to start without this. Would have ended up paying someone for something that is actually very easy (once you know how to do it)

[J_CtheEngineer]

Les, I just bought a haas SL10. This video series is a godsend! Thank you! <3

[arturobetancourth]

This information is gold! Thanks a lot for sharing.

[ABCC]

BTW: I would have indicated the contact face were the boring bar holders will be mounted and squared that surface to Z. Just in case the surface you indicated is not perpendicular to the face were the boring bar holders mount.
For the center height adjustment I wouldn't have used the OD tool holder but the boring bar ID instead - or alternatively the boring bar holder contact surface on the turret on the top and than getting it parallel to X. Just in case the OD tool holder was not perfectly perpendicular.
I prefer the boring bar holder method as this was also used when the technician created the acceptance testing protocol when we got the factory-fresh QTS200. The Mazak protocol asked for testing 3 boring bar holders in 120° steps. Of course the holder shouldn't be worn out.
On the Mazak turret the OD tool pockets are machine into the turret disk itself.
Non the less I also adjust the last bit on every boring bar holder itself after mounting them as I usually have 3 of them always mounted in 120° steps and prefer them to be as perfectly mounted as possible for drills below 10mm.

EDIT: Just started watching part 3 and in case that the spindle is not were it should be the boring bar holder ID sweep method may not be the best. Then I would prefer seeping the top of the turret.

[cncit]

To align the turret by loosening the curvic you can turn the hydraulic pressure down on the turret.. makes it easier to move :-)

[marcseclecticstuff]

First thing we do is pull taper pins out of Curvic couplings on our machines. It's a production shop so crashes are a constant thing, getting worse by the year. Without the pins things can slip in a crash if it's not too bad. Even without taper pins we've had castings and gears get broken in the turret during bad crashes. Get a 400# casting spinning a couple of hundred RPM then rapid traverse a 3" boring bar straight into it, bad things happen. But hey, the important thing is that the operator was able to read a reply to them on Facebook instead of paying attention to where the machine was at... stupid machine should have known where to start in the program anyway...

[silenceismycanvas]

Those pins are missing because people who were smart, knew better. Do not leave the pins installed. Use the if you must, but once all is trued and snugged down, remove them. Honestly, I don't even use them, except when I feel it's needed. Removing a sheared pin well you fill in the My experience is with Hurco's.

[manuelreis]

Thanks Wes for the informative videos.

[pharro]

I just whacked the turret out of alignment on an okuma Genos l400 at work. Boring bar sucked a 2 3/16 grade 8 nut out of the jaws and shut the machine down. Finished the job and my parts came out fine (was more of a fender bender than a crash). Next job I had to drill a 1.438 hole . The drill got through and burned up the drill flutes. My turret was off vertically .1". Very bad

[firstmkb]

It says "in case the COSTUMER does not have the proper conditions", which doesn't apply to you!
What is the advantage of a slant bed lathe?

[derekmark]

I am aligning a Mori Seiki ZL-25MC and wondering if I shoudl follow this exact procedure, or if I should align headstock first, and then turret to headstock afterwards.

[christophercolumbus]

hey so when you read the turret from the SIDE where say the boring bars and drill holders are mounted that's for straightness?
making sure when you face you're square?
i am about .0025 out
i tried adjusting but everytime i tighten it it moves again ??

[anantaramireddy]

We need OKUMA&HOWA ACT-30 X-axis alignment video

[ABCC]

Thank you for this video series. Pretty interesting though I have already readjusted our lathes from time to time (or rather from crash to crash).
Mazak has this "non slant bed slant bed design" for the QuickTurn Smart 200 (I assume for the whole series). The tail stock and the Z linear rails are in two different heights (like stairs). On those rails sits the X axis on an angle. I think something like 30°. I'll send you a YT message with pictures. Not sure if my description here makes any sense :)

[bollllllleeeee]

My okuma LC20-LC (86 model) is built in more or less exactly the same way.

[albertsimanjuntak]

Excuse me, can you tell me what is the tolerance for the turret alignment? Thank you...

[brianscioscia]

Hey Wes I have a question for you. I have a Nakamura slant bed. Pretty much the exact same setup except a vdi turret. When checking the alignment by indicating the stick tool holders, I noticed some are high on the inside (closer to center of turret) and some are higher on the outside. That doesn’t make sense to me. Shouldn’t the misalignment go in the same direction on all? Thanks!

[gordoningram]

Excellent vids man! Ive got a Femco Durga with a clogged coolant passage in the turret. Still can't figure out how to get the damn thing apart!

[jamescooper]

Hardinge Cobra 42 has the same arangement.