Originally Posted by Speedygonzales  not blasting you in any way.
I understand what your saying, but why would Taig have this in their manual?
wouldnt Taig not put the lapping instruction in if it wasnt good for the lathe? |
I don't recall it being in my TAIG lathe manual, but it was some time ago. It's your machine, do what you like. It certainly isn't needed to use the lathe, and hold tolerances.
Real lapping (this is not real lapping, which uses specially made tools to do the work) takes a while to learn to do properly, and a good, educated user to know when it's enough. It also takes tools which I'm guessing you don't have, like a reference surface of known flatness. Why on earth would you want the first operation you have with your new toy something that deliberately attempts to remove material from the surfaces that you rely on for the machine's precision, with no accurate way to measure the results of your attempt?
People like to come up with things that "seem" to help, but since they don't know any better, or lack the ability to measure the changes caused by their "upgrades" they never realize the harm they do. They get passed around and more people who are still learning pick them up. This is one of those things. Spend your time learning to grind tools, or just making chips. It will be far better spent.
I never even thought lapping the TAIG lathe I got nearly 10 years ago. Still works awesome, it will most likely get CNC'd later this year.