Tailstock does not align, maxed out on adjustment

[sanddrag]

Does anyone else have a tailstock for their Tormach SlantPro 15L? After about 18 months of it sitting next to the lathe, I finally got around to setting mine up, and to my horror, it was WAY out of being anywhere close to centerline in X. It's very visibly off, in the X- direction, even with the adjustment fully maxed out to take it to X positive. There is no possible way to bring it into alignment. I disassembled it completely, and I'm convinced it's an error in the base casting of the tailstock, the part with with the dovetails that slide on the ways of the lathe. Has anyone else seen or heard of this issue? Pictures below.

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[adamvs]

I recently got one, it was nominal. You should definitely contact Tormach.

[Concepts_Design]

mine was the same way. I took it apart and ground out some of the extra casting that one of the tightening screws was hitting. It was a PITA , but not the end of the world.

[saabaero]

ME TOO! Had to machine mine!

[sanddrag]

Glad to hear I'm not the only one, but concerning the issue is more widespread than just mine. For those of you who machined or ground it for more clearance, how difficult was that to do? Did you just set up the casing in a mill and go at it with an endmill? How hard is this material to machine? I would much prefer a different tailstock be shipped to me, since you'd think when you buy a lathe tailstock that it would be able to line up on center with the spindle on your lathe, without any machining or grinding needed.

[LeeWay]

You need new parts.
That is unacceptable and I am sure Tormach will agree.

[tmarks11]

Any answer from Tormach yet?

For the price of an entire (very small) lathe, you would think this tailstock would be a work of art....

[GITERDUN]

Glad to hear I'm not the only one, but concerning the issue is more widespread than just mine. For those of you who machined or ground it for more clearance, how difficult was that to do? Did you just set up the casing in a mill and go at it with an endmill? How hard is this material to machine? I would much prefer a different tailstock be shipped to me, since you'd think when you buy a lathe tailstock that it would be able to line up on center with the spindle on your lathe, without any machining or grinding needed.

You are better off just biting the bullet and fixing what you have. Chinese machines are not mass produced to exacting specs, but each machine is hand fitted at the factory.( yours was obviously not well fitted) If they send you a new tailstock, chances are it will be no better than what you have, so you will have just wasted a lot of time. By fixing it yourself you can make it as accurate as you want.

[tmarks11]

YChinese machines are not mass produced to exacting specs, but each machine is hand fitted at the factory.( yours was obviously not well fitted) If they send you a new tailstock, chances are it will be no better than what you have, so you will have just wasted a lot of time. By fixing it yourself you can make it as accurate as you want.

The tail stock is not sold with the machine, so there is no "hand fitting" at the factory.

That doesn't mean a replacement would be better, but the OP bought the tailstock when they were first introduced, so probably Tormach has recognized and fixed the problem with the current versions they are selling.

[sanddrag]

Tormach has indicated that the tailstock manufacturing has been improved a bit, and a new one is on its way to me. I'll post back with the results when I get the new one fitted. A big thumbs up for Tormach customer service!

[LeeWay]

I had no doubt they would take care of you on it.

[sanddrag]

Well, the new tailstock arrived, and the good news is, unlike the last one, I was able to get this one perfectly aligned. The bad news is as follows:

The casting is not fantastic; it is porous even on the ground ways, and has tiny holes in it, and is not perfectly smooth.
Sliding surfaces including the gib arrived pre-gouged from the factory. I don't mean scraped, I mean with a couple gouges (heavy scratches)
The holes for the set screws that push against the gib needed to be chased with a tap to back the set screws out.
The tailstock just barely centered up with the range of adjustment. If it was any taller in Y, or any lower in X, it would not have adjusted out. It was really close to maxing out on adjustment in the positive X and negative Y directions.
After indicating the quill dead nuts on-center with the spindle with the quill extended a few inches, it indicated a few thou off center with the quill retracted. This seems to indicate that the bore of the quill may not be quite perfectly parallel to the ways. Gib and quill were both locked during both indicatings.

Overall, I guess I'm just glad the lathe has a workable tailstock now. Although the tailstock still has some minor quality issues, I appreciate that Tormach stepped up to replace it, and that I can now use it on our machine. Also, the cost is still not anywhere near that of other machines. I will tell you though, it gets quite crowded in this machine with a turret, gang tools, and a tailstock. There's not a whole lot of space left. Put a 3-jaw chuck in there too and you're really out of space.

[LeeWay]

Yes, I can see how that would really limit the material you could work on with the tailstock in place. Honestly though, it really is too small because it is so limiting for tailstock type work. You gotta have a long bed to have any kind of versatility on such a machine. One reason I did not think twice about not getting the tailstock.