Goodspeed challenges

Well, this day with the Goodspeed encompassed some milestones and new challenges. I can't even say the challenges are 2 steps forward and 1 step back. Everything is forward at this time. There are no step backs. I got the the head spindle and turning die on the machine, then I discovered the die needed to be off the machine to setup the stock loaders and centering between the drive center and the tail spindle cup center. The more I work with this machine, the more I appreciate that it is  precision equipment. Tolerances are very tight.

It took me a bit to get to a point of actually getting a piece of stock between the centers. After setting up the loaders, I was able to close the spindles on the stock and set end pressure reducing. This is an option on the machine and required for long slender turnings. This feature is not in the manual however. I contacted John @ Goodspeed and he explained the system enough that I was able to work through it. I'm not sure if is quite there yet, but it is a starting point. Everything about this machine is a learning curve... and very enjoyable too. Once I had the stock chucked in, I was able to check some tolerances regarding the carriage. Everything looked alright with the exception of the area of the carriage where the die would mount and the stock would feed in.

I mounted the roughing knife into the knife holder, made the necessary measurement for length to die and had had to clean a bunch of gunk out from the adjuster. I got it done, pulled the stock and began reinstalling 3/4" die. Next, I attempted to load the stock with the loader. There was a clearance issue. I made some adjustments and it got better. The stock was still contacting the carriage by 1/8 of an inch and getting knocked out. This will not work. I will have to figure this out. 

Next, I saw that the stock would contact the roughing knife before it was chucked in between the tail spindle and head spindle. The die seems to need to travel over part of the tail spindle. The die hole is just too small for this to happen. If this is the case, I will either have to modify one of the dies I have or purchase another die. This could be a costly lesson.

After all that, I noticed that the spindle did not seem to be centered in the die. Odd, I had spent so much time making sure everything was center....making the pins, setup center and die. Something is not right. I think there may be a slight difference in specs between the setup die and  the 3/4 die. I am going to look into that more in depth.

I'm going to look into these challenges more and see what I can figure out... I may be contacting John again. I'm sure he will know exactly what is going on.