Fixing the Tailstock Fit of the CJ0618 7x12 Mini Lathe

why machining the groove wasn't an option? if i am not mistaken, unless the groove already touches the bottom, your ilustration would be correct, othervise you could simply remove some materials from the sides of the groove and it would fall deeper as e resoult untill it would actually touch the top of the rail, although it could also move side to side, it could have aded bonus of increasing the area of contact

With the caveat that I've never personally done any scraping - in the scraping videos I've watched (who would have thought my life would come to this?) they've always employed a cross-scraping pattern, whereas you appeared to be going at it from one direction only. A second pass at 90° to the first removes more material, and helps even-out the scraping marks, speeding things up and leading to a flatter surface. Keith Rucker is a master at this stuff.

Very much in agreement with going with the carbide scraper. I use carbide paint scraper blades too and for small hobby stuff like this, they are more than good enough. For a first go at it I think you did a great job.

G'day mate, I'm learning this process too, and one improvement I could suggest is that when you are bluing up the surfaces to scrape, use your indicator to map the top surface and bias your scraping to correct misalignment here. So if the back right corner is sitting low, then scrape more off the front left corner. Continue this effort until the piece is parallel to the bed, perpendicular to the prismatic ways (scraping the prismatic section unevenly will allow you to rotate the piece with respect to the work axis) and stable, then scrape down to an even contact surface. When you get to the saddle, remember the cutting forces will bend the saddle near the apron so it can rock. To counter this, get it perpendicular, parallel, stable and with even contact, then hollow out the middle 1/3 of the saddle prismatic section just a tiny fraction, so when the tool pressure pushes it down, it becomes flat in the middle and stays stable. Thanks for sharing your adventure and look forward to seeing the next video.

I'm trying to learn to use metal working machines, too. I love having access to people with decades of experience and people as new to these tools as me. When folks like you demonstrate what you're trying, and include all your discoveries, mistakes, and successes it is a huge boon. Being able to observe mistakes I would have also certainly have made, processes I never would have thought of, or even things I know are wrong - it builds my skills and my confidence. If comments by other content creators are anything to go by, youtube can bring a lot of negative feedback. So, for what it's worth, I appreciate you and others who are willing to record, edit, and post content (a significant effort in itself) and put yourselves out there with what you've tried, wherever you are on your learning curves. Thanks!

You learned an important lesson that every machinist should know though: The more blue you put, the better the parts fit ;)

Holy smokes, I am shocked by how poorly that thing is manufactured. Good on you for getting after it. Great video, and excellent work!

A couple of tips on scraping: I don't use a roller to spread the blue, I just smear it on with a finger (latex gloves of coarse) - especially for small parts like these prism and dovetail surfaces. First pass is usually too thick but if you rub that off and go again you can usually get a good pattern. Second tip (and this one really makes it easier!): Buy a tube of red artists oil paint. Smear a bit on your workpiece before your do a check with the bluing. Just smear on a bit, then wipe it off with a paper towel until all that is left is just a reddish tinge, then do your pass over the bluing. Those hard-to-see blue spots will pop out in living color!

Thanks for bringing us along for the ride, sharing the good and the bad. Content producers like you infuse the rest of us with much needed knowledge without each of us having to learn the hard way.

You asked for tips so 😅 When you're inking the brayer, it seems like you're keeping it in contact with the glass and rolling it back and forth. When you do that, the same place on the roller sees the same thick and thin spots on the glass over and over. If you lift up the brayer between rolls, it should get to a thin even layer much more quickly. Really admire your willingness to go for it on this project! Thanks for posting it

First of all, i have to say that all my "knowledge" on scraping also comes from YouTube videos. However i have two remarks. To me it looked like you always scraped in one direction. Typically i see people make two passes at 90 degrees from another. This should help to break up the contact pattern. The second point is the scraper geometry, I remember a video by " An engineers findings" about scraping steel. I think he added a heel to the scraper improved the performance in steel a lot

Glad to see you back! So much fun to see how you tackle these projects.

I have found that my lathe is made in a similar way and am looking forward to your project and finding away to correct it. I have used sharpie to blacken a surface and rubbing it to a mating surface rubs off the sharpie. Thanks for sharing.

I found this really inspirational. I really liked to see exactly how difficult this process can be without all the mistakes cut out. Thanks!

Man , you took way too long to post a new video , we missed u .. welcome back

I tend to find every wrong way of doing something before finally discovering the best/correct way of doing it but then i know how and why its done the way it is. I also then like to show others the way it should be done and can explain to them why its done a certain way. Thanks for your efforts and time showing us .

Gday, as far as I’m aware scraping is an art form and the only way to learn is to have a go, it’s enjoyable to learn new things mate, great job I say, cheers

Please don't delay in making other videos on YouTube. Your videos are a great inspiration for me. Thanks!

Nice to see you posting again, Al. We missed you. Some nice "pimp my lathe" in this one. A joy to watch.

Great documentation of your learning adventure. Yes it is as simple as removing the high spots and checking. Keep in mind you can speed up the roughing phase by filing sanding honing and grinding, then go to finishing with the scraper. You have already made a huge improvement in the tailstock, the headstock will be less alien to you. Best of all, you have control over your equipment, and your understanding will pay off in the long run, cheers!