Here’s an interesting observation which may be of interest to Matador owners.
I noticed a turning error which indicated there was something wrong with the head/bed alignment, and this has been confirmed with a test bar clocked off the carriage.
As the head has never been off the machine I assumed it was old spindle bearings causing the problem (wishful thinking), but new bearings made no difference and after closer examination I found it was the original head alignment.
From the factory the heads are aligned with a jib plate, once set by grinding it can not be adjusted, the front channel is then filled to seal the jib and painted. The original test certificate for my lathe indicated a horizontal error of 0.005mm per 300mm which I find a bit hard to believe, but my lathe was producing an error of 0.1mm a huge difference and far more than can be accounted for with normal bed wear.
There is no way the head has been off because the original filler had not been disturbed, so why the massive difference. I would be amazed if it left the factory with this error but can only assume it did.
The error has now been corrected by a 0.05mm shim on the front of the jib and the alignment is within spec. Enclosed are some photos of the disassembled head which may be of interest if any one is planning on a Matador refurbishment.
Adrian.
I noticed a turning error which indicated there was something wrong with the head/bed alignment, and this has been confirmed with a test bar clocked off the carriage.
As the head has never been off the machine I assumed it was old spindle bearings causing the problem (wishful thinking), but new bearings made no difference and after closer examination I found it was the original head alignment.
From the factory the heads are aligned with a jib plate, once set by grinding it can not be adjusted, the front channel is then filled to seal the jib and painted. The original test certificate for my lathe indicated a horizontal error of 0.005mm per 300mm which I find a bit hard to believe, but my lathe was producing an error of 0.1mm a huge difference and far more than can be accounted for with normal bed wear.
There is no way the head has been off because the original filler had not been disturbed, so why the massive difference. I would be amazed if it left the factory with this error but can only assume it did.
The error has now been corrected by a 0.05mm shim on the front of the jib and the alignment is within spec. Enclosed are some photos of the disassembled head which may be of interest if any one is planning on a Matador refurbishment.
Adrian.