[cherokeechief79]

im having trouble aligning a turret on this lathe.I have aligned the turret several times at previous employers without any problems but this one has me stumped.it is a sl40 with live tooling and a vdi turret.the turret is round and not hex shaped so im assuming it is an older machine.the vdi pockets are oblong and not round so I cant indicate the pocket.i am putting a 1.25 round toolholder in each pocket and indicating the hole in the center.i can get the station im on to read 0 all the way around by loostening the face bolts in the turret and tapping the turret radially.when I go to other pockets though it doesn’t seem to stay at 0.some pockets I can correct by moving the x in or out but some are still out up and down as if I still have to move it radially but ive already set it for the 1st pocket I checked.
Here are the #s im getting
These # are the best I can get each centerline.
#1 x 32.3336
#2 x 32.3386
#3 x 32.3376 out .004 total up and down (not able to correct in x)
#4 x 32.335 out .004 total up and down
#5 x 32.3336 out .008 total up and down
#6 x 32.3296 out .006 total up and down
#7 x 32.3306 out .004 total up and down
#8 x 32.3286
#9 x 32.3289
#10 x 32.3317

The face of the turret and the spindle alignment look good within specs.
I seem to be able to get a pocket to read 0 all the way around without having to remove the brass plug and rotate the "inner" coupling.
Any ideas?????
Thanks
Mark

Ps
The machine has been running fine but recently we had a job the required holes drilled +- .001 from centerline and we could not hit it.

[dfrey2@rocheste]

It sounds like at some time the turret has been crashed. It sits on a wedge and if hit hard enough will move up on that wedge not allowing you to get live tooling on center. You'll have to take all the sheet metal off from around the turret. Put a gage pin in an axial tool holder making sure that the pin runs true. Have an indicator in the spindle to indicate the pin while you move the turret (don't use a mag base). You'll want 2 tenth indicators down low on the turret casting to make sure your moving both sides equally. Loosen up the wedge and hit it back with something heavy. Using the hand wheel to keep the pin on center until it indicates true. Snug the bolts down, check for square, tighten everything down, put your sheet metal back together and start making parts. It will probably take a day to day and a half to get it right.

Good luck, Dennis

[cherokeechief79]

THANKS DENNIS
ill have to try this mon.is this a procedure in a repair manual?
ive never had this problem before.once i got one pocket dead nuts all of the others would follow suit.even if this wedge was off wouldnt they still repeat?

[dfrey2@rocheste]

I don't know if it's in the manual or not. We have a guy working for us that worked for our local HFO. This is the procedure we used to get the tools back on center. We did one pocket, all the rest fell right in. Should work unless you have something else going on.

Dennis

[cherokeechief79]

i thought the turret could only move radially.now i see it can also move up down left and right.this throws a whole new light on the subject

[haastec]

For the motor that rotates the turret, there is a motor coupling that may need to be reset. If this is not correct, the inner and outer coupling may not be lining up correctly. You will have to remove the top plate of the turret box to access the coupling.

Loosen up one of the set screws for the motor coupling.
Feel for the backlash in the gearset for the turret and find the middle. Secure the motor coupling.

See if this helps any, good luck!

[cherokeechief79]

i put an indicator on the turret.(its round)it was out .008.i loostened all of the front screws but kept 4 snugged pu pretty tight.then i hit it with a big soft deadblow hammer and got it to run within .001.then i checked station 1 by putting a rond toolholder in it and indicating the center.i got it to within .001 all the way around by trying to just hit the turret and rotate it but not move it radially.most of the others stations came in very good too but i still had 3 that were off up to .003 up and down.its much better than before but except for 2 stations there will be a new number for the center position of the pockets.