In response to the +/-3 thousandths that I found in run out on my mini lathe, I took executive action. I played golf, I pushed all my responsibility onto China since that's where the lathe is from and continued convincing myself that would solve the problem. Turns out this didn't solve anything. So I stepped up and decided to-do something.
I gutted the whole lathe to address my bearings. I upgraded to roller taper bearings. Took a week to get them via Amazon prime ($22) but they got here eventually. After chilling the spindle in the freezer and heating the bearings everything was eventually banged into place with a deadblow hammer and some chunks of wood. Run out is now +/- 1/2 thou and the machine just seems completely different. Smoother quieter tougher... great upgrade. I would attribute all of the change, solely to the bearings but I also bolted the lathe to a 60 lb piece of 1" inch plate steel.... effectively doubling the weight of the machine -might- have something to do with it but I will leave that to the muses to speculate. Fresh coat of paint (another upgrade from the ugly gree) gives it at least 5 more hp.
