100% Homemade Lathe

Step 6 Tailstock Slide Pieces

I went ahead and made this piece now because it would allow me to tell whether the whole base was actually straight and smooth enough to continue using. It should slide easily, while not having more than 1/16 wiggle room in any direction. I took smaller aluminum angle (1" x 1" with 1/8" walls) and cut two pieces 4 inches long. I had a strip of 3/4" thick UHMW that was 2" wide left over from another project, so i just used two pieces. UHMW is a good material for this piece because it slides easily on the aluminum bed of the lathe. The total width of my base is two pieces of 1.5" angle and the 3/8" space, so i cut the strips exactly 3 and 3/8" long.

The photo shows the pieces assembled, which is covered in the next step, but I did not want to take it apart again for a photo.