Can something that is tough be precise?

You think of toughness as something durable and able to withstand a lot of wear and tear. Precision is exactness, not necessarily the same thing as tough and sturdy. A boxer may be precise in throwing a punch in an early round, but his toughness is measured by whether he is able to stand after round nine or so.

The bed on a LeBlond RKL Series manual lathe is both tough and precise. For beginners, the lathe bed is the central beam that runs down the machine. The headstock that holds and turns the workpiece is fixed at one end. The tailstock is at the other end of the of the bed and can be adjusted along it. The carriage is between the headstock and the tailstock and holds the turning tools.

A LeBlond RKL Series manual lathe bed is made of super tough meehanite casting. This is superior engineered cast iron that provides soundness, consistent physical properties and dependable service. The meehanite casting relieves stress on the bed.

The bed ways are precision ground rails located on the top of the lathe bed that hold and guide the carriage and tailstock. The bed ways are induction hardened, a form heat treatment in which is a metal part is heated by induction and then quenched. The metal undergoes metallurgical processing and transformation that increases the hardness of the bed.

As mentioned, the bed is precision ground or surface grinded flat, leaving a nice finish at a precise thickness. In conclusion, the bed of a LeBlond RKL Series is constructed to be both tough and precise, a real heavyweight for all your machine tool needs.

If you’re interested in new LeBlond lathes, call LeBlond Ltd. at (888) 532-5663. If you’re interested in new K.O. Lee machines or need original OEM parts for LeBlond, K.O. Lee, Standard Modern, Johnson Press, Deka Drill and W.F. & John Barnes equipment, call (888) 532-5663.