Thanks Bogs,

Glad to see you back. I wanted to make one good lathe lathe out of them but didnt know if it was ethically viable.......after all it should work to its best eh.

I'm glad all this stuff is slowly sinking in as i have only cleaned it with oil an scotchbrite. The problem is that when I put the straight edge across the ways there are no ridges or wear grooves but when I put it longatudinally there is a small dip in the bed, is this a sagging belly or just thefact that there is no other bits causing moments or stesses in it?

They are both taper bearing head stocks and seem very smooth. the Halifax one has the removable half bearing straps on the spindle like a crankshaft. Is this better or structurally weaker? also on the halifax the plastic pullies have worn and move lateraly on the shaft. are they inter changable or are they best left as is?

Since there is so much that needs concidering perhaps it is best if i start with the leveling the bed? I plan to mount it on the Atlas legs and I have an engineering level to check it but should I be testing the bed or the Carridge?