If there was some quality control in the manufacture and things were made to fit we wouldn't be having this debate or the need to ask the question.
I appreciate that we all have to work to a plus / minus tolerance but those tolerances can be reduced with a bit of thought.
Another point I would like to raise and one which once again will be disagreed with, I dunno about anyone else but I treat bushes as consumables.
For me they are sacrificial and only there as a guide and to hold the rig together, I certainly wouldn't rely on them as a true measurement.
They are easily and quickly made in my choice of material so have no need to be a sloppy fit nor expensive.
Something else that cropped up in my shed during the week, while drilling on the lathe I noticed the drill bit was wavering very slightly at finding centre.
I checked kiss and all was fine, could feel no lateral movement on the spindle and the tapers were clean, put my dial gauge inside the spindle and registered 0.4 movement when pushed upwards.
Not a lot and perfectly acceptable to some but I had only replaced these bearings with expensive ones a few months ago so for me not good enuf init?
I put a dead centre in taper to get a tad more leverage and expected that to be round, far from it.
I ended up machining most of my centres including a new unused steb which was the worst one.
I am guilty of taking for granted that these things are fit for use from the box.
SKF will be getting their bearings back with a few choice words from me very soon, although I couldn't push it out far when it had a lump on and started spinning it very soon became exaggerated.
Yes it's a crap Charnwood lathe but it was accurate a few months ago and I expect it to be now, my little Chinese metal lathe makes a better dead centre than the ones I paid money for.
We are discussing precision here and I am finding I can't buy it whether that be in a cheap tool or a trusted name.