Tail stock ?

[Paul Kinneberg]

I have a delta lathe that is about 6 years old that I am having trouble turning the tail stock wheel. It seems to stick almost like its catching on something. I never noticed it until I started turning S/P mills for christmas drilling the holes was a real pain because it took a lot of force to turn the wheel even before I was cutting wood. Any ideas on what I might do to fix this or do I need a new tail stock? It has 3 allen head screws with what I thought was a cap but when I removed them nothing came apart. I looked on the Delta parts sight and it looks like on their pictures it may come apart but not sure how. Are you supposed to grease or oil it? Thanks for any and all help.

[Steve Campbell]

Hi Paul;
I used to have an old lathe that did that too. I looked it over and I found that the tailstock spindle had a keyway cut down the length of it. That keyway had to line up with the spindle lock handle. I found that if I loosened the lock too much that the whole spindle would turn just a little and make it real hard to turn.

Hope that helps you out.

Steve

[andrew zukewycz]

paul, not to be rude, but have you checked to see that your

Tailstock Quill Lock Handle isnt catching? or maybe is still a bit tight? i know it sounds basic, but its just the first step i can think of.

and for mine i allways use gun oil. it protects and lubricates resists high heat, i know there is probably something more specific for the cause, but regular old gun oil from a spray can from the walmart works wonders for me.. just dont let it touch any wood, stains.

otherwise, maybe the whole arm is bent? dropped?

just some thoughts...

later
zuke

[Paul Kinneberg]

Andrew the handle is loose but it wouldn't be the first time I missed something obvious so thanks I will also try the gun oil and the previous suggestion on the key. I have never dropped it but we did move about 4 years ago. Also I did some more research on the Delta parts site and the two inside parts are no longer available it says to call the service center for help. I wonder if there was a design issue? anyway I have a call into them. Thanks for the help.

[Dean Thomas]

One other thing to consider: I was introduced to a rather similar problem at a wood-turning event a few years ago. The problem was that the quill had spun and was lodged in place against the various mechanisms inside including the quill lock.

Someone had loosened the quill lock by turns instead of by the simple 1/4 turn that is needed. As a result, the groove in the quill where the quill lock screw is supposed to ride moved all around, got substantially scarred and had to be filed and sanded and lubed back to something close to normal. It will never be normal, of course, because of all the scars and boo-boos on the quill and in the tailstock's quill hole, but the machine still worked.

Something else to look for maybe?

[Kaptan J.W. Meek]

I'm going with the "keyway" problem.. My Oliver has a similar tailstock mechanism.. First thing is check the obvious, next is to take it apart.. On mine, the shaft had turned just enough to distort that aluminium key, and it just wouldn't slide smooth.. Some quick work with the dremmel tool, and a file, a little sandpaper, some no oxide grease, a new keystock, and BAM I was back in business.

[Ron Ainge]

I have one of the older Lathes just like the one in the picture and I had a problem with the threads in the tail stock after I had it for about two years. I was doing a lot of drilling with it and the tail stock became hard to turn. I took it apart and cleaned and lubed it and it worked for a while but it started to hang up again so I took it apart again and I found that the threads were galded. I knew that there was no use me trying to fix it so I found a machinest and had him put an insert in the end of the quill and then build me a new screw for the other end. The only problem we had was getting the left had thread chaser. I got real lucky because the guy that owned the shop turend out to live about a block form me and he did the work for one of my pens. I know that he did it as a favor for a neighbor because the work he did cost him a lot more that the pen that he got in exchange.