I was making progress in turning marking knife handles and awl handles yesterday and today. I needed to get restocked due to a large number of sales in the last three weeks. As I was cranking the hand wheel on the tailstock of my Jet JWL-1236 to tighten up on the end of a blank, things went South. Suddenly the crank turned easily without any pressure and the handwheel retracted to the right about 2 inches. Looking down I noticed that the casting had snapped at the end flange. Does anyone have any experience with this happening? I couldn't help but notice that the section of casting is VERY thin here, about 1/16". I've already emailed Jet with the same pictures I've posted here and asked for their help. This lathe is about 5-6 years old and out of warranty, so I don't know what their response will be though I hope they'll make good on it. If they don't, I'll just buy the replacement which I'm sure will be white rather than the blue of my lathe. Since it's Sunday, I won't here from them until tomorrow when I get home from work. Not exactly a happy ending to a day in the shop.