I have a cheap HF 10X18 lathe that I use for turning pens and small spindles. It has developed a shake when drilling pen blanks - but only wooden ones. With acrylic it's solid as a rock. I've cleaned the belt and pulleys, have retightened all the bolts, and have tried making a starter dimple with a center drill. So far, no luck in getting rid of the shake. I've taken all the side to side slop out of the quill, but it still has a very small amount of upward deflection - so small that trying to use a single piece of masking tape as a shim is too much to allow the quill to retract into the tail stock (which is tight when locked down).
Does anyone have a suggestion on where to go next? I've got to be missing something!!
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