A couple of weeks ago I posted a message regarding stripping the threads on the bolt holding down the tailstock on my Jet mini 1014. Jet is seriously backordered on these bolts but, thanks to several of you who responded with good suggestions, I am back up and turning again. I thought I would post a followup message that might be helpful to those may also be waiting for the Jet part.

One suggestion I received was to take the bolt to a welder to see if he could weld new threads onto the bolt. I went to a shop that also did metal lathe work and their recommendation was to cut off the old threads, drill out the top section, tap in threads and thread in a new bolt. So that is what we did and it worked beautifully. A added advantage was that the new threaded portion is from stock that is harder steel than the Jet bolt.

The second helpful suggestion I received was to order a replacement for the round piece that contacts the bottom of the lathe bed to hold the tailstock in place. The reason I stripped the threads on the bolt probably was because the tailstock was slipping and I put too much pressure on the tightening lever trying to keep it in place. The new peice is a machined metal rectangle about two inches long that is designed to put more metal against the bottom of the bed. I got the new part today and it seems to work great. It seems to take very little pressure on the tailstock lever to keep the tailstock in place.. The part came from fred@turningstuff.com. The banjo uses the same part on the bottom, so I ordered a second piece and installed it there. It seems to allow the banjo to slide more freely on the bed than the round piece provided by Jet.

Again, thanks to those of you who jumped in with good, positive suggestions.