Tailstock slippage

[Tiger]

Hey all,

Haven't used the lathe for a little while but I've noticed that the tailstock slips a little. The nut on the underside of the ways is quite large but can be tightened with a monkey wrench held at an angle. The nut appears to just be hanging on to the thread. Is there a simple way of fixing this? How tight should the nut be? There was a small amount of slippage when I first used the lathe but I thought that was normal. Should there be any slippage at all? Any advice appreciated.

[barryr]

shouldn't be any slippage and the nut should be tight - it's for adjusting the tailstock position on the bed , without it being fairly done up the release handle wont get enough bite .

[Cliff Rogers]

What is the lathe & how is the tailstock held?


I have a Jet mini that is 3 years old now.
The tailstock is held in place with a cam lock lever & I can't seem to get it done up tight enough by hand so I give it a bump with a rubber mallet. :cool:
I suppose I could make up a handle extension so I can give it a better 'tweak' to hold in place but I'm lazy. :D

[Tiger]

Hi Cliff,

The lathe is a Hare and Forbes 900 b/w centres. The tailstock sits on the ways. It is attached to a thread that has a large nut at the end and that is all. Wish I did have a cam lock lever, anyone have any plans on how to make one?

[Tornatus]

A while ago I had a similar problem, and one of our senior forum members suggested I replace the standard nut with a Nyloc equivalent. My specialty fasteners shop readily came up with a couple of the same size, thread pitch, etc as the original (take it in with you!) and it worked like the proverbial charm, both on the tailstock and the banjo.

[barnsey]

I had the same problem with a H&F MC900 tool rest.

I coped with just loosening the cam lock lever by hand and tightening the nut underneath a little then reclamping. Certainly the nyloc nut will stop the problem because any vibration will work a normal nut loose.

The Taiwanese design in that area is perhaps a little less than it should be but is capable of doing the job if you just persist with the adjusting it.

Jamie

[Tiger]

Barnesy,

Didn't know it had a cam lock. Will try your suggestion and see how it goes. Thanks.