Thread: MC 900 Banjo

You're not alone. I think it's one of the design faults that a few are experiencing. Headstock, tailstock and tool rest all have problems with the tightening mechanism. I was going to post a query as to whether there was an after market replacement.

G'day

I'm a newbie who has been lurking around this forum for some time, but I have finally been inspired to post by this mention of the dreaded MC900 banjo. I have followed many of the excellent suggestions on the forum for cleaning, tuning and tweaking the MC900, and I'm pretty happy with mine overall, but that banjo is a right bastard. It just will not move freely or tighten properly, no matter how much you fiddle with the locking mechanism.

Like Adrian, I have often wondered if there is an aftermarket alternative available, or whether you can use a better design from a different brand lathe, or whether anyone has fabricated a replacement from scratch. Ideas/suggestions, anyone?

Replace the nut that holds the plate that locks onto the bed with a Nyloc and then tweak it to slide smoothly.

Make sure you have a good circlip on the locking rod, opposite the locking handle end on the banjo.

Check that the cam lock shaft is straight and therefore locking properly. With 'abuse' ( for lack of a better word ) the actual shaft can bend, then the banjo will not tighten securely on the bed but feel spongy.

BTman: Which grubscrew are you talking about? I havn't got an MC lathe here with me at this time of night and cannot visualise the grubscrew.

The headstock problem is usually because the rolled pin that fits into the front and also back of the bed and then through the front and back headstock clamps are missing. This causes the two clamps, one front and one at the back, that clamps the headstock down onto the bed, does not clamp down properly. The other reason, especially on MC1100 lathes is that the nut under the headstock is not properly adjusted.

Hi G,

The grub screw is under the tailstock and locks the rod that goes through the walls of the tailstock. Usually there is a channel that the grubscrew goes into that allows it not to move out but allows you to turn and lock down the tailstock. If you can wait i will get home tonight and take a picture because that is worth more than a 1000 of my ill informed words.

Roger

Originally Posted by gatiep

Replace the nut that holds the plate that locks onto the bed with a Nyloc and then tweak it to slide smoothly.

Make sure you have a good circlip on the locking rod, opposite the locking handle end on the banjo.

Check that the cam lock shaft is straight and therefore locking properly. With 'abuse' ( for lack of a better word ) the actual shaft can bend, then the banjo will not tighten securely on the bed but feel spongy.

Thanks, Joe - I'll certainly give your suggestions a try, and see if I can tweak my banjo into playing more in tune.

It's a while since I had an MC900 but I thought the camlock shaft was meant to be bent so when you turned it, it pulled up the pin connected to the clamp under the bed.

The Carbatec MCs have an offset shaft, which with abuse can bend and then needs a good wack with a hammer while the shaft is held on a straight surface. Sorry, I forgot to look for the grubscrew, although I know that the MC1100s have a circlip. Will check out a Carbatec MC900 on Monday, if I remember. :eek:

Hi Guys,

I ixed it. I drilled a hole and inserted a split pin. no problems now.

G'day Turnpersons

Just to say that, like Babytoolman, I "ixed" my banjo - in my case, fitting Nyloc nuts to both the banjo and tailstock locking mechanisms seems to have solved the problem of unreliable tightness in locking. It took a bit of tweaking, but I think I have achieved the right balance between tightness and "slideability" - time will tell. I still don't like the overall design, though, and would be glad to find a suitable replacement. Apart from anything else, I find the toolrest shaft (or is it the banjo socket?) is not long enough to provide the full range of height adjustment I need.

I know, I know - buy a Vicmarc (I wish!)