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So I was drilling a stem for a churchwarden today and overextended the tail stock extension. After I managed to extract the jacobs chuck and bit from the stem the turn dial on the tail stock seemed really hard to turn. Did I screw something up? Any clue how to fix it?

Strange, I've overextended mine several times in the short period I've had it. Every time just gently pressing it inward while turning the handweel fixes it without any problems.

I'm guessing there's a thread in there somewhere that grabbed but not the way it's supposed to?

I'm thinking it might just be a maintenance issue. Do you guys think taking apart the tailstock, cleaning and lubricating it would solve the problem?

Lubrication always helps me...

You might have cross threaded the tailstock barrel or most likely (assuming the normal construction for a tailstock) you have a chip of swarf stuck in there, it was likely in the barrel to begin with but only found it's way into the mechanism after you over extended it. Fist port of call would be a full strip down for the tailstock assembly, blow it out with compressed air, a scrub in kerosene and re-assemble with plenty of oil then try it again. This is fairly good practise for most machine tools and accessories. I do this to my chucks for example about once a year, total strip and clean followed by re-assembly and lubrication thought for chucks you want a good quality thick grease otherwise it will make a hell of a mess when you spin it up.

Thanks Chris. This is a hassle, but I'm kinda looking forward to it. As my dad used to say about cars, it's not really yours until you have to work on it.

Anything I should be aware of before tearing into it?

Ocelot55 wrote:Thanks Chris. This is a hassle, but I'm kinda looking forward to it. As my dad used to say about cars, it's not really yours until you have to work on it.

Anything I should be aware of before tearing into it?

Not knowing your specific lathe I cannot really comment. My general rules when taking machine tools apart though are:

1. If possible get the user manual/parts diagrams.
2. Spread yourself out on a large worksurface preferably covered with a cloth to stop things rolling around.
3. group sub assembly parts into smaller containers so you don't mix things up.
4. take pictures and notes as you go if especially complex.
5. try and complete the job in one go if possible so you don't forget things, if you can't then certainly follow number 4.

If it's one of the chinese models (Jet, Grizzly, etc), it may be that allen screw on top of the tailstock. It keeps everything lined up. If you tried to force it back in place you may have mangled that thing (I did once). You might have to buy a new one.

Thanks for the tip eMangle.

Sasquatch wrote:Thanks for the tip eMangle.

[ignore] Sasquatch [/ignore]

e Markle wrote:If it's one of the chinese models (Jet, Grizzly, etc), it may be that allen screw on top of the tailstock. It keeps everything lined up. If you tried to force it back in place you may have mangled that thing (I did once). You might have to buy a new one.

Is it a grub screw with a sort of post on the end that runs in a slot on the tailstock barrel? I have an arrangement like that on my Sieg and Proxxon lathes. If that is the problem than fabricating a new one should not be a problem if you have a metal lathe, I have had to make replacements of a similar part before on my bandsaw.