Delta 46-460 Banjo

[dan carter]

For the past few days, my banjo has started to loosen up right after i tighten it. i have adjusted the double nuts to no avail. i know i have read that one possible solution is to put a square washer assembly in place the stock round one, but has anyone called delta and if you did, what was their response to fix it? thanks.


i just got off the phone(1-800-223-7278 supplied by jim c.thanks,jim) talking to delta service rep: rita, she is sending me a new banjo (tool rest support), i am to return the original. thought you might be interested.

[John Keeton]

Good information, Dan. Originally, I had a some related issue with my rest getting loose in the banjo - always at the worst time. But, at Leo's suggestion, I ground the retention bolt flat on the end that bears on the rest shaft, and that resolved the issue.

There was another thread a couple weeks ago it seems, where others got a replacement banjo that was bored for a 1" post. Those are out of stock now. Jeff Nicol is contemplating building some, I understand. Might make a nice upgrade for an otherwise great lathe. That seems to be the only weak point for the 46-460.

[Jeff Nicol]

I am wondering if I am the only one who has had no trouble with this yet? What I have noticed is the bed of the 46-460 is pretty rough compared to my other lathes, you can feel the ribs of the milling on it very easily. I think this does not allow the banjo and tailstock to be flush and flat to the ways, thus causing them to loosen. If they are milled good and flat it almost creates a suction on the 2 smooth surfaces.

Jeff

[Rick Hutcheson]

Have you tried taking the nuts off. Some of the very first ones had undersized shafts and the threads stripped, but that problem was fixed early on.

[Brian Greb]

I am wondering if I am the only one who has had no trouble with this yet? What I have noticed is the bed of the 46-460 is pretty rough compared to my other lathes, you can feel the ribs of the milling on it very easily. I think this does not allow the banjo and tailstock to be flush and flat to the ways, thus causing them to loosen. If they are milled good and flat it almost creates a suction on the 2 smooth surfaces.

Jeff

I noticed that it was a bit rough so I milled mine smooth by hand. I flattened the high spots out with a mill bastard file, then I used diamond stones to hone the surface smooth. Finally I polished the surface of the ways and applied some wax. After smoothing the ways I cleaned up the bottoms of the banjo and tail stock. I didn't take much metal off so i have no alignment issues, but the banjo and tail stock stay in place much better now... and they slide better to boot.:D

[Leo Van Der Loo]

For the past few days, my banjo has started to loosen up right after i tighten it. i have adjusted the double nuts to no avail. i know i have read that one possible solution is to put a square washer assembly in place the stock round one, but has anyone called delta and if you did, what was their response to fix it? thanks.


i just got off the phone(1-800-223-7278 supplied by jim c.thanks,jim) talking to delta service rep: rita, she is sending me a new banjo (tool rest support), i am to return the original. thought you might be interested.

Just as a general info on proper banjo adjustment, these most used banjos with an off-center rotating shaft, the proper adjustment on these should have the off-center shaft going almost over its highest point when tightened.

If the shaft is adjusted so that the highest point is too much to the side than the banjo will easily loosen itself up, as the only retaining of the shaft would be the friction and that is just not enough, especially if all the turning points are lubricated as they should be.

So the bottom nuts on the banjo should be adjusted so that the tightest setting would have the handle go almost past that point, HTH

[Steve Mawson]

Never had any banjo issues with mine, knock on wood.:D:D

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Just as a general info on proper banjo adjustment, these most used banjos with an off-center rotating shaft, the proper adjustment on these should have the off-center shaft going almost over its highest point when tightened.

If the shaft is adjusted so that the highest point is too much to the side than the banjo will easily loosen itself up, as the only retaining of the shaft would be the friction and that is just not enough, especially if all the turning points are lubricated as they should be.

So the bottom nuts on the banjo should be adjusted so that the tightest setting would have the handle go almost past that point, HTH

Hi Leo, I'm trying to understand what you are saying. What do you mean by the "turning points"? Are you saying with regard to adjusting the banjo that you have to adjust it almost to the point of over adjustment? I'll have to take a look at mine to see what you mean. Thanks Alan

[Jeff Fagen]

I had a lot of trouble with the banjo on my Rikon so I ordered the square pieces
from Monster and that did it.:D

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Hi Leo, I'm trying to understand what you are saying. What do you mean by the "turning points"? Are you saying with regard to adjusting the banjo that you have to adjust it almost to the point of over adjustment? I'll have to take a look at mine to see what you mean. Thanks Alan

Alan the turning points are the places where the banjo shaft turns in the housing and the ring-bolt that the shaft turns in.

The shaft turns off-center and pulls on the ring-bolt, the ring-bolt should be adjusted so that the shaft turns almost over it's TDC (top dead center) when tightened down, that way it will stay put, rather than loosen itself.

As for the rectangular plate rather than the washer type retainer, that has only to do with the banjo moving while tight, not the banjo coming loose from the eccentric shaft turning back by itself.

The banjo on the 46-640 is much better than the previous LA200 model one, as that one had a very thin shaft that would flex when tightened, this new model has a much heavier shaft and works much better if it is adjusted right.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Thanks Leo, I get what you're saying. I'm going to check my Jet mini as I'm not near my Delta.