Nova 1624 lathe noise problem

[Lawrence Tarnoff]

A noise developed on my new (to me) lathe. I describe it as like the sound you would get from a playing card running through a bike wheel's spokes. Kind of a clicking sound. I think I have isolated it to the motor driven pulley. The manual suggests tightening the set screw, which I attempted but could neither tighten nor loosen the set screw. I have a ticket in to Teknatool, but in the meantime thought I would ask if anyone has experienced this and what the fix might be.

larry

[Michael Mills]

I assume you tightened the spindle pulley also.
Rotate by hand and watch for a worn spot on the belt on the inside edge. They spec a J6 belt but there are only 5 groves. If you align the belt on the outside it will rub on the inside. It has been a while but I believe the belt has steel and on mine the one inside broke and would "tap" against something (frame, casting, support?) each time it came around. Just snip it off and move it over with one rib hanging over the outside.

Also don't overtighten the belt. Just the weight of the motor and a little extra pressure with a couple of fingertips should be plenty.

[Lawrence Tarnoff]

Thanks, Mike. Turns out it was the spindle lock, per a tip from Nova support. Now I just need to figure out how to adjust the detent so it stops hitting the pulley.

[Scott Hackler]

Spindle lock??? When the spindle lock detent is out there shouldn't be any thing poking into the pulley area or even possiblly touching the indexing wheel. Are you sure this is the problem or are you certain the detent is engaged but possibly busted off? Can you lock the headstock with the detent now??

I own a 1624 and can't figure this one out.....

[Michael Mills]

I agree with Scott. I checked mine and when unlocked there is 1/4" between the headstock casting and the knob, and of course nothing is going into the headstock. When rotated and locked the knob is flush with the casting.
If the pin is not broken off and it will not lock maybe the spindle pulley has moved back towards outside cover. I'm not sure if the index holes are in the pulley casting or something else.
This is not a very good picture but you can see the gap between the knob and the headstock casting when unlocked.

[Lawrence Tarnoff]

On my lathe, there are two holes that accept the pin. The one at 12 o'clock locks the spindle. The one at 1 o'clock allows the spindle to move freely. I assumed that the manufacturer provided two holes so that there is a positive lock-out to prevent the pin from accidentally dropping into the lock mode. I tightened the nut at the right end of the mechanism and that seems to have eliminated the problem.