Tailstock sliding?

[Jared Walters]

I have an 18" harbor freight lather and I have been having issues with the tailstock sliding. I can't get a good grip on spindles because the tailstock just pushes back when I turn the wheel. It it's like it doesn't have enough friction.

Does anyone have a solution or a good upgrade I can perform?

[Scott Hackler]

On the bottom of the tailstock there should be a nut/bolt that holds the plate which squeezes the tailstock to the bed rails. I would look to see if you can tighten that a tad. Shouldn't take much, maybe 1/2 turn.

[Roger Chandler]

Try turning the nut on the tailstock bolt underneath your bed ways about 1/3rd turn or maybe 1/2 depending on how loose it is, and see if that does not help a great deal. If you have a wax buildup underneath or have lubricated your ways a good bit, you may have to take some solvent, like mineral spirits or kerosene and clean the build up off. One of these should help!

[Bob Hamilton]

If the clamping plate under the bed ways is a circular piece, like a large washer, then you could try replacing it with a square plate the same width. That will increase the surface area bearing on the underside of the ways. I seem to recall that several years ago there were quite a few folks having that type of problem with one of the popular mini lathes (Jet?) and that was the favored solution. Cleaning off any wax should help as well.

Take care
Bob

[Prashun Patel]

+1 on cleaning the clamping mechanism.

You have not lubricated it, have you? I did that and it caused problems.

[Joe Kieve]

I had the same problem with my Delta midi awhile back. As Bob mentioned, I replaced the round washer with a square one and it solved my problem. IIRC I used 2 pieces of 1/4" steel, one the width between the bed and the other to span the bed by 1/4" or so.

[Paul Williams]

If tightening the nut under the bed does not fix the problem, I would try roughing up the top of the clamp plate. Be gentle, you want it to be able to slide, but also be able to get a grip on the underside of the bed.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I have an 18" harbor freight lather and I have been having issues with the tailstock sliding. I can't get a good grip on spindles because the tailstock just pushes back when I turn the wheel. It it's like it doesn't have enough friction.

Does anyone have a solution or a good upgrade I can perform?

Jared I had a little midi lathe were the tailstock liked to move when I wanted to drill some larger holes with a forstner bit, the tailstock was adjusted to give maximum clamping force but that round washer that had to hold it didn’t have enough area contacting the bottom of the ways.

So I took a piece of cold rolled flat steel that would fit under the ways and cut a piece off of it, a bit longer that the width, found the center and marked it, center punched it and drilled a hole and assembled it to the tailstock, never had a problem of the tailstock moving ever again.

I have two pictures here that show what I did make, also placed a little spring there, that keeps the plate from tipping or rotating, Hope This Helps You 305195

305196 305197

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I had that happen with my Jet Mini. I got a Monster Lathe Tools T-nut, and never had a problem since. They may have one for your lathe.