Help Troubleshooting Nova Galaxi Lathe -- Headstock lifting off bed

[Edward A. Reno III]

Hey everyone -- first post here, requesting help with my new Nova Galaxi lathe.

After working with a Rikon mini for years, decided to upgrade to the Nova Galaxi lathe. Received the unit a couple of weeks ago, and have had a series of issues getting it functional, which I won't bore everyone with (but which did require them shipping me a new headstock, with a promise to ship out a new lathe bed later this summer when one comes back into stock).

In brief, when I lock down the workpiece with the tailstock wheel, the force lifts the headstock at least .01 off the bed, as measured by a dial indicator. The Galaxi has a rotating headstock that permits outboard turning, thus requiring you to lock it down using the head lock cam and the knockout bar as a lever. I've locked mine down as tightly as possible as far as I can tell -- I've even tried adjusting the travel on the head lock plate and bolt by turning the nut on the underside, but to no avail.

Any advice?
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[Richard Coers]

Are you doing this?

Pull the locking knob out and twist into the “Lock” position. Ensure the swivel lock pin drops fully into place.
If the headstock swivel doesn’t lock in place at first, swivel the headstock lightly back and forth near the desiredposition to allow the internal pin to lock into place.

[Reed Gray]

Not familiar with the lathe, but have a Vickmark 240, which has a pivoting headstock. There is a set screw on the pivoting base which locks it down. Took me a while to figure that out. I was having vibration issues and couldn't figure that one out. It pivots to 30 degrees and you insert a pin to hold it in that position. That alone doesn't lock the base down. The set screw is similar to the one on the tailstock, and I had installed it some where else on the lathe. I didn't catch this part in the instructions, and it may not have been there....

robo hippy

[Neil Strong]

Try adjusting the nut at the very bottom of the headstock locking mechanism (the nut that pulls up against the locking plate that slides under the bed rails). It needs to be just loose enough to allow the headstock to move freely when the mechanism is unlocked, but tight enough to firmly secure the headstock when locked.

This is similar to the adjustment for cam locks below most banjo/toolslides and tailstocks.