Hand wheel stuck

[Burt Alcantara]

The hand wheel on my Nova 1644 is stuck. I had last used the lathe 2 days ago. Mounted a small stick to practice skew. Finished up then took it off. Tried to turn the hand wheel and it would not move.

If feels like it is welded shut. I can't access the recessed screw because I can't move the hand wheel ot that position. I tried tapping the wheel in various places but so far, no dice.

Any ideas?

Burt

[nicole taylor]

Just a thought ? did the index pin drop down and jam. glen.

[Don Carter]

Burt:
I am not sure that I understand what is going on. Is the motor locked up? Have you loosened the belt and tried to turn it? Or is it just the hand wheel just locked up and will not unscrew from the spindle? Let us know what happens.

All the best.

Don

[Burt Alcantara]

The handwheel on the tailstock will not budge. The motor works. Tailstock slides along the bed without problem.

[Don Carter]

Burt:
I misunderstood you. I thought you were talking about the handwheel on the headstock. Have you seen an exploded diagram of the tailstock? If I recall, there is a drop in key on top to the tailstock so that you can take it a part. You might slide the tailstock off the lathe and drop some oil down the threads. Let us hear what is happening.

All the best.

Don

[Burt Alcantara]

I took the key out but it didn't make a difference. What I did notice is the wheel seems to be slightly out of alignment. Last night I tried tapping it but I was too tired so I'll try again today.

Burt

[Scott Conners]

How far in or out is the quill? If it's at a limit of travel, it could be mis-threading and jamming.

[Paul Douglass]

Might try tapping the quill in or out a little with a rubber mallet. Anxious to hear the results, I have one of these lathes.

Call teknatools

[Burt Alcantara]

Tried to be nice...honest. But the #$%@# wouldn't come out. Resorted to the Neanderthal Method. Hit It Wit A Hamma.

Actually, I hit the handle to get it to rotate. It moved so I continued. Now, being an old guy I can't remember all the details on how I got it disassembled because it was not easy or obvious. However, almost everything got the hammer. Had to hammer the wheel out of the tailstock too.

The manual said to remove the 6mm set screw. That's impossible with the wheel in place and it doesn't matter. The set screw keeps the key in place, nothing else.

I found a huge amount of gunk on the quill threads and blue stuff that looked an awful like loctite. The gunk was gritty, as if something metallic had disintegrated. But what? The threads on both the wheel and quill were intact and looked fine. The gritty stuff was inside the tailstock also.

All that was left to do was clean up as much as possible. Gave it a good bath in oil (didn't have any grease) and reassembled. Works much better now but the handle wont stay on. I can live with that because when I took delivery of the lathe, the handle was busted off. Nova, eventually, sent a replacement hand wheel but by then I got used to turning the wheel without the handle.

Relieved,
Burt

[Don Carter]

Burt:
Was the quill extended all the way out or in when it got stuck? When I first got my lathe, I had a similar problem when it was extended all the way out. I cleaned and greased the threads and it has not been a problem since.
Glad it work out for you. I hope you can get the wheel back on.

All the best.

Don