I grabbed the handwheel on my Grizzly 766 lathe this evening and i heard a click. Uh oh. I then really grabbed the handwheel and gave it a shake and it clicked every time. My heart sank and I'm thinking spindle or bearings have gone bad. I've only had this lathe for 6 months. Under warranty, but still..... Time to investigate. I took the belt off and it still clicked. Ok, now to remove the handwheel and spindle cover so I can see in there. No problem. The hand wheel came off very easily. Hmmm. I grabbed the spindle again. No more clicking. Solid as a rock. Hmmm. I then threaded the handwheel back on and spun it up tight on the spindle. No more clicking. I'm guessing the handwheel was not run up tight against the spindle face and was rocking on the threats when I gave it a shake. Everything is tight now and I'm back in business. Fortunately, not every strange clicking noise is a disaster.
Mine had the same problem. It turned out to be the nut on the spindle behind the pulley wasn't tight. If i remember correctly it has a locking cage to keep it from getting loose and the factory just didn't tighten it up enough.
Not a serious problem at all. It is likely that the set screw that locks down the pulley has backed out a smidgen, and allowed it not to press up against the spacer ring that fits into a recess on the pulley. That tiny amount of play will produce a clicking sound. Check the spacer and pulley are tight against one another and lock down the set screw that holds the pulley in place on the spindle shaft. I doubt seriously that your bearings are bad!
It turned out it was just a loose handwheel. It screws onto the spindle shaft and was not run up tight. After running the handwheel up tight, I tightened the set screws and that solved the problem. I guess the handle was rocking in the threads causing the clicking sound.
Good deal Robert!
My hand wheel has worked loose several times. The set screws don't seem to want to stay tight. I'm getting a new hand wheel from JTTurningTools. When that comes, I'm going to put some loctite on the set screws.
