Nova 1624 Spindle Movement

[larry Pack]

I have a Nova 1624 8 speed lathe and was getting some vibration that I did not have before so I got out my dial indicator to check for play in the spindle. Maybe 1/2 of a thousandth side to side but 14 thousandths end to end. I can actually hear a clunk when this happens. I have to pull/push hard on either the headstock (with chuck attached) or handwheel end to get this play, but obviously there is much more force going on when turning a 6"+ bowl. I can also see the spindle moving relative to the inner race of the bearing on the business end of the headstock. I have been back and forth with technical support at Teknatool but they resist letting you talk to an actual technician and you have to present the problem to a customer service person with no technical expertise who then relays it to a tech, who answers the first person who then gives you the answer. I also took videos of my testing procedures. The final answer was that everything was within specs. It seems to me that .014 is way too much play in a spindle, but I wonder if there are any 1624/44 owners out there willing to check this out on their lathes for the movement and particularly for the movement of the spindle relative to the inner bearing race. Thanks, Larry

[Brice Rogers]

The other day I was looking at a manual for the Grizzly G0800 (on line) and there was a section on "removing end play from spindle". I don't know if the adjustment for the Griz is applicable to your lathe or not. But it might be worth the investment of time.

BTW, how old is your lathe? Could it be that the bearings are worn?

[richard shelby]

I turn on a Nova 1624, basically the same machine. Three years old and many hours of big out-of-balance turning. I checked for any play on the shaft and ZILCH. I don't have a micrometer, but if I did it would have to register nanometers. Ditto for the bad bearing. Let us know how it turns out. I may someday have to do surgery on mine.

[John K Jordan]

The other day I was looking at a manual for the Grizzly G0800 (on line) and there was a section on "removing end play from spindle". ...

My PM has a big nut near the hand wheel to adjust the end play.

[Glenn C Roberts]

My Nova 1644 has 0 play laterally and radially, without belt tension. Time for "surgery".

[larry Pack]

I'm still trying to get a straight answer from Nova. First they said everything was within tolerances, then they said the .014 of axial play was excessive and they could sell me a refurbished spindle. I'm not a machinist but I'm pretty sure the only way you could refurbish a spindle would be to grind one of the bearing surfaces and you would then have to use a bearing with a smaller diameter inner race and they did not mention that. Part of the problem is that they don't want me to speak to a tech so every question goes through a "customer service rep" and ultimately gets a partial answer at best. Yesterday i requested for the tech to call me so i can try to figure out exactly what I need to do. Removing the spindle does not seem like a huge deal and I may do this just to put a caliper on the bearing journals and see if something is out of round or out of spec.

[Don Jarvie]

Have you made sure the headstock pulley set screws are tight and any other set screws tight? This could explain the back and forth. The motor hangs on the headstock so it could move it. This happened on my PM and one of the set screws was loose and it made a clicking sound.

[larry Pack]

Problem solved, at least for now. I was attempting to remove the spindle pulley which Teknatool describes as "difficult to remove" when i had an epiphany. I put a straight edge across the tailstock side bearing and it was slightly proud of the casting. I gently tapped with a punch around the perimeter of the outer race and seated it properly and voila, no play! Not sure if it will stay seated since the bearing is supposed to be pressed onto the spindle and it is not. that indicates to me that either the spindle or the bearing (or both) have some wear. Nonetheless, there is little to no side to side play right now. Thanks for all of the input and happy turning! Larry