Turning newbie here. I just got a new Comet II lathe with a Nova brand Jacobs chuck recently. I just drilled my first holes with it and was surprised to notice the tailstock was a little wobbly when the quill lock is unlocked. When plunging the drill, I could jiggle the bit around, changing where it entered the part by several millimeters. With the quill lock engaged, it was quite rigid (in other words, it's not the taper lock or drill adapter- I think it's the quill itself).
Is this expected? I haven't used many wood lathes before, but I would assume you'd want the quill to be pretty rigid when drilling things. On the metal lathes I've used the quill lock is only needed when locking the depth adjustment. Are there adjustments I can make to tighten this up? Could this part have been made just a little off? I've already sent an email to Teknatool but they probably won't be able to get back to me until next week.
I was able to get the hole started. Once it was "going" it seemed to straighten out somewhat, but I kind of had to snug up the quill lock lever and "ride" it with my left hand while my right hand turned the crank to plunge it.