Help,please.

[Paul.J]

Well looks like i have been over doing the boring on my lathe as the quill on the tailstock has seized up solid
I felt it getting tighter as i was boring my latest vase ready for hollowing out then as i tried to bring it back out,after about 20mm of travel it just seized solid.Managed to get it out and have tried stripping it down but have failed.
Managed to get the handle off and that it everything else seems fixed on somehow,as you can tell i am no engineer.
My lathE is a Vicmarc VL175.
Any suggestions as to what i can do just hope its nothing serious??

 

[chipmunk]

See page 16 of the following document...

http://www.vicmarc.com/downloads/Vicmarc Lathe Manual A4 Sept10.pdf

Page 32 has an exploded view.

HTH
Jon

 

[CHJ]

Anti twist or stop grub screw? loose/slipped and has now jammed on sleeve instead of riding in location groove.

 

[Paul.J]

Thats great thanks Jon i forgot i had that manaul so just found it and managed to get it all apart.
There was some metal and wood filings inside,which i can't see where they have come from, but not on the thread that was clean,so cleaned it all out regreased it reassembled and it was ok but still had grating metal on metal it felt like but after a few travels up and down it has seized again??
Chas the only lock that i can see,apart from the clamping lever is located in the keyway and is fine from what i can tell??

 

[CHJ]

Have you taken the barrel out completely or just the threaded lead screw?

Taking the barrel out and flushing it out may shift something and give you an idea what is breaking down.

 

[Paul.J]

Yes Chas i removed the whole lot out as one piece then took the threaded part off and cleaned it all.
I have attached a drawing of the parts but it may be too small to see??

 

[CHJ]

Presume you are seeing swarf in thread area?

Does Quill slide smoothly in tailstock and does anti twist grub screw engage full depth so that quill can't try to rotate when under load.

 

[Paul.J]

No Chas thread was nice and clean,but the swarf was at either end of the barrel or quill when i took it apart.
I just can't see what is causing the problem but it has locked up again good and proper.

 

[CHJ]

No Chas thread was nice and clean,but the swarf was at either end of the barrel or quill when i took it apart.
I just can't see what is causing the problem but it has locked up again good and proper.

Does Quill slide smoothly in tailstock and does anti twist grub screw engage full depth so that quill can't try to rotate when under load.

 

[CHJ]

Does or did quill clamping lever have a loose brass/bronze pressure pad to prevent barrel scoring?

 

[Paul.J]

The quill is tight fit but does slide in nicely and the grub screw deos engage i didn't alter that but the nut that holds it in place on the outside was loose.
Not sure about the clamping lever Chas so will check,there is no scoring marks on the quill all nice a clean/smooth.

 

[Paul.J]

Just checked clamping lever and there is no brass pad.

 

[CHJ]

Make sure anti rotation screw is deep in groove, tighten and back off half a turn and lock.

That will sort out the quill moving, only thread etc. to sort out.

 

[Paul.J]

I have tried that Chas and tightened the nut up and as i say it was working fine apart from the slight grinding i was getting,then it would run smooth in and out but it has now locked 50mm out and i can't budge the handwheel??

 

[CHJ]

That's a real bummer, I take it if you take the whole assembly out you have no means of holding quill firm enough to work on it.
Can't think what might be galling up enough to bind the thread.

 

[Paul.J]

Yes Chas i took the whole assembly out then unscrewed the threaded bar from the quill,cleaned it all checked for damage which i couldn't see any of.Greased the thread up lightly then run it up and down on the quill and it ran smoothly.
Put the quill back in the tailstock making sure the keyway was aligned with the locating screw and assembled the rest of it. :?

 

[Paul.J]

Well folks you'll be glad to hear that i think i have now fixed my tailstock problem. [-o<
Stripped it down again first thing this morning and noticed swarf between the bush and the flange on the quill and as i spun the two faces together by hand they locked into each other believe it or not so this was causing the lock up.
So went about filing the two faces smooth but as i was doing that the phone rang and it was Phil Irons,who i bought the lathe off when he was selling the Vicmarcs,and apparently there should have been a brass washer between the two faces of the flange and the bush which i didn't have as Vicmarc didn't put it on a batch of lathes and mine must have been one of em. :roll:
So after a good chat with Phil and him telling me what i had to do i made my own brass washer and fitted it between the two parts,reassembled and thankfully all seems ok,if a little tighter now when i turn the hand wheel,but i can live with that and hope it will free itself up as it gets used??
So thanks for all your help we got there in the end :wink:
Heres a few piccys of teh damage.

 

[CHJ]

Glad you got it sorted Paul, rather disappointed there was not an offer to replace the galled parts and supply correct thrust washer. (or perhaps there was and you declined?)

 

[Paul.J]

Cheers Chas
Phil did look to see if he had any washers left as he was sent some some time ago but has sent em all out,and as he isn't the agent for Vicmarc any more i had to either contact Vicmarc themselves or the bloke up in Scotland who is the agent now,so thought it quicker to make me own,its not great but it will do for now........ and the next ten years :lol:

 

[CHJ]

If the galled parts keep causing a problem then I'm sure one of us can sling them on a lathe and clean them up.
You might find two thin brass washers better as they will present clean surface to each other and it would not matter if they both galled to the steel parts.