Atek Bantam Press depth adjuster hard to turn

I recently picked up a 2' Bantam press. Everything seems to work well except the depth control at the rear shown in the second photo. While trying to adjust the depth by turning the hand wheel in some spots it is almost impossible to turn. Inside the cylinder welded to the end of the threaded rod is a steel piston used to center the rod inside the tube. It looked to me like it may be dragging on the walls. So I machined a piece of nylon of slightly bigger OD and a little bit taller to try and guide the thread as you turn it. It really didn't make any difference. Has anybody had experience with this type of press? How hard was it to rotate the hand wheel and adjust the depth?

I have the same press and also the four foot version. Both are easy to adjust. You said that it gets tight in spots, is it the same spot? Is it only when you rotate the handle clockwise, counterclockwise or both directions? I would think the screw may be bent or that there is a burr in the nut that is inside the tube.

Ranhak, thanks for your reply. Unfortunately I knew the answer when I asked the question. But I wasn't sure if I was doing something wrong. If I took some of the load off it seemed to move easier. But that didn't seem to be the right thing to do. When I had it apart I checked all of the threads and every thing moved easily and there where no burrs on the piston inside the cylinder. When I went back out into the workshop after reading your reply, I loosened the Allen bolts that hold on what amounts to a pillow block on the ram to see if there was a bind. Sure enough the bolts just had to be loosened a small amount and the hand wheel could be moved easily. After looking at it further I now think that the threaded rod has a little bend in it. The bend appears to be fairly small and when I was looking at it earlier it just looked like slop at the rod and cylinder interface which is why I made the nylon bushing. I will now have to try and straighten the threaded rod.