This lathe as the thread chasing arrangement where by the chaser moves the whole spindle in and out. Does anyone have an understanding of how this works? What are the bearings - a plain bearing that both lets the shaft slide and rotate, or roller element moving inside a cylinder? I kind of like this lathe and was thinking of getting it, but there is over a thou TIR on the outside of the sliding spindle so something doesn't seem right. I thought it might less with the spindle locked but couldn't figure out how to lock it!
The other is how do you lock the spindle in position? The grey knob on the inboard side of the headstock sort of engages the spindle a bit like a rack/gear,. except it only does so in a few spots so that''s either not its function or its messed up. Even if it was suppose to engage a rack on the bearing, it doesn't suggest how to lock the spindle form moving along the the Z axis.
Finally the carriage lock doesn't work, shouldn't be a huge deal to fix, but I could not get a reliable inside runout reading as I can't lock either the carriage or the spindle.
Can anyone explain what is going on and the spindle mechanism works and locks? What do you guys think of this arrangement? brilliant or run away?
Thanks for any insight!
The other is how do you lock the spindle in position? The grey knob on the inboard side of the headstock sort of engages the spindle a bit like a rack/gear,. except it only does so in a few spots so that''s either not its function or its messed up. Even if it was suppose to engage a rack on the bearing, it doesn't suggest how to lock the spindle form moving along the the Z axis.
Finally the carriage lock doesn't work, shouldn't be a huge deal to fix, but I could not get a reliable inside runout reading as I can't lock either the carriage or the spindle.
Can anyone explain what is going on and the spindle mechanism works and locks? What do you guys think of this arrangement? brilliant or run away?
Thanks for any insight!