Tailstock Teardown

October 2014

I'd actually started this bit first, so this is in the wrong order but never mind.

The tailstock is not a complicated part, but in my case the nut on the end which holds it all together was borked - it just spun on the shaft without getting tighter or looser. So I was forced to resort to butchery to remove it - gradually chopping it off with a dremel cutting disk and various hammering implements:

           

Hate having to do that, but I couldn't see another way. There's enough meat on the threaded part of the shaft that I can clean it up, and/or cut a new, smaller thread if needs be.

With that off, it all comes easily apart. There's wear on the acme thread but plenty of life in it yet. I'll just have to cut a new smaller thread on the end and fit a new locknut when it all goes back together. It's all a bit graunched just inboard of the locknut thread as well, from repeated attacks with the setscrew. I repaired similar damage on one of the pillar drills by welding it up, then turning it back down in the lathe, so I will do the same here.

     

The inside of the quill is rather badly scored, and the outside is pretty tatty. I've read that the thing to do here is to run a morse taper reamer down it and recut the taper to get rid of the scoring. This of course opens the mouth of the taper up more, so you then mount it in the chuck and take a few mm off the length until the opening is back where it should be. So that's a job for when the rest of it is back together, doesn't sound too bad though. I'll also be investing in a new drill chuck to go in the tailstock as mine is old and pretty much shagged.

  

Other than that it all seems in good working order, so nothing particularly worrying.