Laguna 1216 Tailstock Quill difficult to retract fully

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KMCloonan

KMCloonan

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I don't know if anyone else has had this issue, but the quill on my tailstock is easy enough to retract about halfway, but then it gets harder and harder to turn the handwheel, to the point where I have to really crank on it to eject whatever is in the tailstock.

I have disassembled, cleaned, and regreased the screw, but that did not seem to help.

I found this video on YouTube, and my problem seems to be exactly what he is showing in the video, but it does not provide suggestions on how to fix it.


Anyone else have this problem?

Thanks,

Kevin
 
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You may want to look at this older thread and when you take apart makes sure there is no nicks in that slot or raceway where the locking lever is. Run a file on the edges to clear them. Check that threaded bolt to see if it has a burr on it and may need to filed down some too. It can raise one from the torque of tightening. I see this some times on a blade clamp on my scrollsaw sometimes. just a quick file frees it up. There is a video in this thread that maybe of help too.

https://www.penturners.org/threads/...uil-is-extremely-difficult-to-extend….172983/
 
Agree with John, but would add that its possible for dust to find its way inside the tailstock. You need to disassemble and clean it periodically. And doing that exposes the groove that John mentioned so that you can inspect it and remove any burrs on the edges.

Whether you should lubricate the tailstock ram before reassembling it is a subject of debate. One argument is that dust can combine with lubricant to form a thick gummy paste that aggravates the problem. On the other hand, a dry lubricant can make the ram move more smoothly. My suggestion is to experiment with a silicon or PTFE lubricant to see how it works for you.
 
This is a problem with Laguna lathes. I have worked with several Laguna mid sized lathes between different locations for demonstrations and they have all have issues with the tail stock being really snug and difficult to work with. I have found the tool rest to be similarly difficult.
 
I ended up selling my Laguna lathe. In my case, it was a "precise point" lathe, and yes, Laguna lathes seem to have numerous problems with the tailstock.

Have you tried to take your tailstock apart for cleaning? Disassembling any tailstock is actually pretty easy, and it doesn't take long. It may not even be a burr, in my experience thus far across...well, I guess I've owned four different lathes of four different brands now, its usually due to dust and grime buildup. Even if it is a burr, that should be relatively easy to file down. I would just disassemble the quill, pull everything apart, and do a cleanup job on it. I have done this with all of my lathes, and its pretty strait forward and standard maintenance after a while. All but one of my lathes tend to get enough junk in there after about a year or so, that I have had to clean them. I have a Powermatic, and so far, its never actually accumulated anything, and all I did was add a tiny bit of oil to the worm...with all the others, I usually had to clean the worm, the quill (and don't forget the slot, as well as the inside of the bore in the tailstock itseld), and all around the wheel as well. I would also clean the inside of the quill too (the morse taper.) Once you get it all clean, some household oil on the worm and outside of the quill should get you back to smooth. If there are any burrs, they should be easy enough to find and file down.

EDIT:

Oh, someone mentioned silicon? I was warned, I guess several years ago now, to NEVER use silicon in the woodshop. It apparently never goes away, and will eventually get on everything...and its not good when it gets into the fibers of your wood. If your fingers picked up any silicon from the quill while working a piece, and you then touch that piece after its been turned to your liking, the silicon could affect how any finishes go onto the wood. Ever since that warning, I've avoided any kind of silicon in my woodshop. I actually did end up getting some silicon on a blank a year or so ago, and I then as an experiment tried to put some finish on it, and lo and behold, the bit with silicon would not take the finish. Just...thought I'd toss that warning out there.
 
jrista said:
Oh, someone mentioned silicon? I was warned, I guess several years ago now, to NEVER use silicon in the woodshop. It apparently never goes away, and will eventually get on everything...and its not good when it gets into the fibers of your wood. If your fingers picked up any silicon from the quill while working a piece, and you then touch that piece after its been turned to your liking, the silicon could affect how any finishes go onto the wood. Ever since that warning, I've avoided any kind of silicon in my woodshop. I actually did end up getting some silicon on a blank a year or so ago, and I then as an experiment tried to put some finish on it, and lo and behold, the bit with silicon would not take the finish. Just...thought I'd toss that warning out there.
Click to expand...
Jon has a good point.

Many years ago (perhaps in the 70's), one of the automobile manufacturers experienced an electrical failure. Silicone insulating oil from the failed equipment was released into the atmosphere where it was aerosolized and spread throughout the factory by the plant ventillation system. The result was that the paint later failed on a bunch of cars that the manufacturer had to replace. It was a very expensive problem.

Admittedly, that example was an extreme case because of the nature of the failure and the fact that the silicone oil was dispersed so widely and for so long before anyone recognized that there was a problem. That manufacturer still uses silicone oil as an electrical insulating fluid - but they also design their facilities to isolate any potential oil spills from unfinished automobiles.

Clearly, silicone lubricants and finishes don't play well together. But it may be overkill to translate that concern into a wholesale ban on silicone lubricants. There are both good and bad applications for any lubricant, and like any other chemical or tool, its prudent to think about what we intend to use it for before deciding to purchase one versus some alternative. And all chemicals need to be used intelligently and with care.
 
Thanks everyone for your input. I completely disassembled the tail stock (again), and carefully examined the screw and the inside barrel of the quill (the MT2 taper) and the tailstock barrel the quill rides in. I could not see or feel any burrs, either on the screw or the quill. The key slot for the quill lock lever was pretty smooth, with no real gouges or burrs. I took the quill and screw, outside of the tail stock, and threaded and unthreaded the screw completely, looking for any sort of resistance indicating something was binding, but the screw threaded very smoothly.

I then tried sliding the quill in and out of the tail stock hole, and sure enough, the quill would bind up about halfway in. I used a rag to try to clean inside the tail stock, but using a headlamp, I could not see any dirt, grease, etc. inside the hole. Lastly, I just dripped some 3-in-1 oil in the tailstock and smeared it around in the barrel - I reinserted the quill and added some oil to its outer wall and used the screw to advance and retract the quill. It eventually got smoother, to the point where I am claiming victory. A thin coat of oil between the quill and tailstock seemed to do the trick.
 
monophoto said:
Jon has a good point.

Many years ago ....

Clearly, silicone lubricants and finishes don't play well together. But it may be overkill to translate that concern into a wholesale ban on silicone lubricants. There are both good and bad applications for any lubricant, and like any other chemical or tool, its prudent to think about what we intend to use it for before deciding to purchase one versus some alternative. And all chemicals need to be used intelligently and with care.
Click to expand...

I agree completely. I had some first hand experience with silicone migration. The company I worked for used a proprietary high temperature coating material on a reel-to-reel process where it was applied to a continuous metal strip. All of a sudden we started to have strange adhesion failures where the coating would separate and peel away from the metal when it went from the curing oven into the room temperature environment. It was a disaster, but after some investigation by our reliability lab using FTIR equipment we finally identified the problem as silicone contamination. Eventually we learned that one of the maintenance technicians, a relatively new hire, had lubricated the machine using a silicone based aerosol lubricant. Even after intensive cleaning the silicone migration continued to cause problems for another month or so.

Dave
 
Have you tried polishing the quill, it just might have a high spot in it. Chuck it in your lathe and use some wet/dry sandpaper on it, 400 grit ought to do it.
 
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