Found a spring near my headstock; cant figure out where it came from.

twooldvolvos said:
I found a spring near my headstock this morning and can't figure out where it came from.

This is a picture of the spring.

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This is a picture of my lathe. It is a South Bend 10K built around 1974.

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And this is about where I found it behind the headstock on the lathe table top.

View attachment 374453

I have recently been doing light small work in my 3 jaw and 4 jaw chucks, holding the tools in my Aloris QCTP. I have taken a good look around the lathe head stock and have examined both my chucks for any obviously missing springs but so far I haven't a clue where this spring belongs. I also took a good look at the head stock cover interlocking system but came up empty. Everything seems to still be working and I hear no strange noises yet. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
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Thanks to everyone for their replies. So far I have come up empty. However on the bright side, my lathe is still working and I had a chance to disassemble and reassemble my compound. And my compound dial is not as sticky as it was. The spring will remain labeled in a bag in my lathe drawer for now.
 
Louis Manfredi said:
Spring to set drag on engaging/disengaging back gear? Does your back gear feel too easy to shift?
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I'll check. I haven't used back gears much yet. About the only time I have was just to experiment or to hold the spindle while changing chucks. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
Spring seems about the right size, and you found it in about the right spot. There's a set screw and lock nut that's supposed to hold it in against a little brass nubbin that drags against the eccentric collar thing. But you didn't mention finding these too...

By the by- I think I heard its bad form to use the back gears as a lock for pulling chucks off. Better to use a strap wrench on the cone pulley. Risk of busting a tooth on the back gears if the chuck is really stuck. (The Heavy 10 I've been bringing back to life came to me missing a tooth on its bull gear, seems to run fine no-load without the tooth, but we'll see what happens when I finish the rebuild and actually put the gear train under load. Might have happened when the previous owner changed a chuck, but maybe some other accident caused it.)
 
It looks like the spring might be as Louis surmised. Here's a picture of your headstock assembly drawing - look at part #14:

ARMY_CL670Z_Page_09.jpg
 
Louis Manfredi said:
Spring seems about the right size, and you found it in about the right spot. There's a set screw and lock nut that's supposed to hold it in against a little brass nubbin that drags against the eccentric collar thing. But you didn't mention finding these too...

By the by- I think I heard its bad form to use the back gears as a lock for pulling chucks off. Better to use a strap wrench on the cone pulley. Risk of busting a tooth on the back gears if the chuck is really stuck. (The Heavy 10 I've been bringing back to life came to me missing a tooth on its bull gear, seems to run fine no-load without the tooth, but we'll see what happens when I finish the rebuild and actually put the gear train under load. Might have happened when the previous owner changed a chuck, but maybe some other accident caused it.)
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Checked and it seems my set screw is still in place. As for using the back gears to lick the spindle while unscrewing the chuck, I hear what you are saying. And having had a stuck chuck I can also see how a frustrated owner will resort to almost anything. Even Mr. Pete has admitted to using back gears to help remove a chuck. On a couple of occasions I have put it is back gears and used a strap wrench on my chuck. Thant usually works but I would be sick if I broke a tooth doing this. I see on ebay that someone is 3D printing a plastic part that wedges in near the gears somewhere to safely hold the shaft.
 
I think I know what it might be. A detent spring from the back gear lever. My Boxford A had a tendency to jump out of back gear. When I took the head apart I found that there was a grub screw (set Screw) with a spring like that, and a ball bearing. The screw had fallen out. Lost the spring and ball but replaced them with bits in boxes. Now it works well. See if the side lever for back gear seems to click into place at the end of travel. Hope that helps!
 
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