New to me lathe, got some questions...

[Jmsvickers]

Hello all, I have lurked around here for a while, trying to learn what I can but reading only goes so far. I lucked into a lathe that fit my budget, and while it may not have be a good starter lathe, it's the one I have. It's an old F.E. Reed with an electric conversion that was a bit hasty in its installation.

It has a turner uni-drive 4 speed transmission to drive a belt. The motor and trans stand are a little left of level and I was thinking I could make a pully to compensate for the angle the drive pully is on to make sure the belt stops slipping off.

With that done the next step is to fix the tail stock, it has a stuck Jacob's chuck that I can't free. I have read and seen there are wedges I can get to beat it out but I'm not sure.

I suppose I'm excited about my new lathe and am looking for any advice on my initial plans and to see if anyone has any useful information for me with this lathe.

 

[hman]

Question regarding the stuck chuck in the tailstock ... exactly what is stuck in what?

If the chuck arbor (MT2 or MT3 or similar) comes out of the tailstock arbor but is stuck on the chuck, then wedges are indeed your friend.

If the chuck arbor is stuck inside the tailstock arbor, it's probably because the chuck arbor isn't long enough to be driven out by the leadscrew. The fix would involve cranking the tailstock arbor all the way out of the tailstock (you may need to remove a setscrew to get it all the way out). Then either drive the drill chuck arbor arbor out of the tailstock arbor with a drift punch or insert a short length of shaft into the tailstock arbor behind the drill chuck arbor, re-insert the tailstock arbor in the tailstock, and use the tailstock crank to push out the chuck.

 

[Jmsvickers]

I believe it's the latter, I can't separate the assembly ( I cranked out the assembly as far as I could but the handle is missing its key for the keyway and just spins after a certain point (another thing to fix but an easy one)) so I suppose my next step for that is to secure the crank and see if I can get it out that way.

Also the wedge is to separate the chuck from the collet? But getting the collet from the trailstock is done by cranking out the tailstock extension as far as it will go correct?

 

[KevinM]

Generally the tailstock will eject the arbor by turning the handle to the least extension.

 

[Jmsvickers]

Ah so I got it backwards. Makes sense as you don't want to loose it when your drilling. I'll try and fix the key this week to get that done, should be simple to make a new one.

 

[Jmsvickers]

I'm not sure how everyone likes pics but I'll upload my old gal!! Ignore the mess, just got her moved in yesterday and I still have to fit cars in next to her.

 

[C-Bag]

Nice! Doesn’t look particularly dry and rusty. I don’t mind grease and oil.

You might want to mix up some ATF and acetone 50/50 and hose down the tailstock taper and let it sit if youre not going to work on it for a couple of days. That’s some of the best penetrating oil for breaking stuff loose there is. I keep a pressure pot full of it just for those really tough jobs.

 

[Weldingrod1]

For a tailstock object that has a shoulder, you can whack the shoulder with a slug of brass. Sometimes that will knock it out!

After you get it out, add something to the back of it so it ejects properly!! Or, find out what happened to the floating brass bit that goes between the ejector pin and the tool tang. It was missing on my hardinge...

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

[Jmsvickers]

Well work just told me I'm not going to spend as much time with my lathe as I would like this week, but I'll get home and soak the tailstock in some penatrating oil to start it.

I don't have any atf but I'll mix some of that up this weekend while the wife is away to try. Thanks for the advice C-bag!

I attached a photo of the chuck, from what I understand the collet is stuck in the "ram" (if that's the right word) and the hand wheel key is missing which it may pop out once the key is replaced to add more force to pop out the collet. I am also assuming the brass rod is missing. I have some aluminum stock I can make a temporary one till I get some brass to turn down.

So far this has been the best forum site I've ever used! Everyone chimed in quickly and has been incredibly helpful and insightful! Thank you all!

 

[MrWhoopee]

I'm not sure how everyone likes pics but I'll upload my old gal!! Ignore the mess, just got her moved in yesterday and I still have to fit cars in next to her.

Looks like a good start. Lots of fun ahead.

Pics are an absolute necessity, some of us don't read that well. Close up full frontal preferred.
Get used to leaving the cars outside, you're going to need the room for machines.