Does anyone have any idea how the carriage lock is supposed to work on a Vectrax lathe? It is basically a round-headed stud (picture a large, threaded, upside-down nail with a flat on one side of the head)with a flat on one side that extends up through the carriage and has a nut on the top side. It looks like the flat is supposed to bear against the edge of the front way when it is turned, and the nut locks it, but there's no way to make it turn, as it's just loose until the nut is tightened and then it does absolutely nothing to lock the carriage. There is no allen socket, hex or square flat, etc. on the protruding end of the stud to make it turn, and it seems counter productive to have to use two hands to lock the carriage anyway. Neither MSC or ENCO could tell me squat about it, and I don't want to disassemble the carriage again to explore it further at this time due to being stupidly busy and needing to keep it running. I just don't see the stud being able to bear against the way hard enough to lock it without a means of turning it and then tightening the nut to lock it. I'm toying with the idea of turning the head down into a cam, but am concerned that it may actually move the carriage when it's rotated.
Any ideas?
Any ideas?