Reply To: Newbe advice on a lathe…

[david pierce]

Alan,
I hate it when that happens. The cause for the stuck arbor could be due to the arbor rusting a bit inside the spindle. First, take the lathe apart. On the back of the spindle is the knurled adjusting nut. Unscrew the nut and remove it. Next slide off the keyed washer on the back. After that unscrew the locking screw on the stepped pulley and remove the screw. Rock the pulley back and forth to make sure is is free of the spindle. Now take a piece of soft wood and tap the spindle out of the headstock (out the front), with the piece of wood. Do not use a metal hammer for this. Next take a block of hard wood and drill a hole in it to clear the stuck arbor but trap the nose of the spindle. Place the nose of the spindle over the hole so the spindle is positioned vertically and pour some penetrating oil (diesel fuel) into the hole. Allow the oil some time to work its way in. Then take a BRASS rod and hammer the arbor out of the spindle. Do not do this while the spindle is still in the headstock. You could damage the cone bearings.
After the arbor is removed try and polish the rust off of the internal spindle hole with some scotch brite and hydraulic oil. Take some cotton balls and q-tips and clean out the cone bearings and spindle. Do not use scotch brite on the bearing surfaces. Reassemble the spindle assembly and note the flat spot on the spindle where the pulley locking screw contacts the spindle. Line the pulley hole over the flat spot and replace the pulley locking screw. Next, replace the keyed washer and the knurled adjusting nut on the back. Screw in the adjusting nut until it is finger tight. Next, take the piece of wood and tap the nose of the spindle. Tighten and tap until the spindle locks. Now slowly back off the adjusting nut until the spindle turns freely (about 1/8 of a turn). Make sure that there is plenty of hydraulic on the bearing contact points. There are recomendations for other types of oil but I have found hydraulic oil to be the best so far. In the old days when all machine tools used friction bearings, the recommended oil was called 100 second oil, which was about the same as hydraulic oil.
david