7350 lathe teardown/cleaning - tool post slide is extremely stiff

[ssdesigner]

Last night I began tearing down and cleaning my 7350 lathe and the tool post slide is extremely stiff. I stripped it down to just the turn handle (see photo) and it takes quite a bit of push to turn it. Not smooth at all. Is this an adjustment need?

 

[WobblyHand]

Last night I began tearing down and cleaning my 7350 lathe and the tool post slide is extremely stiff. I stripped it down to just the turn handle (see photo) and it takes quite a bit of push to turn it. Not smooth at all. Is this an adjustment need?View attachment 447162

The 7350 has the black "DRO". It could be the DRO or the end block need a slight adjustment. It comes apart fairly easily if I recall. I have a 7350 as well. The unit shouldn't be super stiff - it needs some adjustment.

Be careful when single pointing, it is possible for the compound DRO to foul with the cross slide DRO unit. Yes, I did that. Must not have been paying attention... Buggered it up during the pandemic, and there were no spare parts to be had. I machined a temporary solution which held up for about 9 months before it failed. Basically the brass insert in the plastic DRO head pulled out. I have since been able to get a replacement DRO head so all is well.

 

[ssdesigner]

The 7350 has the black "DRO". It could be the DRO or the end block need a slight adjustment. It comes apart fairly easily if I recall. I have a 7350 as well. The unit shouldn't be super stiff - it needs some adjustment.

Be careful when single pointing, it is possible for the compound DRO to foul with the cross slide DRO unit. Yes, I did that. Must not have been paying attention... Buggered it up during the pandemic, and there were no spare parts to be had. I machined a temporary solution which held up for about 9 months before it failed. Basically the brass insert in the plastic DRO head pulled out. I have since been able to get a replacement DRO head so all is well.

Thanks Wobbly. It ended up being a super tiny set screw in the shaft coming out of the DRO. The shaft is what the turning handle mounts to. Almost unnoticeable, but once I loosened it, everything moved like a well oiled....lathe.