# Tail stock issue?



## Gfrost (May 15, 2017)

Ok guys,

Here is the deal, as many of you know I have purchase my first lathe, a used Tida TD5a.
I have been playing with it for a month or so and have just completed my first project.
Well in using the lathe I have noticed that the tailstock when locked down as tight as I can get it seems to want to move when under pressure. I have a feeling that the little cam inside there is worn?
I haven't tried pulling it apart or anything yet, just wanted to throw that out there and see if you all had any ideas of the issue?? Is it an easy fix??


Gary


----------



## rgray (May 15, 2017)

Mine has an adjustable nut under the tailstock clamp. It's not captured so tends to back off and I have to slide the tailstock back and hang half of it off the end of the ways so I can turn the nut up tighter. Often thought I should double nut it or something. Don't think there is any wear going on on those parts as little as they move.
There is noticable difference in way thickness in some places so the cam leaver sits at a different height depending on where it is being locked down. Lathe is only 5 years old and has always been this way. It is a difference in the thickness from the machining of the bottom of the way.


----------



## DAT510 (May 15, 2017)

As rgray mentioned, there's a nut under the tailstock that you can adjust to tighten or loosen up the cam action to lock the tail stock. 

Your Tida lathe is basically the same as the Jet 1024/1236 and Grizzly 1237 lathes.  You can find the manuals here.  http://www.hobby-machinist.com/resources/categories/jet.636/

Below is the schematic for my Jet 1024.  You can see the nut marked  #37


----------



## petertha (May 15, 2017)

I've often wondered about this myself. My tailstock assembly looks like this. By adjusting the baseplate nut that rgray is talking about, that affects the position of where the handle comes to a stop when tightening. But it  doesn't seem to do much for how much clamping force is applied that I can tell, unless you just get more mechanical advantage in one lever position over another. The cam might be wearing but I'm not sure what that would feel like on the handle, maybe a shorter abrupt sticking engagement vs. longer increasing friction arc? What I've discovered is now I use way oil & that really makes thing slide very nice, but it also is prone to backing up the tailstock under heavier axial drilling load a bit more than it used to.

Another point to ponder. When I removed my tailstock I was rather underwhelmed visually by the hand work. I blued the Vee & flat underside surfaces & gave it the lightest of touch with a fine stone. It is not what I would scraped, its rather crude 'oil control'  frosting or whatever you call it. The result of which I think is reduced physical contact area if you consider only the tops of the 'hills' are holding shear resistance while clamped. Dimensionally its very accurate height wise & overall fit.


----------



## Bob Korves (May 15, 2017)

If you adjust the tailstock bottom plate nut too loose, the cam on the end of the lever will not tighten down, but will go over center.  If you go a little less you get to a point where the lever has a longer contact length of travel of the cam.  At that point you will get maximum clamping, not by a lot, but more.  If the plate nut is tightened down much more, the lever will be more vertical and will deliver less clamping force.  Another thing to address is the sliding surfaces under the ways that the tailstock bottom plate slides on.  Those surfaces are often out of sight, and out of mind.  They can have dried oil, original cosmoline, and other gunk on them that makes for poor friction for stopping the tailstock from sliding.  Clean them well, and then lubricate them with way oil to keep them from rusting.


----------



## Gfrost (May 15, 2017)

Ok, all good information!! Thanks guys, I will check this out!

Gary


----------

