Turncrafter Lathe

[warthog]

I recently bought a Turncrafter from a gentleman in Colorado, and I have been turning pens...happily...for the last month or so. But a problem has developed with the tail stock. Since I do not own a drill press...I have to horizontal bore my pen blanks and there is a definite wobble going on in the tail stock. So much so that the holes I drill out out are really to big for the tube that is going in there. Does the inner workings of the tail stock need to be replaced or the whole thing. It got so bad the other day that I didn't even have time to flip the switch off before it threw the drill chuck clear across the room.

 

[JimB]

If this is happening only when drilling I am going to guess you are not seating your drill chuck properly in the tailstock. Clean both the tailstock and drill chuck tapers. Most likely, when you insert the drill chuck you will need to extend the tailstock out for it to properly seat becuase the drill chuck taper is too long to seat when the tailstock if fully retracked. Finally, when drilling, you should be holding the drill chuck.

What is actually shaking/vibrating?

 

[lorbay]

Also you should tighten the tail stock lock handle a little to take out some of the slop in the quill.

Lin.

 

[dansills]

I recently bought a Turncrafter from a gentleman in Colorado, and I have been turning pens...happily...for the last month or so. But a problem has developed with the tail stock. Since I do not own a drill press...I have to horizontal bore my pen blanks and there is a definite wobble going on in the tail stock. So much so that the holes I drill out out are really to big for the tube that is going in there. Does the inner workings of the tail stock need to be replaced or the whole thing. It got so bad the other day that I didn't even have time to flip the switch off before it threw the drill chuck clear across the room.

I bought my Turncrafter new and it does the same thing. I am chalking it up to a quality issue and a lesson learned for me. I knew I shouldn't try and save some money when expecting some precision but tried anyway. I was actually shocked that PSI sshipped the lathe with that much wobble. I tried to tighten the tail stock to no avail ... Any more suggestions?

 

[Ulises Victoria]

I had the same problem with my 12" Turncrafter Commander. I tightened the tailstock and that solved the wobble problem, but now I have to struggle to move the tailstock fully back.

 

[witz1976]

I have the same issue with my Turncrafter as well. There is define slop if the tailstock is not tightened down and you use the quill for travel. To me it is because it is a cheap Chinese import, which gives me reasons for wanting to upgrade.

Don't get me wrong though it still is a great little starter lathe.

 

[keithlong]

I have a turncrafter pro, it was my first lathe, and I still have it, i only drill on the lathe, and i have had no problem with mine. The only time that I have this problem is when my blanks are not straight in my chuck. I hold my blanks in the chuck, then put my drill bit in the tailstock and push the bit through the blank, while holding the tailstock as I drill. I do and always have locked down the quill each time. The only reason that I bought another lathe was to upgrade to a little larger one and also for variable spped. I still have the TCP and use it at meetings for demos because it is easier to carry around. I have turned many pens and lided boxes and bowls on it.