Harbor Freight Lathe

[ottotroll]

Hi... I purchased the "cheap" Harbor Freight Lathe, and have had a heck of a time getting the tailstock to adjust - the model is:
SKU 95607
Brand Central Machinery

Has anyone else experienced issues with this, and what was the solution? Can the Tail Stock be modified/replaced? I have arthritis pretty well in both hands (one wrist is fused), so pens will be about the largest thing I will turn -
Thanks,
Richard

 

[Mike Powell]

I have the same lathe, and have had absolutly no problems with it.

 

[plantman]

I have one of these lathes. A few months ago I had trouble with the tail stock feed tightening up and being hard to turn. I remember taking it apart to see how it worked, and found that the screw had moved all the way back and could not advance the live center. I think I know what I did wrong and this is how I corrected it. I had loosened the tail stock lock advance lever on the top of the tail stock to far. There is a keyway cut into the top of the shaft that the lock pin sits in and this keeps the shaft from rotating when you advance it. If you back this lock out to far the pin comes out of the slot and the shaft rotates until it bottoms out against one of the bearings. Of course by now you have cranked on the wheel and it's realy tight. The solution is to back out the lock just enough to clear the shaft and rotate the tail stock by hand until the pin drops in the slot but not tight to the bottom of the slot as this will lock your advance in place. I don't remember if I would have been able to do this or not without taking it apart, as I already had it apart.
This was a lot easier to do than explain. The lathe works super for the price and what I use it for. Saves me time not having to set the lathe every time you change operations. I have also adapted my other lathes to except the same Barracuda chuck, so I only have to move the chuck from one lathe to another and not unchuck my work piece. Hope this solves your problem!! Jim S