Help..Noise from the headstock of my Delta

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turn4fun

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Mar 31, 2010
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117
Location
Santa Rosa, CA
The lathe is a 1-1/2 yr old Delta 46-460. When we try to use it with a PSI Mandrel Saver, there's some pretty bad noises coming from the headstock. The noise gets louder and louder as I tighten the tailstock up to increase the clamping force on the bushings and pen blank. By the time there's enough force to tightly hold the pen blank, the noise sounds pretty bad. If I lighten the clamping force by backing off the tailstock, the noise goes away. But the blank is no longer clamped tight enough to turn it with a gouge or chisel.

Has anyone else had this sort of trouble using the PSI Mandrel Saver on their lathe? What can I do about it?

I think that maybe the PSI Mandrel Saver requires a lot of tailstock force to adequately hold a pen blank.. And that this force is transferred as a large side thrust to the bearings in my headstock causing my bearings to make noise. Anyway, I'm afraid that the headstock bearings might get ruined if I use the PSI Mandrel Saver.

I'd sure appreciate any help or ideas anyone has to offer. Thanks.. Larry
 
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I've had the same thing happen to mine. I quit using the mandrel saver because of it. I think the Delta headstock bearings are not strong enough for that kind of lateral torque.
 
i stopped using the saver for another reason. it caused metal on metal friction between the bushings and the mandrel which created black residue that made a mess out of my wood. YUK!
 
About the Mandrel Saver....the real problem.

They DO NOT have the proper bearings installed for providing both radial and axial loads. Until such time as they fix this, they may as well recall all of them and refund you your money.

The idea is excellent, the design is excellent, the materials used (bearing) is a waste of time.

I have had the unit apart and researched the bearing used, it is not suitable for the application of it's intended use.

The closest thing to a proper mandrel saver is a One Way live center. I own 2 of these and the quality is top notch.

Dave
 
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Thanks for sharing your ideas and experiences with PSI's Mandrel Saver. The noises are coming from the headstock of my Delta lathe. So, its not the bearings of the mandrel saver that are making the noise.

I researched several old threads on the Forum and found that indeed the bearings in the older mandrel savers were faulty. My mandrel saver appears to be a newer one. But you have to clamp extremely hard with the tailstock to hold a pen blank tight enough to work on it. A lot of other folks said they had to clamp their tailstocks down uncomfortably tight to get the mandrel savers to work. This was true for both the old and the new mandrel savers

When I crank the tailstock that tight, there are some bad noises coming from my Delta's headstock. I think that's a bad situation. So, I've never actually used the mandrel saver on this lathe. Does anyone else use the mandrel saver on a Delta Midi lathe? Or is this normal for the Delta Midi? The lathe is still fairly new and appears to be in good shape.

In summary, I'm afraid the PSI Mandrel Saver will eventually damage the headstock bearings in my Delta Midi Lathe. Based on the noise from my Delta lathe I'd say there is a good chance it will. Cranking the tailstock down tight enough for the mandrel saver to work puts a huge side thrust on a lathe's headstock bearings. I think others who use this mandrel saver should be aware of this potential problem.
 
I noticed that my mandrel saver has a little rough-feeling bearing when turned by hand,but still works good on my 46-460.I still manage to get a little runout on the mandrel,though.I bought a new mandrel shaft thinking the old one was weakend by truing it so many times,and that made it a bit better.That's why I switched over to TBC,and my fit & finish quality went way up.

I posted awhile back that my lathe was making headstock noise,( especially at higher speeds) and I could feel some wiggle at the hand crank,but none at the taper.The setscrew was tight,but I took it off,and removed the crankwheel & all seemed ok,but then I reassembled it and the noise totally went away.I thought the crankwheel was simply not on tight before the setscrew was tightened.

Pretty weird,anyway.

I can't say for certain that it started doing it after I started using the manderl saver,but looking back it would fit in the timeframe.I have to wear big earmuffs so with the dust collector roaring,it wasn't until I had to use it with that turned off that I was alarmed by the noise coming from the headstock.I figured the bearings were bad.

So I noticed the other day flipping thru the owners manual that says to be careful to not overtighten the crankwhhel,and after its seated,to back it off I think it states a quarter turn,& then tighten the setscrew,or the bearings can be damaged.

All I know is now it is as quiet as I remember it was when I bought it,and feel buttery-smooth turning it over by hand so I'm going to leave it the way it is now.

I don't know of any of helps you out,but just something to maybe look at.

Steve
 
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Hey...everybody I called PSI today on this madrel saver and at first they didn't know of any problem and then they said yes there was a problem and they are sending me a new and no need to return the old one. So you might want to give them a call . I like the unit but not the noise.

Good luck...Al
 
PSI

Hey....everybody I called PSI today and long story short. The mandrel saver is defective and they are replacing mine with no return of the old unit. So I'd give them a call for a replacement.
PSI part number is PKSTS2 PRICE $16.95


Good Luck...Al
 
As a check, you could try to mount something between centres with a live center ( spindle turn), and see if the noise is still there, if it is still there then definitely the headstock bearings are faulty.
Kryn
 
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