Tailstock doesn't retract??

[randyrls]

The club I am in has a Rikon 70-220VSR lathe. It is a fairly nice lathe, but the tailstock has a problem. It doesn't retract entirely. I took the hand wheel, quill lock, and set screw off. Removed the Quill and threaded part. I cleaned a LOT of black dust out of the RAM Socket with WD40 but this only marginally helped. The Quill still stops (jams) with about 2" protruding from the tail stock. This is without the threaded part attached. I made a wood plug slightly smaller than the TS socket and glued crocus cloth to it and inserted a 1/4" threaded rod thru the TS. I ran it back and forth on while running a drill, but this didn't help much if at all. I've run a diamond hone over the two slots in the Quill, but still no joy. I wonder if there are burrs where the two threaded screw holes stick through the TS RAM inside.

I'm looking for suggestions. I don't want to bugger up the TS, but running out of ideas.

 

[Valleyboy]

You could try putting the quill onto the lathe (I mean chucking it up) and using some emery on it to lightly clean it up - focussing on the area where it starts to get stuck. This has worked for me in the past when I had a similar issue.

 

[duncsuss]

Call Rikon, their customer support is excellent.

 

[mmayo]

I have the same lathe and I use it extensively and I mean it. It has served me well almost daily for years. When my tailstock went south I tried everything and finally spent $85 for a brand new one. It works perfectly now.

 

[randyrls]

Thanks for the suggestions. I replaced the bearings on my metal lathe. The journals where the bearings rest were oversize, so I chucked the spindle in my wood lathe and took crocus cloth to the spindle. Worked like a charm. I really don't want to mess with the taper RAM.

The RAM doesn't seem to have any rub marks on it, but had an idea to put dye on the RAM and see where it is rubbing. Hmmmm... I may reverse the RAM and insert it to see if I can narrow down on where the problem is.

I saw a video that said some of these lathes were made to too tight tolerances and "replacement parts" (different) are available. The replacements have a coarse thread, but the part I have has a fine thread. Pretty sure these are the original parts, not the modified parts.

 

[Pen Joe]

Thanks for the suggestions. I replaced the bearings on my metal lathe. The journals where the bearings rest were oversize, so I chucked the spindle in my wood lathe and took crocus cloth to the spindle. Worked like a charm. I really don't want to mess with the taper RAM.

The RAM doesn't seem to have any rub marks on it, but had an idea to put dye on the RAM and see where it is rubbing. Hmmmm... I may reverse the RAM and insert it to see if I can narrow down on where the problem is.

I saw a video that said some of these lathes were made to too tight tolerances and "replacement parts" (different) are available. The replacements have a coarse thread, but the part I have has a fine thread. Pretty sure these are the original parts, not the modified parts.

Mine did that what I found was just enough wear in the tail stock quill for it to **** to one side and cause the problem, so I machined on metal lathe and that took care of that problem, I made it from some brass scrap that I had on hand.

 

[randyrls]

Mine did that what I found was just enough wear in the tail stock quill for it to **** to one side and cause the problem, so I machined on metal lathe and that took care of that problem, I made it from some brass scrap that I had on hand.

Nice work!!!