Eric Goyette

[Eric Goyette]

Hello to all, I'm extremely green in the wood turning world. I just bought my first lathe, (a used harbor freight) which is missing a few things. After I figure out what these are and track them down, I'd like to start making duck calls, bowls, and small projects to start.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Eric welcome to the crew. What are you missing ? It is possible other brands will fit it as some parts are common.. Problems come with fitting banjos or other parts that may be specific to that lathe.

 

[Lamar Wright]

Welcome to the forum Eric. You will get a lot of help here from some of the most knowledgeable wood turners in the country. Happy turning and like Gerald said some other brand parts may fit your HF lathe. Good luck.

 

[Eric Goyette]

Eric welcome to the crew. What are you missing ? It is possible other brands will fit it as some parts are common.. Problems come with fitting banjos or other parts that may be specific to that lathe.

Well, from what I've been told, it's missing a tailstock quill. I'm sure other brands will fit, I just don't know what I'm looking for lol

 

[John Torchick]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Welcome to the forum, Eric. Can you post a picture of the tailstock? Maybe it's the live center and not the quill ... if so, that's an easy fix. If the quill itself is actually missing then you may be at the mercy of Harbor Freight. Sometimes they have replacement parts, but often they don't.

 

[hockenbery]

Welcome

 

[Mike Johnson]

The owners manual and parts list is on the internet, some of the parts are available from Harbor Freight if you call their customer service number.
Not all of the parts available but there are plenty of these lathes out there in the secondary market, you might look on Ebay as there are several sellers that part out lathes on a regular basis which allows you to purchase individual parts and pieces to finish a lathe project. If this is the Jet clone lathe that Harbor Freight sells you can also use the Jet parts on your lathe if it is the same series of clone.

 

[Eric Goyette]

Welcome to the forum, Eric. Can you post a picture of the tailstock? Maybe it's the live center and not the quill ... if so, that's an easy fix. If the quill itself is actually missing then you may be at the mercy of Harbor Freight. Sometimes they have replacement parts, but often they don't.

I will post a pic tonight. Thanks

 

[Eric Goyette]

 

[Eric Goyette]

I will post a pic tonight. Thanks

 

[Bill Boehme]

The pictures clearly show that the tailstock quill is there. The next question would be whether the wheel on the tailstock moves the quill in and out of the housing. If it doesn't there might be a missing guide pin that rides in the keyway on the side of the quill or the worst case would be that the threads are stripped between the wheel and the quill. Assuming that all this checks out OK, check out the hole in the quill ... called a Morse taper socket. Ideally, it would be bright and perfectly smooth. Light rust could be cleaned up with crocus cloth. If everything checks out OK then you need to determine the size of the Morse taper socket ... it would be either a #1 or #2 Morse taper. Measure the diameter of the opening and then Google Morse taper dimensions. You can then get a live center of the correct size to fit the socket.

If threads are stripped or if the Morse taper socket is as pitted and rusty as the tube then you'll have to decide if you want to spend any money fixing things up. If it were me, I would only do any repairs that didn't involve spending more than pocket change. Otherwise, you could easily wind up spending as much as what a new lathe would cost and still not be as good as a new mini lathe from Harbor Freight.

 

[Eric Goyette]

Thanks for the information. The wheel spins, however the quill doesn't move. I might start lathe shopping as I'd like to have everything in working order.

 

[Mike Johnson]

The item posted below on Ebay is listed as an old Craftsman tailstock, so this could be the same or similar to the Harbor Freight Central Machinery tailstock that you have on your machine. Many of these machines were manufactured offshore and sold under different names or quickly copied and and manufactured overseas to undercut the market. That style of tailstock never really caught on for good reason.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/Craftsman-...004520?hash=item2ab8bcc1a8:g:nA4AAOSwnz9bxOmp

 

[Eric Goyette]

Thanks for sending this

 

[Bill Boehme]

The item posted below on Ebay is listed as an old Craftsman tailstock, so this could be the same or similar to the Harbor Freight Central Machinery tailstock that you have on your machine. Many of these machines were manufactured offshore and sold under different names or quickly copied and and manufactured overseas to undercut the market. That style of tailstock never really caught on for good reason.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/Craftsman-...004520?hash=item2ab8bcc1a8:g:nA4AAOSwnz9bxOmp

Forty dollars is a big hunk of change for that old tailstock and the end result still wouldn't be anything to write home about. For $240 there is this pretty decent mini lathe that is a clone of the well regarded Jet mini lathe: https://www.harborfreight.com/5-speed-bench-top-wood-lathe-65345.html

 

[Mike Johnson]

Harbor Freight also sells the 12" X 38" Jet "knock-off" reeves drive lathe for around $300.00 which can also turn large pieces outboard. There are a lot of these lathes floating around on the secondary market that can be had for about half of the new price. Either one of the Harbor Freight lathes would be an entry level lathe that can turn many a project for the average hobbyist. The smaller lathes are easy to move around and don't take up much space, when you move into the larger diameter lathes the weight and size can quickly become an issue. Any vehicle can transport the smaller lathes, a pickup or trailer is usually required for the larger lathes as they usually get shipped in a crate that takes up room when transporting.