Needle in a haystack - Check your Lathe NOW!!

[Rob Wallace]

I just spent about 45 minutes doing the "needle in a haystack" thing to try to find a small screw and spring from the tool post lock-down lever on the banjo of my Jet 1642 lathe. I am recounting it here to warn others to CHECK YOUR LATHE NOW so the same thing doesn't happen to you!

I was hollowing several closed forms today and as usual, when the chips accumulate on the ways, I scoop-up a handful and pitch them in the trash can as I work. Having been through hollowing 3 vessels already (using John Jordan hollowers in an armbrace handle), I was working on my 4th vessel when I went to adjust the tool rest height, and the lever came off in my hand!! The keeper screw and spring were GONE! 😱

I first did the logical thing and checked all around the floor near the lathe amongst the shavings and accumulated hollowing dust, and even broke-out a spare 13" bar magnet (the kind used for holding tools on a wall) and magnetically "swept" the floor all around the lathe, however I found nothing but a few old wads of steel wool, several handfuls of steel wool "filings", and a razor knife blade. Realizing that I may have scooped-up the screw and spring and tossed it into the trash can with the shavings, I began the exciting task of going through a full 33 gallon trash can of elm, hickory, and box elder shavings......sweeping the top of each layer with the magnet before I removed the shavings, a handful at a time, to another bag....going down an inch or two into the shavings each time. I went through about two thirds of the barrel (approx. 20 gallons) of wood shavings and dust, and miraculously recovered both the screw AND the spring at the same time!

I was fortunate enough this time to be able to replace the screw and spring where they belong, and completed hollowing vessel #4 today! When I replaced the screw, I made sure to put on some Loctite thread locker before tightening that baby down!! I have since checked ALL of the adjustment lock-downs on the banjoes, tool rests, and quills of all three of my lathes (...and found one of the other screws was loose!) and made sure all were snugged tight. I was really lucky and hope to never have this happen again!!

I would like to pass-on this experience and admonish you to CHECK THE SCREWS ON YOUR LATHE LOCK DOWN LEVERS NOW! ! !

Happy Holidays!

Rob Wallace

 

[Charlie Knighton]

Rob,

i have already lost and replaced the one on toolrest and quill, the quill one was my own fault from over tightening.

i thought i was the only one

can you give us any peep on what you plan for your 2 rotations???:cool2:

 

[Joe Greiner]

The splines on these handles are prone to degradation, as charlie (apparently) has found. In an emergency, an ordinary cap screw (of the right thread) can usually serve as a temporary fix. If you're lucky, your lathe's manufacturers used the same handles for both the quill lock and the tool post.

It doesn't hurt to have a spare or two on hand. An OEM vendor, Reid Supply (use Google) has about two pages of almost every size and form of adjustable handles available, including metric. Fully dimensioned, and CAD files online too. Paradise for hardware junkies.

No commercial interest, etc.

 

[Ron Sardo]

Hey Rob

Check out this thread
http://www.aawforum.org/vbforum/showthread.php?t=8192

 

[Bill Boehme]

I know someone who went through almost the same exercise of sifting through a whole dust collector bag full of shavings. The person, who shall remain nameless, was also successful in recovering the lost parts. It wasn't any fun.

 

[MichaelMouse]

Shaking the bag will help. Then you run the magnet along the outside bottom until you get the click. Decant the bag into another with the magnet attached. I've panned for a few fasteners in my time, too. Mostly dropped stuff.

 

[Rob Wallace]

Follow-up.....

Glad to know that I am not alone in my search and recovery efforts!

Thanks for the comments - I'll have to break-out my Reid Supply catalog and see if I can find an improved adjustable lever of the correct size - great suggestion Joe.

Michael - I did consider doing the 'panning for gold' rubric, however decided it was a bad idea if I was to ever recover the spring along with the screw - the comparatively lightweight spring would never descend the column of chips in the bag as would the screw. So I elected for the 'archaeological dig' method and hoped to find the desired metal parts at their layer of deposition in situ. Fortunately I was successful in recovering both the dense and non-dense metal items.

Charlie asked:

Rob,

can you give us any peep on what you plan for your 2 rotations???:cool2:

I offered to do demos on several different topics (geometry of woodturning, ergonomic lathe workstation set-up, etc.) but the one they asked me to do (for both rotations) is going to be an introduction to wood identification - the topic I get the most questions on. I plan on reviewing the basic methods used and the wood characters needed to identify an unknown wood sample (i.e. to truly identify it, not just recognize it from previous experience) using identification keys. Demo participants should bring a 10X hand lens if they want to try it themselves during the demo; there will be "unknown" wood samples to look at, as well as a visual review of the small-scale characters that are useful for identification, and a summary of how to use wood identification keys. We'll walk-though an identification or two to show how it's done (read about this in Bruce Hoadley's book, Identifying Wood). I will also talk about wood toxicity and the woodturner, as well as the wood anatomy related to drying wood and how and why drying defects occur. If there's time, I'll also address aspects of spalting, and other related topics of wood color, figure, and chatoyance.

I'm interested in hearing about specific questions that turners would like to have answered about wood identification, toxicity, drying, etc. - no guarantee that I can get to all of them during this demo, but I'd like to answer as many questions related to turner's interests as possible during this demo. Send me an e-mail! [rwallace-at-iastate.edu]

Merry Christmas!

Rob Wallace

 

[John Fabre]

Been there done that, used my Lumber Wizard, found in two seconds.

 

[Charlie Knighton]

Demo participants should bring a 10X hand lens if they want to try it themselves during the demo; there will be "unknown" wood samples to look at, as well as a visual review of the small-scale characters that are useful for identification, and a summary of how to use wood identification keys.

glad to know in advance to bring one😀😀

 

[George Guadiane]

The keeper screw and spring were GONE! 😱
Happy Holidays!

Rob Wallace

I just had the same thing happen to me (again).
I'm left handed and apparently, that makes me move those handles in an unscrewing rotation. I check them often and tighten them, but I had a friend over and he was working away and when I got my lathe back, the screw and spring were gone. I looked a bit and gave up. I took out my spare handle and went back to work. I'll see about ordering a couple of more screw and spring sets, if they are available.

 

[MichaelMouse]

The screws are generally odd, but you can get a variety of compression and tension springs at most hardware stores.