Last night the pin that holds the carriage screw to the drive mechanism in my metalworking lathe flew out and a cascade of things occurred. The screw seized (and is probably bent), one drive gear was stripped in one place. So today I took the whole lathe apart. The lead screw to the cross-carriage was tight, so I took that apart. Turned out that was due to a part that was getting ready to fail, and it failed when I took it apart. The bed, screw, nut, and a couple of other parts would need to be replaced I looked at the replacement parts, and they're well over half the cost of a new lathe, and I'm not even done. So I know what my Christmas present is. Unfortunately, I need to be making mouthpieces and rings soon, so I get Christmas early.

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Charlie
Whorfin Woods
Don't blame me, I voted for Cthulhu

Just out of curiosity, what kind of lathe do you have? You might be able to find suitable used parts on eBay or machinist forums.

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Got wood?
http://www.Busmanwhistles.com
Let me custom make one for you!

Bummer man !

I have a Jet 9x19. I looked on ebay. I just ordered a Grizzly, which I'm pretty sure it's the same thing as the Jet (which is not a current model), so I'm gonna scavenge and should be set. When I first got my current one, I didn't know what I was doing, and so the first few months were pretty hard on it. I'm gonna be a lot more careful with this one, starting with taking the whole thing apart, degreasing and waxing it all so that it doesn't attract so much sawdust, giving it regular cleanings, etc.

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Charlie
Whorfin Woods
Don't blame me, I voted for Cthulhu