Recommendations for freeing up frozen Quill

[beeg]

Does the spindle turn at all? HAve ya sprayed the output yet?

[bobgroh]

Does the spindle turn at all? HAve ya sprayed the output yet?

Yes, the spindle does turn. In fact, the SS runs and runs well -- nice and smooth with a good, firm speed control knob. The gentleman who sold it to me insisted on turning it on before I paid for it. I sort of winced but he had already tried it and really wanted to show me that it did work.

So the motor, the belts, sheaves, speed control all work. I am not going to run it again until I do a complete lube and check up on the headstock. And maybe won't bother doing that until I get the quill unfrozen. A bit frustrating at this point. As mentioned before, I'll give it a couple of days (might try the vertical weight trick mentioned). Then will pull the belts, motor, etc and try some more measures. And then look for someone good to tackle this. I suppose I should try calling Shopsmith on this also - for ideas as well as a quote/estimate on fixing it.

As always, thanks for the suggestions. Keep them coming!

[beeg]

Can you access the back of the quill, to pry on it with a board?

YES call SS and see what they say about it, and if you haven't. Order a new 2 bearing quill. I don't know if Bill Mayo would tackle it, but he has recommended this service many times here. Jacob Anderson on ebay.

[Ed in Tampa]

Do you see any rust? Or could it be the the gears are jammed? The set screw on my SS isn't adjusted totally correct and if I extend the quill to far (really have to force it) it locks in the full out position and I have to wiggle it around to get it to retract. I'm wondering if the same thing couldn't happen in the full in position.

You may be fighting rust when in fact the gear teeth are locked. Does the handle move at all, signifying some gear slop? If not I would suspect the gear teeth are jammed. Might just be a foreign body (sawdust or metal chip wedged between them.

[JPG]

Rather than clamping(carefully) to the quill, if you have a 5/8" arbor, attach it to the quill and attach weight to 5/8" arbor bolt:D

[cincinnati]

First off I would give Shopsmith a call. Jan who answers the phone will give you the answer whats wrong without having to think about it. Also don't forget Shopsmith will service your headstock for you. They will look it over and call you with the cost to repair. Shopsmith could use the support right now.

[JPG]

First off I would give Shopsmith a call. Jan who answers the phone will give you the answer whats wrong without having to think about it. Also don't forget Shopsmith will service your headstock for you. They will look it over and call you with the cost to repair. Shopsmith could use the support right now.

YES!!!!

And methinks Bob needs theirs!:D

[wa2crk]

Hi all;
Sounds like some good advice here but I don't think that you can remove the top shaft that drives the quill without removing the quill first. That shaft and the drive sleeve and the splined end of the quill are all connected together until the quill is removed. The only way that I can think of that the quill cn get stuck to that extent if the quill housing has gotten rusted and the rust is causing the quill to be "stuck" in the headstock casting. If this is the case I would not recommend using any kind of hammering to loosen it. Try to remove the quill feed cross shaft, it should come out even if the quill is stuck in the casting. Then put the machine in the drill pres mode and apply the penetrating oil from the top and allow it to seep down until it comes out of the lower end. It may take several hours for this to happen. It may also be possible turn the quill housing using a band clamp to turn the quill in the housing. A band clamp ( sold by Sears and others ) consists of a plastic handle and a rubber strap that will grip really tight but will not mar the surfaces of the quill housing.
Good Luck!!
Bill V

[Ed in Tampa]

[quote="wa2crk"]Hi all]

You can't turn the quill until the set screw on the top of the headstock is removed and even then be careful.

[JPG]

Yes it can be done with the quill still in retracted position(I think so but have never tried it).

After removing it(you may have the same problem with this as you are having with the quill:( ). you should be able to slip a piece of hard wood through the newly accessable hole and put it up against the end on the quill housing(NOT the splined shaft) and proceed with GENTLE tapping.

BEFORE doing this, remove set screw on top of headstock and quill feed shaft etc. Having done so, the only thing left preventing it from moving is the stuck whatever.

I hope whatever is causing it to stick is NOT rust. Rust will act as an abrasive while being forced out of headstock bore. Might want to check portion inside headstock for rust..good luck removing it if there is(must do).

All this might be more than Bob wants to chew on!!!!