How to remove Carriage ?

jbgoode · Post by **jbgoode** » Sat Dec 11, 2010 12:25 pm

I broke the bar in the handle lock and need to replace it, do I have to slide the headstock off the end of the tubes to remove/replace the carriage?

wa2crk · Post by **wa2crk** » Sat Dec 11, 2010 1:04 pm

JB;
Which bar? The one in the headstock or the table carriage? The one in the table carriage may be worked on with the table carriage on the machine but the one in the headstock will require removal and disassembly of the headstock. Which model of machine do you have?
Bill V

jbgoode · Post by **jbgoode** » Sat Dec 11, 2010 1:26 pm

I broke the one in the carriage. It looks to me like I have to remove the carriage in order to change the bar since the 2 threaded parts are opposite hand......

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sat Dec 11, 2010 5:06 pm

The following assumes you do not have a 510 or 520 model.

1) Please elaborate on what 'broke' means.

2) The wing nut is attached to the 'bidirectional threaded rod' by a pin passing through the wingnut and the rod. It is removed by driving it through from one end and out the opposite.

3) The rod is too long to enable removal with it mounted on the way tubes.

<<<<<<This may be incorrect!

4) If 'broke' includes stripped threads, you will probably need to saw it in half to remove it.

Conclusion: If removal of the rod is required, removal of the way tubes from the carriage is also required.

Usually this is done by a)removing the tie bar, b)removing the headstock, c)finally removing the carriage. If you be more adventurous,(involves an assembly of heavy, cumbersome, unwieldy pats being untethered) you can pull the way tubes(and carriage and headstock and...) out of the hinged casting. That allows pulling the carriage, but the rest of the parts are difficult to control!

Please respond to 1) so we may possibly respond more accurately.

After removing the wingnut, it may be possible to run the shaft far enough into the wedge to allow rotating the wedges individually so as to get them both off the ends of the bar and then pull the bar 'out'.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sat Dec 11, 2010 6:31 pm

jbgoode wrote:I broke the one in the carriage. It looks to me like I have to remove the carriage in order to change the bar since the 2 threaded parts are opposite hand......

If you have anything other than a 500, there are two bars in the carriage. One deals with table height and the other is the carriage lock.

The carriage lock bar can be removed from the carriage without removing the carriage. A nut on the outfeed side, once romoved, allows the bar to be removed from the infeed side. The table height wheel will also have to be removed but that is the \

BigSky · Post by **BigSky** » Sun Dec 12, 2010 6:48 am

If this is the carriage and not the headstock, both bars can be removed while mounted on the tubes.

The headstock lock bar is threaded and may have to be cut to be removed if the threads are damaged.

jbgoode · Post by **jbgoode** » Sun Dec 12, 2010 10:34 am

Thanks for the help and replies - it was easier to fix than I thought.

"Broke" means that the threaded rod snapped right at the wingnut. I only lost about 3/8" off the end of the threaded rod so was able to cleanup the end, re-drill a hole for the drive pin and re-use the rod. Just lost a few turns of thread in the Wedge-Lock.

It doesn't seem possible to replace the bar while the carriage is on the way tubes since the opposite threading of the parts means can't have interference in the center area of the rod. I had to assemble all the parts in the carriage housing and then put on the wing-nut and drive pin last.

BUT-it was easy to remove the carriage, here's what I did:

Rotate the way-tube/headstock up about 15 degrees.

Put some wood blocks between the way tubes and bench tubes to hold the whole assembly up (took about 9" of blocks)

Remove the way tube tie bar by loosening the (2) set screws underneath

Slide off the entire headstock assy.

Slide off the carriage.

Note: when re-installing the headstock, you'll have to take off the access plate at the back of the headstock so you can stick your hand inside so that you can rotate the headstock wedge-locks into the correct orientation to allow the headstock to slip back over the way-tubes.

When I figure out how to post pictures, I'll put some up. I'm going to order a new threaded rod/wing-nut part so I have full threads in the wedge-lock and repeat the process when the parts come in, but it seems to work fine now.

Thanks for the help !

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sun Dec 12, 2010 10:55 am

Atta boy! If you can round up a couple of dowels(any thing cylindrical) with an od of near 1 3/4" you can insert them into the way tube holes, tighten the wedges to them and thus allow maintaining wedge orientation until the headstock is back on the way tubes(loosen the wedges just before the way tubes reach their position, and push the 'cylinders' out with the way tubes as the headstock is slid onto the way tubes).

dasgud · Post by **dasgud** » Sun Dec 12, 2010 11:15 am

JPG40504 wrote:Atta boy! If you can round up a couple of dowels(any thing cylindrical) with an od of near 1 3/4" you can insert them into the way tube holes, tighten the wedges to them and thus allow maintaining wedge orientation until the headstock is back on the way tubes(loosen the wedges just before the way tubes reach their position, and push the 'cylinders' out with the way tubes as the headstock is slid onto the way tubes).

That's a very good idea! I have just struggled re-aligning manually.

Stitch · Post by **Stitch** » Sun Dec 12, 2010 12:32 pm

dasgud wrote:That's a very good idea! I have just struggled re-aligning manually.

Toilet paper rolls work well. Some paper towel rolls do too. However, I just unlock the wedges completely. These forces then to opposite ends of the rod and keeps them out of the way. Just align them and reinstall the headstock.