Page 1 of 1
Quill not retracting
Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 10:56 pm
by eldyfig
How appropriate. Viewed the Hands Online video Rebuilding the Quill and Quill Feed just the other day. Wouldn't you know it, my quill recently stopped retracting on its own in. When I manually retract it, it feels bumpy and tight. I would think if the spring was broken, it would be real loose. The quill expands out just fine. The rack is free of any sawdust.
Should I try waxing the quill? I hope the spring is OK.
Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 11:16 pm
by beeg
Remove it from the headstock and clean it up. Then wax it. Clean the pinion gear too, that moves the quill.
Quill not retracting
Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 9:07 am
by billmayo
Waxing the quill helps to keep the extending smooth. Use a little wax inside the headstock housing for the quill too. Just buff it out real good.
When extending the quill, is there an increasing resistance? If not, then the spring may have broken or came loose. Nick's video did not go into detailed but did hint on what to do for an unhooked/broken spring. You need gloves when working with the spring as it can get loose and cut you when winding it up to go into the hub. I have a wrench with a rubber strap that I wrap around the spring after hooking the end on the quill feed shaft whick I lock in a vise. Then wind the spring until it fits inside the hub. I spray a lubicate into the spring to make it slip better when winding. If the end of the spring is broken, I use 2 different size drill bits and a file to recreate the sloted end about 1" up from the broken end
eldyfig wrote:How appropriate. Viewed the Hands Online video Rebuilding the Quill and Quill Feed just the other day. Wouldn't you know it, my quill recently stopped retracting on its own in. When I manually retract it, it feels bumpy and tight. I would think if the spring was broken, it would be real loose. The quill expands out just fine. The rack is free of any sawdust.
Should I try waxing the quill? I hope the spring is OK.
Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 12:14 pm
by eldyfig
A little wax and some buffing and it is as good as new. I use wax on the rest of the SS and have done regular maintenance, but for some reason have been missing the quill. Now it retracts beautifully. Thanks for the help.
So far, it has been a great day. I am actually getting things done I have been putting off. I still have quite a list though. Back to work...