OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Finding and Swapping Idle Chatter New (second hand) lathe for the shed.

Your leadscrew will need to be cleaner to check its condition. This is the check I suggest you do. First, this is the bit I'm talking about:


Look closely at the sides of the thread-form, in the red circle, looking for signs of wear. Compare it with the far end of the leadscrew, which will not have been used and will not be worn at all.

For comparison, here is mine. Headstock end, which will have the most wear:


This is the right hand end, which will not have been used at all:


My lathe is 80 years old, and spent perhaps the first 5 of those years in a toolroom, so it has had some use. I do not see signs of wear or spalling on the sides of the thread, but I'm sure there will be a reasonable amount of wear, which could be assessed by filing up a piece of aluminium sheet to be a tight fit in the thread at the unused end, then it could be pushed into the used end, and its sideways free play assessed.

On a different subject, the gear on the end of the spindle, which drives the gear train to the feed and leadscrew, has been running dry for a very long time by the look of it, and has some wear. This is not important, but it shows what happens if you neglect machinery.