Coronet No 1 Tool Post

[Frankie]

Hi

I've recently come by an old Coronet No 1 lathe which appears to be working fine except tightening the tool rest in the banjo seems to need a lot of force, is this normal?

I've tried cleaning the tool rest post and the seating it goes in with fine wire wool to remove any rust or dirt that might reduce the contact between the two parts but even when I tightening it as much as I can, I can still twist the tool rest by hand. Although it doesn't feel like it will move in use, I'm concerned as any movement could be nasty.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
Frankie 

[Bryan Milham]

Frankie,

First thought, take the tool rest out of the banjo and try to run the locking lever in and out. If it's still tight, your problem may well be strained threads in the banjo.

I had this issue on a banjo of mine. Simple enough to fix if you're slightly mechanically minded.

First thing to try is to run a Tap of the right size into the thread and see if you can reform it, otherwise;
You can buy a set of Helicoils, You'll need to work out what size you need). Drill out the old thread, retap with the supplied Tap and insert a new thread. A touch of superglue (locktite) will help hold it in place.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_nkw=helicoil+kit&_frs=1

[Derek]

A small thought I have a cl3 which to tool rest started to move around the post was very secure in the holder but the top cross member was unscrewing as it was threaded I took mine off the post applied some loctite and replaced had no problems since

[Mark Hancock]

Frankie

If it's the old style method of locking on the banjo i.e. clamping like the old No.3 Coronet I had the same issue. I resolved it by taking the locking lever off and replacing with a nut and bolt. I then drilled and tapped the banjo to take an adjustable locking handle (also known as Kip or Bristol) which worked perfectly.

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Another thing you might try,but only if there is enough meat where the threaded holes are, and that is to insert a small piece of brass rod the same diameter as the threaded hole so that when you wind in or tighten the screws the brass rod bears on the toolrest post. If eventually forms to be the right shape and tends to make it all firm. Just an idea that I use on my own lathes.

[BrianH]

surely the best...quickest..... way to overcome a damaged thread is to drill and tap a new hole somewhere else around the toolrest stem rather than trying to repair the existing. I can't claim it as an original thought because the stem on my lathe has two tapped holes, at right angles to each other, as standard.
Brian