Please note that unless specifically mentioned our products are made by the FDM process,3D printing as it is commonly called, and are made from a tough plastic product. Most often PLA+ or PETG. If you have any questions feel free to contact me.


Cast Iron as used in the head-stock housings is brittle. The Spindle Lock must transfer as much of the force used to loosen the chuck in the same (or as near as possible) to the direction of the base of the head-stock.

Any excess lateral force on the casting (ie. pushing out on the head-stock casting) will quickly find a weak spot if one exists.

As for the number of teeth that we have on our Locks, the closer the teeth at the top of the lock are to being at a 90 degree angle to the housing the better as it prevents the teeth from slipping out of the gears and pushing out on the casting.

The next issue is that they slide in from the front or rear of the bull gear.

A correctly fitting gear and lock is essentially a planetary gear system in which the diameter of the lock  has to fit into the diameter of the bull gear gullet.

There are 3 ways to achieve this.

1. correctly size the lock to the gear and slide the lock in from the front or rear.

2. Make the lock flexible enough that it can be snapped in. (our Atlas 10/12 can be used that way due to head stock design) but that is the only one we feel comfortable doing that with but is not recommended.

3. Make them loose and with fewer teeth so the are able to be pushed in. (this leads to all the issues we try to avoid as described above.)

    With minimal pressure, the lock will slip in place. The spindle is then rotated allowing the block to wedge in place.
    The chuck is removed by placing a wrench on a jaw and turning it off, or your preferred way.
    Once the chuck is removed simply rotate the Bull gear back and the wedge block can be removed.
    This tool covers nearly 1/4 of the teeth on the bull gear spreading the pressure to allow no damage to the Bull gear.
    Created from a high impact non marring plastic that will not damage you lathe


Shipping

These units are available for same-day shipping if an order is received by 2 PM eastern time. After 2 PM will be on next day shipping
Contact us

We can be contacted at any time through eBay messages if you have any questions, comments or product requests. We will respond to you within 24 hours and do our best to help you out! We encourage our customers to contact us with any questions or concerns! We'd like to be sure you are completely satisfied with your purchase.