Tailstock issues - help please?

[Matt Friedman]

I recently got a used Record Power Coronet Envoy and for the past few weeks it's been working great. Today however, I was applying pressure to my workpiece with the live center and the hand wheel started unscrewing from the quill. I screwed it back in, and when I turn it, the quill will move in and out like it's supposed to, but as soon as the live center makes contact with the workpiece, if I try to apply more pressure the hand wheel starts to unscrew again from the quill. I tried removing the wheel completely, but I can't seem to get the quill out of the tailstock to examine it more closely. When I removed the wheel, I found a metal piece loose inside the tailstock and I have no idea what it is/what it does. I attached a photo of the piece, but I can't attach the video I took of the issue. You can see it at the Google Drive link below. If anyone has any advice/suggestions it would be much appreciated!

UPDATE: I figured out the issue, sort of. The piece I found inside the tailstock goes on the end of the lead screw for the quill to prevent it from unscrewing. For some reason, if the quill is tightened too much against the workpiece, it pops off. This is what causes the lead screw to unscrew from the quill. What I can't figure out now is why that metal piece keeps popping off.

 

[Webb Willmott]

It’s a c-clip. Look for a grove on a metal rod/shaft and it slips over the shaft and in the grove. It’s used to secure things on a shaft like a bearing race to prevent them from coming off.

 

[Darryn Achall]

That clip looks like it is bent open. You just need to purchase an e-clip of the proper size that is not damaged. An e-clip has the small nub in the middle opposite the opening. A c-clip does not have the nub.

 

[Richard Coers]

Just give the c clip a little squeeze with a pliers to close it up, then reinstall it. They are not hardened like snap rings and will bend. If it was a hardened c clip, it would have broken and not opened up.