The tailstock on my Stubby 1000 started misbehaving a while ago. I finally contacted Rod Caddeye, the owner of Omega Lathes, who told me what to do. The plate and the ratchet were both stripped, so I had to recut the threads. The threaded rod goes through three different places with a thread. I tried for three hours with my good friend Wayne Omura but couldn't get it to work. It looks simple, right? We finally surrendered and gave Rod a call. It was 11.30 am his time. He answered, and within minutes, we had the solution!! Tilt the headstock forward with all your might to put tension and be able to use the keep lock/ratchet to tighten it! Genius!! You must tighten the nut below a few times while ratcheting tight, or the nut could come off. It is a 2 man's job unless you can lift the end of the tailstock up with possibly a crane above the lathe.
