That's how mine works too. But the tension in the lever action is adjustable
with setscrews. If the lever pulls out and pushes back easily, then it
inevitably creeps down to slow spleed. Mine has to be tightened until I am
barely able to pull and push the lever in and out. Then the speed adjustment
holds.

"Dan Bollinger" wrote in message
m...
There are 2 screws in the handle that are used to adjust the locking
tension. The manual I have refers to this but gives misleading info as to
their location, which leads me to believe that there are differences in
the models. One screw (on the side) locks the adjusting screw (under the
front).

I have found that in order to keep the mechanism from sliding down to the
lowest speed, the locking tension must be so tight that it requires great
pressure to use. So I have devised an extension arm that slips over to
handle to provide more leverage.

Perhaps there have been changes in different models and years. For the
two R/D 12" HD lathes I had the levers were clamped by overcenter. That is
you pulled the lever away from the lathe, then turned the lever to adjust
the rpsm, then pushed the lever back overcenter to lock it in place.
Often, students would attempt a 'gorilla' move and try to turn the lever
without unlocking it first.

Dan