In article ,
Ignoramus25542 wrote:

On 2010-02-04, Ed Huntress wrote:

And look for settled gunk in the apron.


Regarding taking off apron: I did try this once.

It did not work: the "carriage locking screw" would not unscrew all
the way.

I did not want to force it and I had other issues, so I gave up and
moved on to other things, but now is the time to look at it.

The carriage locking screw connects to a plate under the carriage, so
that when you tighten it it grabs the bed.

The screw unscrews, but stops midway and I wanted to know if I am
doing something wrong or should just use a bit more force.

I took mine apart and cleaned it without difficulty. It was very dirty.
The carriage clamp bolt just unscrewed, so I bet that you are being
blocked by some spooge on the ordinarily unused part of the bolt thread.
Do not try to force it, at least not initially. Instead, use a scriber
or pick to break the deposits up first. Soaking with acetone also helps
a lot, as does ordinary methylene chloride based paint stripper. Once
the bulk deposits are removed, a little force is OK - the parts are all
made of steel.

I just looked at the manuals for 5900 and 6900 series lathes. The
carriage clamps are identical, as shown on page 31 (pdf page 38) of the
6900 series manual. It's just a bolt screwing into a block.

Joe Gwinn