Why do I keep stripping the inside of the lead screw drive gear?

[Nelson_2008]

Hello,

I was turning down a 2" piece of UHMW polyethylene with my Microlux 7x14 lathe, at 1000 rpm, using automatic carriage feed, and taking light cuts, when all of a sudden the lead screw stopped turning.

I took the cover off, changed out the damaged 80 tooth drive gear, and then it worked for a few more minutes before the same thing happened again; in each case, the keyway simply gouged out the inside of the plastic gear.

Has anyone else ever had this problem? I wonder what could be going on here?

Regards,
Nelson

[Nelson_2008]

Ok, when I put another new drive gear on the lead screw, I cannot turn it at all by hand (I already removed the small gear that drives it). So it looks like the lead screw is basically "frozen".

Has anyone else had that happen before? What could cause this to occur?

[EvilSmirk]

Sounds like you might have a binding issue with your lead screw at either the pillow block or the halfnuts. It should turn by hand without too much effort.