Reversing the lead screw

[ledaholic]

Howdy fellas,

I recently acquired an 8x12 HF lathe. I'm getting the hang of it pretty quick but am curious if anyone knows how to reverse the lead screw? I have found an extra "idler" gear in the spare parts box but can't figure where to put it in the gearbox. The owners manual is kinda vague.

Thanks Bob

 

[darkzero]

Look behind & under the pulley for the spindle, you'll see two threaded holes. Install the idler gear in the left hole (pulley facing you) & drop the gear on the right down to the other hole.

So the idler gear you will install will engage with the spindle, the gear you drop down will no longer engage with the spindle & will now engage with the idler gear & with the change gears. I've never used it yet but if the gears don't line up, maybe those two gears need to be swapped locations.

 

[ledaholic]

Cool, thanks DZ. I'll look again. I saw the lower hole but not the necessary other hole. It must be hiding in the shadows.

 

[darkzero]

No problem. Yeah I never noticed the left hole at first either. It's hiding to the left of the spindle. Might be best to look for it from the belt tensioner side.