I keep forgetting to post about the latest annoyance on the metal lathe. As users know, the lathe has a brake that is both physical and electronic. This has a spring to disengage both aspects of it. Something has shifted, and the electronic aspect does not disengage at the point the brake naturally returns to. After releasing the brake, you will have to lift the brake up about two inches to reach a point where you can turn the lathe on again. If you’ve put the power back in neutral, you should hear an audible click from the electrical relay when you raise the brake.
The brake is still the preferred means of stopping the lathe, because doing so eliminates the danger of shifting the lathe into reverse while it is still moving forward. Which means this problem is a major nuisance.
The actual cause of the problem will likely be easy to fix. But reaching those parts to fix this will be a massive undertaking. @Styvn and I are planning to do this repair on Sunday, October 27 starting at 10 am. I’ve blocked the lathe off in Skedda for 9 hours starting at 9:30 am. I’m hoping this will only take 4-6 hours. But it could take longer, and there’s always the possibility that we will screw things up and disable the machine for weeks. Machine repair is fun!