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