I have a Wolf Jahn 6mm watchmakers lathe. Today in removing a stuck 3 jaw (smart rap with heel of hand on drawbar) instead of the chuck coming out, the spindle did!

Once the chuck was out I removed the spindle to see what state the bearings were in. However that left me with two queries, and I wonder if someone who has one of these can help.

The spindle shows no sign of anything that might be designed to hold it in place in the bearings although there are two loose split brass dust caps on the front bearing.

The pulley does not appear to be designed to bear against the back of the front bearing (at least that is not how it was aligned), and there is no evidence at the back of the headstock of anything which might pull the spindle into the bearings.

Question 1 – am I missing some part that should retain the spindle in the bearings? If not, how is the bearing loading set when reinstalling the spindle in the headstock – and what keeps it in there?

The front bearing appears to have rotated. The oil hole in the bearing is misplaced from the oil hole in the headstock, the rear bearing has the holes lined up.

Question 2 – any suggestions on how the front bearing comes out , or suggestions how I can rotate the bearing in situ to realign the holes.

There are further pictures in my album entitled Wolf Jahn lathe.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Edited By Peter Cook 6 on 08/06/2021 17:24:12

Thanks old mart. I agree that there ought to be something of that sort. But there is no obvious sign on the back end of the spindle of any threads or other attachment points that would allow the bearings to be adjusted.

I've seen the lathes site. The last WJ lathe on page 2 ( the one with orange wood in the background) looks identical to mine, but unless there is something under the brass dust cover between the pulley and front bearing, I can't see anything in those pictures to suggest the sort of adjustment I was expecting.

The two grooves in the front end of the pulley are suggestive. I wonder if there is supposed to be a brass(?) bearing keyed to the slots that the pulley would have pressed against the back face of the front bearing. I was hoping someone had a similar device and would know.

On the NAWCC website there is a brief description of adjusting a Lorch 6mm WW late which says "The pulley has a bearing surface at the front end that should run against the back face of the front bearing. There should be no end play and the spindle should run just a bit stiffish when lightly oiled. I use light machine oil in the holes on top of the headstock bearings."

The box it came in is marked as a Clarkenwell Lathe, and it could well be a Lorch clone with some Wolf Jahn bits ( only the foot and the tool rest are actually marked Wolf Jahn.

I think what I am looking for the detail of the bearing. I will start looking at Lorch.

PS I clamped the front bearing between spacers and twisted. It moved – so I simply aligned the holes and cleaned them out. Hopefully that will be sufficient.

Thanks Michael,

However if that is the case, then looking at the nose of the pulley

I think there is a bearing plate missing. Now to find out the shape of, or design, a suitable thrust washer.

Thanks everyone. Some diligent searching online has revealed several images of identical headstocks. One (withdrawn from sale) at

Wolf Jahn Watchmakers Lathe Headstock For Sale in Glasnevin, Dublin from steve2011 (adverts.ie)

shows the headstock disassembled and the shape of the spindle is identical to mine. It also shows the same nose to the pulley and has one of the dust caps. I think Michael is (as usual) correct and the intention was/is for the pulley nose to run against the back of the front bearing. Bearing preload is simply by squeezing the pulley up against the front bearing while holding the spindle in the double taper – then tighten the four grub screws. That would also explain the groove inside the front bearing from the oil hole to the back of the bearing (see the picture in the original post). At first I assumed this was damage – but now it seems more likely to be designed to lubricate the faces where the pulley bears on the back of the bearing.

As Michael also suggests this may be clever production engineering for a low cost product that could be badge engineered by wholesalers and suppliers. My headstock has no markings on it, only the tool rest and foot into which the headstock fits have the Wolf Jahn mark.

I have fixed the alignment of the oil hole, so I guess I should trust the quality of Wolf Jahn's engineering design, and reassemble it the way it was made.

Thanks again for all the ideas and thoughts – as always dialogue with someone else clarifies things.

Edited By Peter Cook 6 on 09/06/2021 13:39:14