Thanks for the tip! You may be able to advise me, since the half nuts do not seem to engage with the lead screw. (I assume that the automatic feed is engaged with half nuts, but do not know) A likely cause is a jolt when it was taken here and there before it came to me. This does not matter much, though, considering I shall not be using it for screw cutting. Glad to know that some on HMT have had some experience with this type of lathe.