I CAN get the handwheel off and everything has been freed up but it's still not moving very freely. Perhaps a bit better each day and that may be all it takes but I am beginning to wonder. When the handwheel is off the shaft appears to be fine but I can't rotate it rapidly enough to tell if it's bent. The machine's movement is still stiff enough that I have the motor out and on the table until I can get things moving better.
I'll give the smack a try. That makes sense, so it's worth trying in my book. Thank you.