J & S surface grinder - refurbishment

My wheel will touch the table - are you sure the way covers on the column are not sticking?

On my table there is a raised area of the t slots- not by much maybe an 1/8” which is clearly designed to be ground in. Do you have a similar patch?

pic shows wheel on table and the raised pad:

Dave

Edited By Dave S on 07/12/2021 18:18:21

Dave, yes my table top looks just like yours. I'm fine on the traverse and cross feed distance too.

That's a really good point about the covers. I took them all off yesterday except one which was under the head ! I was tight and I couldn't raise the head because the elevation wheel assembly was in the house following repairs and painting. Perhaps I need to temporarily re-fit the elevation wheel, remove the last cover, lower the head again and see how I stand then. Thanks for that steer.

Gerry

Edited By gerry madden on 07/12/2021 18:45:47

A 540 can spin an 8" wheel safely. You should be able to reach the table with that, although the guard (or the back of it, when removable) has to come off.

When mounting the chuck back on the table, use Molykote 111 compound (a heavy silicone grease). If you can't get that (it's reasonably readily available), then use several coats of zinc rich cold galvanizing paint on both surfaces. If you don't, then coolant will invariably cause the rust to come back.

Thanks Mark. I'm glad you have brought that one up ! Rust growing between my table top and the chuck had bowed my chuck upwards by 20 microns so it was on my mind to find a way to stop it from happening again. I did think of using one of these preservative wax-based compounds but a heavy grease would be easier to easier to wipe away when required after a long period.

Gerry

I had the same problem and had to do a fair bit of research before finding a solution.

The advantage of the silicone compound compared with normal greases is that there's no soap and it's completely insoluble in oils and coolants. It also sticks like snot on a blanket (technical term).

Shouldn’t need to spin a big wheel. That photo is a used 180mm wheel - It measures about 170mm diameter and the wheel head wasn’t at the bottom of its travel

removing wheel guards is a thing to only be done after careful consideration IMO

Dave

It wasn't the wheel guard I meant to be removed, it was the rear splash guard as J&S called it. The back of the guard that goes around the table.

Ah. Good clarification

Mine came without table guards, so I cobbled together something that mostly contains the mess.

Did read like put a big wheel on it, take of the guard if it won’t fit…

Dave

Whilst you are cleaning the top of the saddle I would recommend lifting the bed off as well to check the oil drains and ways as they get blocked by the crud and dust around the bed. It is easy to lift off with the help of a friend after removing the cylinder rod blocks from under the bed at each end but make sure you have a tressel or table to put the bed on first. The oil from the lubrication and any leaks drain down here and if not cleaned from time to time oil will run out the front cover round the handwheel. You can run the hydraulics with the table off to see if the cylinder seals and lubrication are ok.

David

Gerry, I have just thought that it might be worth calling the company that took over the J&S name and asking if they still provide a gasket kit for your machine although it would be easy enough to make your own, I suppose. I remember buying a gasket kit from the real J&S at Narborough Road in Leicester and it was surprisingly cheap for a J&S product. They may just still be available given the number of these machines that abound. Other than that Jubilee machine tools (Pope's) in Derby may be able to help as they specialise in refurbishing these machines, or at least they used to. You could get a new wheel-head drive belt from there too.

You can also ask Andmar Machinery Services Ltd, Nuneton. They are also good on spares and helpful if you get stuck.

David

I haven't checked my wheelhead excursion yet but will do that later this week end and let you know. But by the sound of it I should be ok.

In the meantime I'm about to paint the valve cover.

Does any one know what these 7 1/4" holes would have been for ? Some are tapped and the alignment isn't that good..

Clearly something has been fitted at some time but not sure its important to me and at the moment all they do is let the muck in so I plan to plug them.

Gerry the holes in the table plate are probably for a jig to hold a dial indicator to set up job parallel to bed travel etc.

David

Evening all,

The refurbishment makes steady and very satisfying progress but had a minor hitch last night. I'm trying to remove the valve block cover which is the part shown in the pic below.

I have removed the 2 nuts designated 'H' plus two smaller cap screws located at the bottom left and bottom right corners of the cover. I thought that would be it, but there seems to be something else holding it pretty tightly near the bottom edge. I think this because I can lever the upper edge of the cover against the valve block and it will deflect off its mounting face by a mm or so. If I release the force the joint closes tightly. If it was just a sticking gasket I think that this would have broken the joint so there must be something else. The underside of the cover looks like this....

I have run my fingers up behind the cover but can't feel any screws holding the cover on from the other side.... but it is a bit gruesome back there so its possible I have missed something.

Just wondering if any one on here has done this job before and knows the secret to removing this part ?

One bit of good news is the company I bought the machine from contacted me out of the blue and said they had found the original users manual and a copy of the sales brochure and would I like it ?! Its great now to have a manual that fits exactly with ones machine and a few puzzlements I was left with after reading the one available on the web are all sorted now.

Gerry

It’s been a while, but I think mine was held on by 4 bolts and and a gasket, but maybe there was a couple of hidden nuts up in the back.
If your not in a hurry I can go look tomorrow.
I did have all the cross feed handle bits out of the way, but it looks like you have done that.

Dave, thank you for the offer. No rush, at you convenience.

G.

Gerry, I have done this job before but it's so long ago now that I cannot remember exactly what is holding the front valve gear cover on apart from the screws you have already mentioned. Perhaps there are a couple of dowel pins to locate it accurately although nothing is shown there in my parts manual for the machine. There is a dowel which appears to be through the top of the cover but you have probably already found this. You could possibly, and very carefully, insert a small screwdriver blade in the gap you can open up and use it as a wedge to part the castings. I don't know exactly, and the risk would be all yours, but that is the sort of thing I would be looking at unless something more obvious can be detected. Other than that, is that bush on the cross-feed screw not fixed to the valve gear cover in any way? Or, does the casting just slip over it? Again, no fixing is shown in the parts diagram.

Chris, ....mmmm... you may be right. Perhaps it is just a couple of dowel pins on the bottom edge....They might just need a more direct pull to get the cover off them.

G

I’ve not made it out there yet, shopping hiccup means I’m at rugby training with no2 daughter.
had a poke about for photos on my phone - often take them to aid my reassembly of things.
This is the only one I have with the cover off:

I think there was something non obvious, but it’s 2 years ago… The photo does show how much of the mechanism I removed though, which may help?

With luck I’ll get back in time to have a look, will certainly try to this week.

Dave

Just checked. There is an extra bolt in the middle at the bottom.

You can see it in this pic:

It’s accessible if you wind the cross feed all the way out.

Hope this helps.

Dave