Horizontal Mill Project

here was my DW mill masked up…

and finished…..

was definitely worth the trouble.

Anyway, paint ordered now, decision made 😁

On another refurb topic, any thoughts about getting this spindle out? I’ve removed all bolts I can see, bearings at both ends are visible. I can’t see any more retaining fixings. Tap it gently from the back?

Yes, I think so - try it gently - it's been a long time..

BUT first ensure the pulley is free to slide so that the spindle will come out - it'll be a pain if it's seized on the key/spindle and you have to 'persuade' it off with everything else moving about..

I goes without saying to take great care not to damage the bearings & seals which might be eye-watering to replace, but do also be attentive to those areas of the spindle that runs in the seals, take care not to accidentally mark it on the main casting as it comes out, and be aware of any shims that might be fitted - unless you really NEED to, I'd keep any disassembly to a bare minimum, and record the relative positions of any- & every- thing that comes out - I can't recall exactly what is in there.. ..big T/R bearings with felt rings, IIRC.

If the felts look tired, new square section band is still available, I think.

Best wishes!

well its out!

Looking good..

Actually, its a bit of a mystery.

At the nose of the spindle, there’s a cover, followed by a Timken bearing, followed by a felt washer, followed by a bearing seal, to keep the grease in I guess.

But at the tail end, from the outside in, there’s a cover, in which goes a steel bushing, then a Timken bearing. No felt washer, no bearing seal. I wonder if these are missing, or if this is how it is meant to be?

The bearings all look in good condition, and the spindle also.

a few pics below.

Front 

Rear

Edited By Steve355 on 15/12/2021 18:26:39

That might well be right - it's not likely for to debris to enter the back bearing, and the sleeve should be 'a-close-fit-with-a-little-clearance' in the cover - I think in standard format the central portion / pulleys and belt were enclosed within covers, and the take-off for the cross-feed drive lies well below spindle height.

Seals generate friction so could have been omitted to make setting bearing tension and adjustment easier / more consistent in use..

Unless you find (or someone has) compelling evidence of a seal I'd be inclined to rebuild it as found.

There's a slim possibility that the one I used to own might still be available to inspect, I will endeavour to track it down (if it's still even extant), Covid permitting and as time allows..

Do you have the a countershaft assembly?

Edited By DiogenesII on 15/12/2021 18:55:55

Ok, well if you do have any chance to get any info, that would be gratefully received. I think you are probably right though.

How does one set bearing tension in this arrangement?

it did come with a countershaft assembly, unfortunately not original. The motor isn’t original either, neither is the stand as far as I can tell.

Having now stripped some of the paint it seems likely it has been repainted at least once.

With any luck I can strip it on Sat, start the painting on Sunday. Might even have it back together by Christmas.

..time is going to overtake me this morning, apologies..

..there are a number of threads regarding spindle adjustment here, somewhere, including some useful comments from Ketan on adjustment and greasing - it's in my mind that there's a succinct 'how-to' somewhere although it's location escapes me at present - any help welcome, I won't be back until 17:30..

In essence you need to eliminate any play in the bearings by applying a very little tension (or pre-load) using the adjuster at the back, at the same time taking care that the spindle is free to rotate without excessive friction.. ..because there is no prescribed tension or measurement provided, you'll need to run the spindle to finalise the setting by 'feel'.

If anyone knows the earlier threads I'm thinking of, a link would be great..

The original machines came with a long-since unobtainable gear-head motor... aaagh, I must go!

There are quite a few posts in history. If you google search for Ketan Swali pre-load, you will find a good range of discussion.

In automotive use, Taper Roller bearings are set with end float ( 0.002 - 0.004" usually)

This is not the case with such bearings in machine tools, where the preload is likely to be of the same order, to eliminate any possible movement.

Do not overdo the preload., otherwise bearing life will be short.

If in doubt, just apply the minimum of preload.

Howard

..not sure that I've found the exact posting I was thinking of, but this will do - the thread as a whole was concerned with lathe spindle bearing set-ups and 'wandered' at times, as threads tend to do, but contains some info that's worth a read.

Here is page 2;

Model-Engineer - Pre-load of new bearings..

The posting, halfway down, made by Ketan Swali on 22/09/2017 at 15:28:18 contains the essence of what you need to know and identifies the potential pitfalls.

..I think because in this particular case you are re-tensioning 'already-seated' bearing pairs, you should exercise some caution to not 'over-load' the bearings from the off - gently does it, with as much judiciousness and patience as you can muster, as you won't have as much of a 'running-in' grace period - it will be easy to add a little more tension later if necessary.

Hope this helps

Edited By DiogenesII on 18/12/2021 12:15:20

Thanks very much for the info chaps. I’m well into the refurb now and it’ll be a few days before I get to reinstalling the spindle and bearings, but then I’ll return to this. Last weekend was stripping, priming and painting. Stripping was a miserable job!

Space left to try to restore the BURKE lettering ground off by someone for inexplicable reasons….

Starting to come together now… just the motor to do.

then tidying up

As was…

Looks like a decent set-up, good to have all the traverse and the knock-off bits still there.

..just as an observation in passing, I think as far as cutter size for lightweight horizontals goes, less is most definitely more - using the smallest cutter that will achieve the cut you need is the way to go - for anything wider than a slitting saw, I'd rather have used a 2 1/2" or 3" cutter any day than a 4 or 5" one..

It’s certainly a damn sight better than it started out. But I won’t be able to cut metal until I’ve got a new belt or two unfortunately.

That’s the biggest cutter I have, more for impressing the wife than actually planning to use it at this point

Final task is to install the MEM Startet I acquired for it.

and then the tramming, adjustments, swearing etc.