Rodney Milling Aattachment

Many years ago I bought a Rodney Milling attachment. Although the quill was stiff to turn overall the unit looked in good condition. Ten years later.....I decide to get it running and presume that it just needs some tlc and oil. As I have stripped the unit down, there not being very much of it i have discovered that there is more too the problem and my early hubris seems to have bitten me fair and square. The quill will turn but not freely. It is stiff, binding even and I can find no obvious way to dismantle it further for an inspection/removal of the ball-races.

I wonder if there is anyone out there who might be able to shed some light on this problem. I should also point out that I don't believe the problem to be one of 'lack of lubrication'. I've had a go with various oils and nothing seems to improve. It feels like over-tight bearings...lumpy. Though the upper races seem in tip-top condition as does the unit as a whole?

I'm a complete novice but I am technically and practically minded.

Any input gratefully received. Cheers, j.o.

Pulled from t'internet

Rodney milling attachment

Looks a bit weedy at the lathe bed end to me...

The most horrible thought I had was a warped spindle, I know precisely zero about these units though

A few threads here

Edited By Ady1 on 20/02/2016 11:01:40

If it's been standing unused fpor 10+ years, the lube in the lower bearing may well have solidified. I had the same problem on an old Quorn, where I had to dismantle the spindle and thoroughly clean the bearings with white spirit.

More photos of the spindle assembly, especially at the top where there should be some form of nut (possibly castellated, maybe split with a locking screw) to apply axial loading to the bearings, would be helpful. You can get instructions/spec from: **LINK**

Hi, thank you for the replies. Firstly I hope the shaft is not warped but I understand this could be a possibility but a bit like when the car wont start i check to see if it's got fuel before I tackle the hydraulic injectors!

I can see that the lower ball race could be clagged-in but until I can dismantle the quill completely i cannot tell the state of the lower races or if the shaft is warped or not and I cannot for the life of me work out how this is to be done!! Is it possible that this is a 'fit-and-forget' assembly....?

And thanks for all the links btw. Cheer, j.o.

p.s. here are some photos showing how far I've got and my question is how do I dismantle the rest so I can remove the shaft and inspect the lower ball races. Looking at how it's been assembled I'm wondering if the steel ring marked 1L is a threaded locking ring holding all together? If so I can't see a way of getting hold of it to un-screw it! To be honest it has me completely baffled and I'd just like to know how it all fits together before I start a more medieval approach....! Cheers, j.o.

j.o., the inner ring marked 'IL' is the inner race of the bearing, the shaft that protrudes through it will be a press fit into that race,
Is there a circlip or snap ring on the other end of the body? if there is remove it,
If not, I'd say that the shaft just presses through the body, you'll need to support the outer edge of the larger 'tube' of the quill and press out the inner shaft - or give it a whack with a copper mallet, or a hammer with some softer material over the end of the shaft to protect it, press would be best if you've got access to one.

My guess is that the bearing inner race on the other end will come out with the shaft,

John.

Thanks for your reply John, I think you may well be right. I've included a photograph of the 'business end' of the quill and as you can see there is no circlip or obvious sign of securing the pieces together. I'd still like to get some definitive advice if anyone out there has actually disassembled one of these before or at least knows how they are assembled. Whereas i love to hit things with hammers I'm disinclined as experience has shown me the error of whacking something I know little about. The quill is also quite stoutly built and will require much whacking! hahaha!

Cheers, j.o.

The flats on the spindle nose suggest it can be unscrewed

The design looks very like a unimat sl spindle

.

... or, I suspect, they are to restrain it whilst unscrewing Myford stuff from the nose.

MichaelG.

Jonathan, you have presumably removed the nuts at the top. It's highly likely that the shaft is or has become a press fit in the bearings and will need pressing or bashing out. This may damage the bearings but they should be simple to replace. I'd have thought it highly unlikely the shaft has warped. As Michael says the spanner flats are almost certainly for tightening things screwing on to the spindle nose.

If you fit the whole unit on your lathe, you may be able to improvise a press with a long length of studding through the spindle bore, a tapped bar underneath the bed, and a nut bearing on the top of the spindle.

I'd machine a short tube to support the outer member but clear the disc behind the flats, stand it on end on something solid and give it a whack on the top end with a copper or nylon hammer. How hard is a matter of judgement, but I strongly suspect that the spindle complete with bottom bearing will then come out.

You can get an instruction sheet from https://store.lathes.co.uk/print/mr532, but no idea how detailed it is

Thank you all for your suggestions, I'll let you know how I get on....Until then, then....Cheers. j.o.

p.s. thanks for the link to the site selling the brochure. I think it's just a brochure and spec' sheet but I'll investigate.

If you bore a hole in a plate to clear the spindle nose (i.e. just covering the outside part of the spindle) with a couple of hole in it, you should be able to improvise a puller with a couple of long bits of studding and a cross bar for the far end of the spindle.

Neil

nice idea Neil. i fitted the quill back into the cast part of the mill tightened it up and gave it a few encouraging whacks. Nothing moved. Perhaps because i'm not hitting hit with enough force, I don't know but I think I might go down the road of the improvised puller. Thanks, food for thought. j.o.

Like this.......

Bit of heat from a propane torch or heat gun (or a good hair dryer) might reduce the amount of whacking/pressing required to get things moving. Play the heat around the OD at each end of the outer "tube" but not on the inner spindle.

You've been looking in that window on top of my head ... hope you didn't see anything else!

Neil

No, nothing to frighten the horses Neil....! Haha!

Hi,

I have exactly the same challenge with my Rodney! Top bearings look good, but feels very "lumpy" like there's a broken ball somewhere in the quill. So before I start thwacking / pressing anything to get to the bottom bearings I thought I'd see if there was any more advice on how to get these apart?

(Jonathan, if you're there, I see you were still posting in 2019: although it was a few years ago now I wondered if you ever got yours apart and sorted it?)

Just for interest, mine's the stand alone miller, not the attachment. But all of the "business end" is identical between them as far as I know.

Thanks,

Andy