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1945-46 Brown & Sharpe No.1 Universal grinder #5426

Elam Works

Aluminum
Joined
Oct 8, 2007
Location
Pennsylvania, USA
The computer illiterate brother bought a Brown & Sharpe No.1 Universal grinder, so I am posting it for him. The serial number is 5426, so according to our Used Machinery Guide, that would date it to 1945-46. 1947 seems to have been the last year for these.

A friend of ours bought it at scrap price from a local shop that had been closed for years. He had a identical 1947 model with some power feed issues, and the idea was to use this one for spare parts. But he had second thoughts about junking it so decided to sell. Also, I think the trouble of tearing his apart to fix it, versus feeding manually for the few times he uses it, was a deciding factor! He had partially dismantled the machine to facilitate moving it to his place and storing it. So one trip to load up the smaller parts, and another with trailer for the base. It was a little bigger than what he was looking for (a #1 Cincinnati T&C grinder would have been ideal), but what the heck - the price was right!

It was absolutely filthy, no reflection on our friend as that is the way it was when he bought it. It seems to be cleaning up o.k., and despite the filth and probable neglect of maintenance, it does not seem to have been used much and the filth has not had the hours to work in and wear out all the joints and bearings. An example is the oil scrapping on the bed ways. These seem uniform along the entire length; wear would be indicated by the scraped areas getting smaller or disappearing at the ends.

First order of business was a dose of Gunk, and a power wash. Then dismantling to clean it out and check it over. Before someone starts yapping, we would not power wash a machine tool unless we were planning on taking it all apart anyway. It does make the process of stripping it so much more pleasant when the machine is not encrusted in a quarter inch of muck!

First three pics show it on arrival. All I can say is 'yuck!' The last photo shows the wheel head slide. Note congealed grit and rust at the end. This is not as bad as it first appears as the slide runs clear of the surface by a slight amount. Oil galleries are choked up with mud, and part of the reason a full strip down is required. There is one mechanical problem in that the hand wheel turns but the pinion that advances and retracts the wheel head does not. There is a worm on a shaft and a small right angle gearbox under the pinion and suspect there is a key or cross pin sheared. So far, drained the oil from the gearbox (looked o.k.) and next step is to drop the gearbox out and have a look inside.

-Doug
 

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O.k., a few pics of it looking a little cleaner. You can even now see it had a machine number stenciled on the front!

There seem to be several iterations of these B&S Universal grinders going right back into the late 1800s. This one dates to 1945-46 and seems to be the end of the line. The fella we got it from had a photocopy of the user manual and parts list covering the #1, 2,3,and 4 Universals. Like most old photocopies, the photos reproduced poorly and some clown marked it up in the most inane way, like circling captions or underlining "No 1 Universal" on each page and every location least they forget which model they owned... Another PM member sent along some scans of the pages containing the illustrated parts and list related to the No.1. At first it appear to be numerous differences it was just a different edition of the parts list. The illustrated plates were organized differently. The addition of a counter shaft indicated the manual was of a previous edition (1930s?), and still covered some of the earliest models. The illustration included from this shows that there were some minor differences, compared to the photos or our base. The reference to motor driven (individual motors for table, work head, wheel head, and coolant) in the caption is to distinguish it from the preceding version that was line shaft driven. Note that the earlier machine has a vertical door and the later a horizontal one. Earlier has the on/off switch on the right, later it is on the left and the right side has the knob for the two-speed table feed motor. While not shown, the later one we have has a belt guard for the table feed drive cone pulleys. However, nearly all of the smaller parts seem to have remained the same between the two editions. But something to keep in mind if shopping for literature for your B&S Universal.

-Doug
 

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More cleaning underway.

No broken tee-slots on the table from Godzilla or dings from Dr. Peen. Sump in the base cleaned up, but still plan to pull the front cover and shafts to clean out the journals. Also the wheel head slide is looking much better than previously. A look inside the table feed direction gearbox shows it to have remained very clean inside without any dental problems and nil wear on the clutch dogs.

I should add that it did come with the internal grinding spindle attachment. This is stuck, but I hope just a case of being gummed up. Will show it in due course.

To be continued. -Doug
 

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A bit further into the strip-down.

The front cover is off, and other than pulling the shafts out to clean out the bearings, all looks to be in order. At the front edge of the cover (which is the top when installed) you can see the strip of metal you lift to access the multitude of oil holes. On the right-hand side can be seen the face dog clutch for the table feed. This drives the gears (and table) attached to the front cover.

looking further inside from the front, once cans see the striking rod and paws for the clutches that reverse the table (not in view). The shaft on the right moves the wheel head towards and away from the work. The shaft turns, but the pinion above that engages the rack on the wheel head slide does not.

Looking up from the rear, somewhere inside this right angle gearbox lies the problem. From the parts list, the pinion is driven by a worm and worm wheel.

From the top can be seen the pinion that drives the rack on the wheel head slide. What cannot be seen is how to get it apart! Does it come out the top, drop out the bottom? It is a mystery! This will need some more poking about.

-Doug
 

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While the previous problem is pondered, a look in the front compartment. Vintage 1940s state of the art electrics. Mocking aside, I expect it will all work just fine, and will do so for the next seventy years.

Inside the door, ever so faintly seen is the schematic. Anyone skilled in paper conservation? :)

-Doug
 

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Maybe look in the parts scanned for you? :D

238 is the pinion, mounted in bearings in housing 211

Cross Feed and Reverse Mechanism Parts
 
John,

Oh, certainly have been pouring over those scans! While they do show the parts very well (except for a few odd items they stood on edge), it is not quite so clear as to how it is assembled; or disassembled.

I just heard from my brother who's grinder it is and is doing the dirty work, that a way forward has been found. And it was as obscure as expected, having exhausted all the more obvious approaches. On the plate of Cross Feed and Reverse Mechanism Parts, you have to drop the lower half of the gearcase #3163. This is held to the top half by three long cheese head screws. Two can be seen in the attached markup pic attached, the other is out of sight on the far side of the gearcase. The bugger is these have to be removed in place with a stubby screw driver, and there is not a lot of room inside the base casting. Fortunately they are not very tight, but when first spotted you would have assumed that you could drop the entire gearcase out to disassemble on the bench (conveniently). Not so!

Once the lower half is dropped, you can see the there is a worm shaft support bracket inside bolted to the upper half of the gearcase two bolts (fitting in the keyslot). The upper half of the gearcase is #141 in the parts list, and the two bolt holes can be see on the side where the item number is. More importantly, the worm can be extracted off the bottom of the shaft, and then the rest of the housing pulls out the top, as suggested by the illustrations in the parts list.

In the next image the lower half of the gearcase can be seen. Actually there is nothing wrong with the drive, I heard wrong. This was all part of the intended disassembly to properly clean it. There was nothing broken in the drive, though it did feel a bit 'lumpy'. The bracket attached to the worm shaft is an item that caused some consternation as I could not locate it in the parts list. Eventually I found it on the plate with the front cover parts as #1272. I did not bother to upload that page. Never mind, it is apart now! The methodology of the time seems to be you remove this bit, that gives you access to the next bit, which allows you to pull the bit from the opposite side out a bit, that enables you to unscrew the remaining bit...

In the last image, note the elaborate lock for the bearing nut. These are the first set of bearings (ball bearings) encountered that really do feel as if they need replacing. So now a few more bits to clean tomorrow evening.

-Doug
 

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Have yet to pull it out, but the housing, bearings, and vertical pinion shaft look fairly straightforward. In that respect the illustrations are good as they have the parts laid out in the order of assembly. And the whole thing goes together much as you would expect it to.

Still have to pull the worm wheel off the bottom and lift the housing out the top, so still could have a surprise like it the housing being stuck or rusted in place to the bed casting! Something to look forward to for tomorrow's episode.

-Doug
 
Photo 5 in Post #7 apparently adjusts end play on either the worm or its shaft. P/N 1057/1058.

You have worm and worm wheel - any clue why no worky?

Does the #1 include the two speed cross feed feature? On my '47 #4, you yank out a plunger for "rapid", which of course still requires twirling hand wheel

The reason I ask is that it does involve shifting gears, and you have to be in one or the other or nothing happens when you twirl hand wheel
 
The no-worky was based on a misunderstanding on my part. When it first showed up here the cross-slide would not move. I thought because the drive was broken (I did not try it myself) but actually 'not move' meant stuck. That got freed up during the disassembly. At which point the cross feed started to work, though clearly the bearings needed some attention. I only just found out that there was nothing actually broken yesterday, and mentioned that in post #7. It still left the problem of how to get it apart.

To answer your other question, the #1 does not have the 4:1 multiplier (rapid traverse) for the cross feed like the bigger models.

So for todays pictures, first we have the view from the top. Yes it is an empty hole, but that is what we were striving for! The housing #211 for the pinion shaft comes out the top, once you figure out how to remove everything off the bottom. Just three screws and two alignment pins holding it in place. I tried a view from underneath, but in the evening gloom the camera could not get a focus lock. Basically the underside of the table is rough. Nothing mounts to it; everything in the gearbox and cross feed worm is attached to the bottom of housing #211.

Next is a picture of the pinion shaft #283, with the upper bearing in-situ. The top and bottom bearings #3162 have water damage and so will get replaced.

Next is a picture of the housing #211, sitting upside down on the worm shaft and bracket. You can probably see in the photo the bearing cup is not in happy shape. The worm shaft has not been pulled out of the hanger bracket yet, but those bearings too feel like they will need replacing.

Next is a picture of the worm wheel sitting in the lower cover for the gear case #3163. Again, the rollers in the Timken bearing look medium-blah.

The last picture is the upper half of the gear case #141, here shown inverted. The bore slips over the bottom of #211 and is held in place by a radial grub screw #140, the threaded hole for which can just be seen at 2-o'clock.

Basically working from inside the rear of the base casting, you drop the lower cover for the gear case, remove the cross feed bracket and worm shaft, extract the worm wheel off the pinion shaft, loosen grub screw and drop the upper half of the gear case off the pinion shaft housing, and then you can lift the pinion shaft housing out the top. I suppose it is not completely field stripping as you can pull the pinion shaft out of the housing on the bench, but by this time you have the worm gear and lower bearing extracted so the only thing holding the pinion shaft in the housing is gravity...

Reassemble in reverse order!
 

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The new taper roller bearings are installed in the vertical pinion shaft housing, and the housing is back in the machine. However I need to backtrack and retract a previous statement. I said that the worm wheel was extracted off the bottom of the pinon shaft, and then the housing lifted out the top. Well not quite. Pulling the worm gear off the bottom of the shaft within the base is possible, but it is a restricted area. Mr. Brown & Sharpe foresaw this and drilled a hole right through the center of the pinion shaft. What I missed during the teardown was you drop a threaded rod down through the shaft, bridge across the top, and pull the pinion shaft up through the gear. The first picture shows a 'reenactment'.

Next picture is from below. Previously it was a little too dark in the shed to get a good photo. Here you can see the underside of the table is rough cast, and that the gearbox and all of the feed mechanism end up mounted to the lower portion of the pinion shaft housing. What you see at the lower end of the housing is the bottom taper roller bearing.

Another photo of the old taper roller bearings. I little past it, you think? Not sure how water got in and stained/corroded these yet little evidence of similar corrosion elsewhere. There is a collar just under the pinion that covers the top bearing and the spigot it sits in, so it is what you would think to be one of the better protected bearings on the machine. Go figure!

The bearings are a slightly 'bastard' size. Nominally it is a 25id x 52od x 15mm bearing. And they make bearings that are spot on 25 x 52mm. But they make a point that this bearing is 24.981 x 51.994mm. I suppose some folk like shaft basic fits, and others like hole basic fits... By the way, the original cup is Timken #07204 and the cone #07098 and they are still valid numbers and presently available.

Last picture, original bearing cup close-up. This is the first time I have come across a bearing race where the date of manufacture was etched on the race. "6-20-42". The machine was built in 1945-46.

-Doug
 

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I had a look and sure enough there is a scrawled "3" about 90 degrees out from the date.

Seems strange to worry about precision, unless the 'regular' grade of Timken bearing of the time was relatively poor. I could see some eccentricity in the bearing having an detrimental effect on the linear advancement of the wheel head. But I could also see the rack and pinion negating that precision unless they to were held to tenths accuracy on the pitch (and circular pitch).

Besides, you are supposed to check and sneak up on your size, and never trust the hand wheel dial! :)

-Doug
 
I would imagine their attitude was thus...

We are building machine tools, not trucks (which is a great place for class 2 gear box bearings)

Class 3 is the lowest Precision Class with Class 0 and 00 getting on up there
 
Jim,

Indeed, the American Machinist article covers the first generation B&S Universals. Back when everything was driven from a myriad of overhead belts! They were still showing the parts for the countershaft in the 1930 parts list, though it primarily covered what they called the 'motorized' version. Mention of the countershaft was dropped from the 1944 version of the manual.

The #1 seems to have retained the style of the original grinder, in that the base for the head and foot stock are quaintly round. The #2-4 have a more modern looking square base.

I am not sure when resin bonded wheels came on to the scene, but I gather the author in the 1897 article was limited to vitrified emery wheels. Even in the coarse grades, I suppose this would be a fairly 'closed' structure wheel and roughing passes such as we know it would not have existed. The emphasis put on the lathe tooling wearing out before the cut was done also suggests carbon steel still ruled supreme! If I remember correctly, it was WW1 that advanced adoption of HSS. It was sort of interesting that while deferring to B&S judgment as being correct, the author still went right ahead and propounded his pet theory of a 'hill' being formed in advance of the wheel!

B&S did publish their own operators manual which is quite good and of course covers explicitly the wonderful features of the #1-4 Universal. I think in earlier editions it is separate from the parts list, but in 1944 it was combined in one manual.

But I digress, back to #5426.

As mentioned, the vertical pinion shaft was reinstalled with new taper roller bearings. These were packed with standard wheel bearing grease, though originally they would have been oiled. At the top (first picture) the bearing is protected by a collar with a concave surface. Oil dripping down on the pinion and rack from the manifold above would pool around the pinion and run down through the hole indicated by the arrow, down through the top bearing, and out out through the bottom bearing. Of two minds on this hole. Leave it as is and let the oil run down through the hole as intended. But then I suspect that is how the water must have got in and damaged the bearing. So alternately just plug this hole up with a blob of silicon and rely on the packed grease. That would last just fine I am sure, but on the other hand under normal circumstances water should not have gotten in there anyway. If the lower half of the gearbox is filled with oil up to the brim of the oil cup, it does wet the worm. So it is not dependent on oil running down through the bearings and across the face of the worm wheel for lube.

Next picture is looking up from below. The upper half of the gear case is in place, worm wheel, and worm shaft. The worm shaft bearings turned out to be perfectly fine and needed no attention.

Last pic. With the worm shaft and table reverse shaft in place, we have shafts sticking out the front again. Next task, front cover and its shafts.

-Doug
 

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Okay, next installment.

Front cover disassembled and cleaned up. First picture is looking at the inside face from the top edge. Second, from the bottom edge. The ledge across the bottom is not a gutter, but a drip edge to deflect any oil running down the inside face of the cover away from the cover joint.

Third picture shows the cover back on and a few handles reinstalled. The only issue was the bearing for the work head feed, this is the shaft all the way on the left. Behind the flange with two screws is a double row ball bearing. Why double row, I do not know; a single row ball bearing I think would have sufficed. Anyway, like some of the other rolling element bearings, it showed signs of slight corrosion from condensation.

Note some of the small bits have already been painted. I had recommended removing the feed motor and drive prior to this stage, as being an opportune time to mask and spray paint the entire base. There would have been a minimal amount to mask and paint around. But the brother was in haste to start assembling, so the base is going to get a brush paint job. It is going to be the basic Rustoleum dark grey.

Next pic is looking down into the table drive space. The drive comes in at the pinion in the lower part of the view, via the table clutch (out of sight). The pinion driving the table rack is in the center of the view.

Last picture in this set is the base of the work head compound re-installed. The oil galleries were caked full of what I can only call mud.

-Doug
 

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Next step was to tackle the table feed motor. This is a two speed motor, with a gear reduction built into the end housing. First pic is the end housing and armature removed. Next pic is the end housing opened up on the bench. The motor has conventional ball bearings, and the output shaft is on taper roller bearings.

Third and forth pic is the curious oil seals used. These are diecast housings contain a few coil springs that press steel rings against the face of the bearing races. The forth pic shows it sitting on the motor ball bearing. The other seal presses against the 'external' taper roller bearing race.

Last pic is the armature. There was not much oil in the gearbox, but apparently enough to prevent it for getting worn out. All this needed was a clean up and reassemble.

-Doug
 

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...And here we have the table feed motor back in place. There is a small cone pulley that goes on the shaft that you might have noticed in previous photos.

Next pic is the mating pulley on the base. This is the view of the backside. The pulley spins freely on a post and the pinion drives...

Yet another set of reduction gears (third pic). Oil cups lubricate the posts/bearings but the gears them selves are just lubed by black, sticky old fashion axle grease. While the gears are protected in a housing and from being recessed in the back of the pulley, it is not a sealed gear case that could hold oil. The input pulley goes on the long shaft.

As mentioned, the pulley idles on the shaft, which is really a post. A washer and nut stops it from drifting off. Last pic shows the attention to detail. They could have just used a castellated nut and cotter pin, but instead they cut a keyway in the washer and installed a pin in the shaft to stop the washer from spinning and so undoing the nut. Quality design!

-Doug
 

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