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Problems installing collet in T42 sub-spindle

torinwalker

Aluminum
Joined
Nov 28, 2010
Location
Oakville, Ontario
After buying a used and very rusty Conquest T42 and starting to work on the subspindle, I noticed that the "piston actuator" (see drawing) wouldn't depress the little buttons (41) because they were seized and needed WD40 and gentle coaxing with a nylon hammer to un-stick. But once un-stuck and the actuator working to depress these little buttons, the drawtube still won't turn independent of the spnidle face to allow me to thread in a collet.

Can anyone tell me what I should expect when locking the subspindle drawtube to install a collet? I've tried it with the collet open, closed, emerg on, of, and even the hydraulics on/off. For the life of me, I can't get the spindle to turn as the instructions indicate when the drawtube is locked.

The manual and drawing below suggests that by depressing the "Aux Function" button, the "piston actuator" depresses a spring-loaded button (41) that moves the drawtube engagement pin (40) from the "PIN-(engaged)" position (top illustration) to the "PIN-(free)" position (lower illustration), at which point the spindle face should rotate freely while the drawtube is held in a fixed position, thus allowing one to thread a collet into the drawtube.

Also, the drawtube certainly extends and retracts when the closer is opened/closed, so I don't think the tube is seized in the spindle bore.

I've highlighted in GREEN what I think ought to turn independent of the spindle and remainder of the collet closer assembly, but I hope someone here more familiar than I will point out what might be wrong.

Help, please, if you could.

drawtube_lock_pin2.png


Torin...
 

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Well, that's disappointing. No response at all. Well good news - I figured out the problem and have some good information for anyone who encounters this in the future.

Once upon a time, a brave man ventured into the unknown and bought himself a rusty bucket of bolts called a Conquest T42. Yes, it was rusty, no doubt, but videos from the seller indicated quiet spindles main and sub, smooth and fast turret operation, and oh so many tools. So he thought long and hard and eventually sent gobs of money across North America to pick up this diamond in the ruff.

Upon connecting the T42 and turning it on for the first time, alarms flashed and sirens blared as it turns out two of the IO modules in the control cabinet were completely broken away from the backplane because some idiot couldn't finesse the little lock-tabs holding them fast and probably used a crowbar to unplug them. This same idiot brilliantly pushed them back into place and used masking tape to secure them to the others causing them to unplug during transport. So I fixed the tabs and problem solved!


Next, the rust. Oooh the rust. Rust here, rust there, rust, rust everywhere. Up on the ceiling, down on the floor, under the ways, and oh there's more. Rust caked on the linear guides, and all over the screws... imagine my surprise to learn such news.

Well off come the covers, and down into it I go, to scrape, and wipe, and coax away rust that covers everything like snow.

Once clean and shiny, and way covers back with wipers anew, off to the subspindle I go to align and make true.

Well what do I find? Must you really ask? Well rust, of course! What a blast! Frozen and seized is the drawtube in the bore, only hydraulics will make it budge more.

So pump and lever and patience galore, I unfuck that drawtube from that nasty bore only to find there's even more!

The items in green, which should turn with ease, were caked with shellac to make the drawtube seize.

Apart comes the assembly using hydraulics to bear, I break the seal to have lie there, shiny inner and outer surfaces, closer bore and tube, all still new enough to reassemble with cleaning and lube.

So now my closer is fixed,
and not a moment too soon
since Hardinge wanted $4200 bucks
to do what I did in one afternoon.

:-)


Torin...
 
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Hey, well thanks. Glad to see it's just a matter of time before people reach out. I have to wonder how many of these machines are out there. I guess I expected the T42 to be more popular, but I'm finding out it's probably even more rare than the CHNC I had earlier. Parts are certainly more scarce, that's for sure... but it could be because people aren't scrapping the T42s as often as they are the older machines. At least not for another decade or so, until the T42 goes the way of the dinosaur. Let's hope at least a decade.


Torin...
 








 
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