Hi All,
I realize this is a long-shot but it never hurts to ask before giving a best-effort and making a hash of a nice machine.
I recently acquired a Deckel KF2. Overall I'm very happy, the machine is in great shape, and came with the factory cabinet full of accessories. A lube job and belt replacement and its been good to go. My one complaint is that the unloading spring has settled over time, and you can no longer apply enough tension that the spindle will lift away from the work if you let go of the handle.
I'd love to hear from anyone that's tackled this mechanism before, or anyone that knows of any factory manuals describing disassembly of this mechanism.
Description of the problem:
The unloading mechanism is powered by a large coil spring in the casting base, attached to a rotating shaft in the top of the casting. There is a cam-lobe on the shaft, over which spring-steel strips are wrapped. The coil spring pulls on the free ends of these spring steel strips. The shaft connects to something inside the casting that I can't see to provide lifting force to the whole pantograph assembly(That mechanism should be visible if I remove the pantograph, but I've been avoiding that so far because its working beautifully). I think I can correct the low force issue by simply shortening these strips to increase tension on the coil spring. Interestingly I found some spare strips in the cabinet, so either someone has already replaced them once and kept the old ones, or they purchased parts to fix this issue and then didn't finish the job.
I think I need to unload the mechanism, and stretch the coil spring so the strips are not under load, and remove them through the small access panel in the machine front (roughly 6"x10"). The problem is I can't figure out how to unload the spring mechanism enough to get the strips untensioned. There is a preload-setting handle on the side of the machine, which will reduce the spring tension, but not eliminate it. I haven't figured a good way to preload the coil spring so I can remove the strips, and I've no access the bottom of the coil spring without hanging the machine overhead to get underneath the casting,and that idea gives me the heebie-jeebies. I've got the machine manuals and they do not mention anything about servicing the unloading assembly.
My best thought so far is to get some steel cable with turnbuckles, and use it to pull the coil-spring end up to the shaft, unloading the ribbons so I can pull them out. I'm sure that wasn't how the factory did it, and I'm hoping I've missed some clever way to service the machine.
Cheers
I realize this is a long-shot but it never hurts to ask before giving a best-effort and making a hash of a nice machine.
I recently acquired a Deckel KF2. Overall I'm very happy, the machine is in great shape, and came with the factory cabinet full of accessories. A lube job and belt replacement and its been good to go. My one complaint is that the unloading spring has settled over time, and you can no longer apply enough tension that the spindle will lift away from the work if you let go of the handle.
I'd love to hear from anyone that's tackled this mechanism before, or anyone that knows of any factory manuals describing disassembly of this mechanism.
Description of the problem:
The unloading mechanism is powered by a large coil spring in the casting base, attached to a rotating shaft in the top of the casting. There is a cam-lobe on the shaft, over which spring-steel strips are wrapped. The coil spring pulls on the free ends of these spring steel strips. The shaft connects to something inside the casting that I can't see to provide lifting force to the whole pantograph assembly(That mechanism should be visible if I remove the pantograph, but I've been avoiding that so far because its working beautifully). I think I can correct the low force issue by simply shortening these strips to increase tension on the coil spring. Interestingly I found some spare strips in the cabinet, so either someone has already replaced them once and kept the old ones, or they purchased parts to fix this issue and then didn't finish the job.
I think I need to unload the mechanism, and stretch the coil spring so the strips are not under load, and remove them through the small access panel in the machine front (roughly 6"x10"). The problem is I can't figure out how to unload the spring mechanism enough to get the strips untensioned. There is a preload-setting handle on the side of the machine, which will reduce the spring tension, but not eliminate it. I haven't figured a good way to preload the coil spring so I can remove the strips, and I've no access the bottom of the coil spring without hanging the machine overhead to get underneath the casting,and that idea gives me the heebie-jeebies. I've got the machine manuals and they do not mention anything about servicing the unloading assembly.
My best thought so far is to get some steel cable with turnbuckles, and use it to pull the coil-spring end up to the shaft, unloading the ribbons so I can pull them out. I'm sure that wasn't how the factory did it, and I'm hoping I've missed some clever way to service the machine.
Cheers