Thread: Will Singer's Z-bellows fit my old FP1?

I asked this question in the "Franz Singer, Z bellows and MT-1 adapter" thread but didn't get any response yet, so I'm trying again. My old two-lever FP1 only ever had the Y bellows, evidently they didn't consider X bellows to be necessary at that time. There are no Z bellows either, and the "Venetian blind" ones being sold by Franz Singer are very tempting, but it would be expensive to buy them only to find I can't use them.

So, does anyone know whether they could be fitted to my FP1?

Thanks,

- Mike -

Mike,
Yes it will but this is old news, read my reply in this post; X-Balg for the FP1

Thanks Danny, I hadn't read your detailed comments before about using the Z bellows. At present I'm using a cover, more of a curtain really, made from some silver stretchy plastic-coated cloth my wife used in a fancy-dress costume for one of my daughters. Just a rectangle of stuff held to the body of the FP1 by a couple of magnets. Easy to replace when it gets tatty and doesn't restrict the travel, but not as fancy (or expensive) as the Z-balg.

- Mike -

None of my CNC Deckels or Mahos have bellows on the Z axis. I'm pretty sure they didn't come with them when new either. Seeing as how they are meant for much greater production than any FP1 (i.e. more chips and coolant flung on the Z ways), I'm a bit mystified why anyone would need bellows on the Z in the first place. Seems like if you have proper way wipers that's all you need for Z.

Why have a Z axis bellows? If you have a machine that has been used much, all you have to do is remove the lower tin cover and look at what will accumulate around the Z axis lead screw. The bellows will keep that stuff out of that area.

The weight of the table pulls the upper part of the cross rail away from the vertical ways just a bit with normal gib tightness. Tiny chips and crap were getting into mine. Maybe I'm anal but it seems a vulnerable area to me.
Cheers, Stan.