Rif
Aluminum
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2007
- Location
- Harrisburg, PA
Hello,
The first time I removed the bearing caps on my South Bend 13x40, I screwed up and did not remove the bearing expander screws before removing the bearing caps. That was my fault as I never researched how to do it (I thought it was straight-forward.) and the plate, with the bearing adjusting instructions, was missing. I have since then replaced the plate, as well as repaired almost everything else on the machine as the machine was pretty much ready for the scrap yard when I got it.
Since then, it has become my "go-to" lathe and until last evening I was pretty happy with it. I had even quit calling it "my South Bend POS."
Last night, I noticed that the spindle climbed under load. So, I checked the clearance and found that it was about 0.005. Since I had to put in extra shims when I put it back together I figured that I probably just had to removed them and re-measure. I also checked to make sure that the bearing cap screws were still tight...and they were.
So, I removed the guards, removed the bearing expander plugs, removed the bearing expander screws, and removed the bearing cap screws on the bearing closest to the chuck. Then, I took a piece of bar stock and, by using the bearing cap screw holes, I rocked the bearing cap in order to remove it.
Once the cap was off, I found that the bearing expander was now on top of the bearing. (No, I didn't assemble it this way and there are no indents indicating that it ever was assembled this way.)
Well, to say that this really p*ssed me off is quite an understatement. This happened last night and I am still irritated this morning as I type this. To re-install the expander, by-the-book, I am supposed to pull the spindle, remove the bull gear, and re-install the expander. Then, I get to re-assemble everything. Well, I cheated as I did the last time. I found something that could be used to pry the bearing apart enough to squeeze that stupid expander back into place. Then, I filed any marks off of outside of the bearing and cleaned up the filings. Once assembled, and re-adjusted, I found that the spindle play is down to under 0.001. (Probably around 0.0005; but, my dial indicator goes down to 0.001.)
So, if I have to remove the bearing caps again, how do I prevent this from happening?
Thanks,
Brian
The first time I removed the bearing caps on my South Bend 13x40, I screwed up and did not remove the bearing expander screws before removing the bearing caps. That was my fault as I never researched how to do it (I thought it was straight-forward.) and the plate, with the bearing adjusting instructions, was missing. I have since then replaced the plate, as well as repaired almost everything else on the machine as the machine was pretty much ready for the scrap yard when I got it.
Since then, it has become my "go-to" lathe and until last evening I was pretty happy with it. I had even quit calling it "my South Bend POS."
Last night, I noticed that the spindle climbed under load. So, I checked the clearance and found that it was about 0.005. Since I had to put in extra shims when I put it back together I figured that I probably just had to removed them and re-measure. I also checked to make sure that the bearing cap screws were still tight...and they were.
So, I removed the guards, removed the bearing expander plugs, removed the bearing expander screws, and removed the bearing cap screws on the bearing closest to the chuck. Then, I took a piece of bar stock and, by using the bearing cap screw holes, I rocked the bearing cap in order to remove it.
Once the cap was off, I found that the bearing expander was now on top of the bearing. (No, I didn't assemble it this way and there are no indents indicating that it ever was assembled this way.)
Well, to say that this really p*ssed me off is quite an understatement. This happened last night and I am still irritated this morning as I type this. To re-install the expander, by-the-book, I am supposed to pull the spindle, remove the bull gear, and re-install the expander. Then, I get to re-assemble everything. Well, I cheated as I did the last time. I found something that could be used to pry the bearing apart enough to squeeze that stupid expander back into place. Then, I filed any marks off of outside of the bearing and cleaned up the filings. Once assembled, and re-adjusted, I found that the spindle play is down to under 0.001. (Probably around 0.0005; but, my dial indicator goes down to 0.001.)
So, if I have to remove the bearing caps again, how do I prevent this from happening?
Thanks,
Brian