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Shims in the bearing housing of a 10L

Grits

Stainless
Joined
Dec 14, 2004
Location
Little Rock, Arkansaw
Another question from someone that is new to a SB lathe. I inserted a steel bar in the spindle of my new (old) 10L and applied upward pressure, with a dial indicator on top of the spindle nose. With considerable pressure, I got about .0010" to .0012" movement. I know that is on the edge. Should I remove a shim or leave it alone. The spindle runout is less than .0002".

Again, thank all of you for your help. After some experience; hopefully, I will be able to add more to the group. In the meantime, it is helpful and a whole lot of fun to hear what ya'll have to say.

Grits
 
Hi There,

What kind of bearings do you have (bronze or cast iron)? If you have cast iron bearings, you're okay. If you have bronze, and your spindle clearance is really .0012", then your just out. Clearance for bronze is .0007" to .0010". Did you make your measurement on the unthreaded section of the spindle up close to the bearing cap? Did you use about 75 lbs. of force (down and up)? If so and your clearance on bronze bearings is still .0012", then at some point you will probably want to adjust the bearing clearance.

If you are getting acceptable performance and accuracy out of your lathe at present, go ahead and put if off until you feel the need to tighten things up.

Do you have a copy of the bearing adjustment proceedure? I would NOT recommend adjusting your spindle bearings until you get a copy and have read it thoroughly. There are bearing expanders in the removeable bearing cap that can damage your spindle bearing if you don't un-do them first. If you need a copy of the instructions, e-mail me and I'll send you a copy. There is a copy of the SBL proceedure over on the Yahoo SBL Group if you are a member. It should be in the files section.


Good Luck!
-Blue Chips-
Webb
 
Thanks Webb. I have bronze bearings. Also, I have a manual that has the instructions of how to tighten the bearings. I am going to check it again with a tenth indicator and make sure I am close to the bearing cap. I am not sure I can estimate seventy five pounds of pressure!

Thanks again,

Roger "Grits"
 








 
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