Need help w/K.O.Lee tool grinder

Hi Everyone,

I am working on a new (to me) toy & I am having a bit of trouble trying to get the spindle out of the quill. It has about .008 thousandths end play & that seems a bit much to me. I plan to take it apart for cleaning & to see how it is adjusted & compensated for temperature rise as the spindle runs.

I am used to seeing the bearing end play adjustment at one end & the other being allowed to expand. Does this one work that way?

Before I can get to that, I believe I need to remove the tapered insert that holds the grinding wheel adapter and that is where the problem is coming.

As you can see, the threaded stub for the adapter is broken and when I back out the center 5/16 socket head screw it only comes out this far. It turns freely but will not come out any farther. It feels as if it is being held by a snap ring, or shoulder of some kind, on the other side of this tapered adapter.

Is this tapered adapter supposed to be forced out by a couple of wedges as are used for drill chuck removal?

Any help would be appreciated and thanks in advance for your time.

Best wishes to you all.

Sincerely,

Jim

jim: from your photos it looks like the taper end is part of the spindle itself. once you get the spindle out its a piece of cake to replace the bearings with new ones. kenny

Spindle not one piece

HI Kenny.

Thanks for responding.

The taper end is removable for different adapters for internal vs. external grinding. Actually quite like several brands of tool post grinder.

I should have mentioned in my OP that when I back off the center 5/16 screw you can feel it leave the threads inside and then it can be moved outward about another .100 or so.

That was what I meant when I said it turns freely. I could have done a better job of explaining that!

One other thing, the large end of the taper is larger than the minor diameter of the threaded nut so if the spindle was one piece, that nut would never go past the taper.

I have plenty to keep me busy in the shop, so I get back to this grinder as I can.

I would like to sharpen some cutters though so I would like to get this spindle functioning properly fairly soon.

Thanks also for your time.

Best wishes to you.

Sincerely,

Jim

jim: maybe the allen screw on the end is supposed to stay in the wheel adapter. maybe held in with some type of retaining ring. anyway soak the heck out of it with rust remover and keep trying. take care. kenny

Been their done that. You loosen the screw and it jacks the adapter out . the end in the spindle is a# 5 brown and sharp taper . Hope you sitting down that little wheel adapter cost almost $600.00 I priced one last spring from Le blond. They had all the parts but none assembled . mine was cracked on the end where the 1/2 inch thread just like yours Got it out and made some out of 4140 PH They wanted $90.00 just for that 5/16 screw.
And No it does not jack out with wedges. The 5/16 screw goes thru the part and has a collar threaded on the end which is silver soldered The collar is threaded 5/16 24 and has a shoulder on it . when you loosen the screw and keep loosen it under force it jacks the arbor out of the B&S taper . hope this info will help. That is one high priced little part . but you can still take the spindle apart with out pulling it . At least mine did.

Problem solved, for the most part!!

Thanks for the information Lane. You are right on.

I came in from the shop and was going to post that I got it apart and I found your response. The info is VERY much appreciated.

I remembered that I made a clamshell adapter for use w/a gear puller for removing an oil pump gear for a motorcycle engine. I tried it and it worked great.

Something is still amiss with this spindle setup though. The 5/16 screw disengages from the thread before it can jack the adapter out. It does have a rather large chamfer & I don't know if the first threads are stripped out in the spindle. I'll check that out when I can get back to it.

I think that I might be in for some re-designing!!!

Does/did your adapter look like mine on the threaded end? Mine is 3/8-24 & the threads aren't all that great as they get farther from the end.

My broken 1/2 inch end shows no sign of yield/stretch. It simply snapped, clearly showing that the end was not properly tempered after heat-treating and was left far too brittle for a threaded application.

I thought that this silver soldered screw idea was some 'repair' partly because of the poor threaded end & because, once I got the spindle apart, I found the rear (belt end) bearing was in backwards, explaining the excessive end play. Comforting to know that this grinder came from an aerospace shop.

Yours might be a different model though (perhaps newer) because the taper adapter won't let me remove the spindle nut that is behind it. On mine, it has to come out for spindle removal.

Year ago I used a K.O Lee like this and it had an assortment of flat belt pulleys for the motor/spindle, but this one uses a narrow Gates Polyflex V-belt. What type of belt does yours use?

Thanks again for the info and for taking the time to respond. Every bit of info helps as I get this going.

Best wishes to you.

Sincerely,

Jim

Yes from your picture the 3/8 24 thread is too short. Should be about 1 inch long . And go almost to the shoulder of the taper . no more than 1/8 end play in the 5/16 bolt once all assembled. Yes i noticed your spindle looked a little different on the end .
Mine also uses the gates belts I biught 2 from leblond and paid 3 times to much for them . then found the gates part # and bought the rest of them from gated about $8.00- $12.00 eash depending on length.Let me look tomorrow Sat and I will get back to this thread with the gates part numbers for the belts . Any more questions please ask .

Find any money?

You said I should ask questions!

I was slightly wrong about the 3/8- 24 end of the wheel adapter . the thread is 3/4 inch lond with a 1/8 shoulder . the diameter of the shoulder is just a little under the diameter of the small end of the #5 B&S taper . with about 1/16 short of the end . giving the 5/16 bolt about 1/16 end play. The K.O. lee numbers for the belts match the Gates numbers . Their are 4 belts Belt 1 22" # 5M560
Belt 2 24" # 5M615
Belt 3 26' # 5M670
belt 4 28" # 5M710
Nope no money sorry. I know the feeling. Lane

Help with grinder

Hi Lane,

Thanks so much for the all your help with this grinder.

I do have more questions seeing as how I just got a basic machine w/o any attachments or manuals. However I have to take a trip for a couple of weeks and I don't know if I will get the chance to look back here while I am on the road.

I noticed that there are manuals available on eBay, but that will have to wait 'till I return also.

Sigh .....

Best wishes to you always.

Sincerely,

Jim

Jim,
Check to see if you can download the manuals from LeBlond, they bought the rights for all the K O Lee lines.
They sell new machines and it looks like the tool and cutter grinder accessories as well.

Parts Manuals

Good luck, Kevin.

Go to yahoo ToolGrinding : ToolGrinding .You will have to join the group . go to files I thank it is and you can down load a pdf of the grinder manual I did and their is also a bunch more K.O. Lee grinder info. their also . Should be all you need for free.

Quick thanks for info on manuals

Hi guys,

I did get back from my trip & then was quite busy so I didn't get back here or play around w/grinder.

Then my internet was acting up yesterday & today but as soon as I could connect again I downloaded the parts manual as Kevin suggested.

Thanks Keven & Lane for your help & I'll be back again as soon as I can get a bit more free time. I'll look into the yahoo group also.

Sure do appreciate the help & your follow ups.

Best wishes to everyone.

Sincerely,

Jim

Manual

I believe I have a copy of a K.O.Lee cutter grinder on a CD. Might be able to email a copy. I might also have some extra accessories and or attachments.

Hello CougarMountain,

Thank you for the offer to e-mail the K.O. Lee info that you have. I'll send you a PM w/my regular e-mail address to make it easier for me. I get kicked off here if I don't type fast enough!

Would you mind letting me know what accessories & attachments you have as extras? No rush on this end 'cuz I'm still pretty busy & only get to the grinder here and there. I did use it for sharpening the blades for a small metal shear though & it worked out quite well.

Thank you for your time and for checking in here.

Best wishes to all.

Sincerely,

Jim

Great transaction w/CougarMountain

Hi Everyone,

I noticed that this thread has 670+ hits so I wanted to let everyone know that I purchased the extra attachments that CougarMountain had mentioned & everything went great.

Life continues to throw detours so I don't get as much time playing w/new toys like this grinder as I would like, but I want to thank everyone for their interest & help.

I will be back w/more questions - that's a threat!

Take care everyone.

Sincerely,

Jim