Bridgeport knee dial binding

I was moving the knee up and down on my J-head Bridgeport yesterday afternoon and discovered that the micrometer dial binds against the knee casting when the knurled nut is tightened. At first I thought the knee itself was binding and then noticed that the nut was jammed tight on the dial. How is the clearance set? I have a copy of the drawing and it looks like item 88, BP 12060077 Holder, Dial sets the gap. Am I right?
The drawing doesn't show a set screw or anything like that. Is it just a tight fit on the shaft and you move it in or out to set the gap?

Thanks,
Tom

Is this the answer? You adjust it with a pin spanner:

Unable to remove dial holder on z axis knee shaft: Bridgeport Series I-J

I haven't had mine apart, but just wanted to point out that my dial is right up against the knee casting. Yours has a much larger gap...so wonder if something was put together in the wrong order?

CJD said:

I haven't had mine apart, but just wanted to point out that my dial is right up against the knee casting. Yours has a much larger gap...so wonder if something was put together in the wrong order?

Click to expand...

I just happened to have the nut backed off when I took the picture.

It is a common issue to have and seems to be caused by wear. Just put some shims behind it and you will be good.

Jon
H&W Machine Repair

HWElecRepair said:

It is a common issue to have and seems to be caused by wear. Just put some shims behind it and you will be good.

Jon
H&W Machine Repair

Click to expand...

I had the same issue with a dial on the table feed. As Jon mentioned, I just used some shim stock to move the dial out a bit. To move the knee dial out, you'd probably want to shim between the bearing retainer and the dial holder, instead of between the dial and the dial holder. I made my own spanner to remove the dial holder. The slotted clutch is a press fit.

Randalthor said:

I had the same issue with a dial on the table feed. As Jon mentioned, I just used some shim stock to move the dial out a bit. To move the knee dial out, you'd probably want to shim between the bearing retainer and the dial holder, instead of between the dial and the dial holder. I made my own spanner to remove the dial holder. The slotted clutch is a press fit.

Click to expand...

That's what I did and it works great. I had no luck loosening the dial holder with a pin spanner. I made a wood clamp thing and used a dead blow hammer to pop it loose. I cut a washer/shim from some scrap flashing that just happened to be the thickness I needed.

Thanks,
Tom