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Help needed - Spindle removal on a Deckel KF2 Pantograph/Die Sinker

fishiganmichigan

Aluminum
Joined
Aug 9, 2018
Hey guys,

I know most are interested in proper milling machines, but I have a problem with my Deckel KF2 pantograph/die sinker I’m hoping to get some input on.

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The 10k rpm spindle recently started making a little noise. Nothing too serious, just a bit of bearing noise. No heat buildup yet. But I still wanted to remove & clean them, as it should be an easy job, & I want to avoid buying another 3500-lb machine just to get another spindle.

These spindles are designed to be easily swapped out for high or low speed units. Manual states all you have to do is remove the belt, loosen the two bolts on the front of the casting, & lift it out.

The problem here is that this spindle is stuck in the cast iron housing. And I mean STUCK. I supported it on a wood block below & hit the casting above with a heavy soft hammer, but the thing won’t budge. I’ve heard old oil can form a kind of epoxy over the decades & be very difficult to break free, & I’m thinking that is what has happened here.

Any advice on getting this thing out?

Thanks for your time.

Rick
 
Try soaking overnight or longer with a penetrating oil like Kroil. Judicious application of heat from a heat gun may also help.
 
I have purchased used machines where the grease literally had turned to wax. And lots and lots of old tooling where oils have mostly turned to varnish. Agree with Colt45: solvents and heat. I would probably try heat first in this case, shooting for around 200F (if you bubble the paint, you're way too hot) to both enlarge the spindle bore slightly and reduce the viscosity on any possible varnish gunk.
 
Got it! Thanks guys. It was going to take forever to get some Kroil shipped to me, so I tried WD-40 & used the weight of the pantograph mechanism itself to rap the spindle out (that technique was suggested by pantograph guru Arno in a different forum). Now onto cleaning & rebuilding.

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Thanks again.

Rick
 








 
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