Spindle Turns Under Power Not By Hand

Extremely new hobbyist. I have a Kondia Model G Mill. When powered up I don't hear any grinding sounds or noises to indicate the spindle is in bad shape. I'm attempting to tram the head to the table. I have a dial indicator mounted on the spindle on a holder, and it is barely possible to turn the spindle. If I pull/push the belt myself the spindle moves freely. I have read with other mills that if the belt is tensioned it can be difficult to move. Is this normal? In all the videos I've seen of people using a spindle mounted indicator they're able to rotate the spindle just by normal hand pressure on the indicator mount itself.

PreciseHack said:

Extremely new hobbyist. I have a Kondia Model G Mill. When powered up I don't hear any grinding sounds or noises to indicate the spindle is in bad shape. I'm attempting to tram the head to the table. I have a dial indicator mounted on the spindle on a holder, and it is barely possible to turn the spindle. If I pull/push the belt myself the spindle moves freely. I have read with other mills that if the belt is tensioned it can be difficult to move. Is this normal? In all the videos I've seen of people using a spindle mounted indicator they're able to rotate the spindle just by normal hand pressure on the indicator mount itself.

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Try disengaging the motor, if it is set to a low speed you aren't going to spin it by hand.

If the back gear is engaged it can be quite hard to turn the spindle by hand.

Regards.

Mike

There is a "High", "Low" gear shift lever on the right (as you face the machine) side of the head. Should be a placard riveted to the head just above the lever....
If you push the lever in (towards the head it will move...lever pointing forward is high range. to the rear low...in between (lever pointing down) is neutral...that is where you want it to be for moving the spindle bu=y hand...(tramming or indicating)
Do not shift the lever while the motor is running...be aware that shifting between the speed ranges will reverse the spindle rotation, so you have to run opposite direction (on/off switch) depending which range you are using...
You need an owners manual!
Cheers Ross

AlfaGTA said:

There is a "High", "Low" gear shift lever on the right (as you face the machine) side of the head. Should be a placard riveted to the head just above the lever....
If you push the lever in (towards the head it will move...lever pointing forward is high range. to the rear low...in between (lever pointing down) is neutral...that is where you want it to be for moving the spindle bu=y hand...(tramming or indicating)
Do not shift the lever while the motor is running...be aware that shifting between the speed ranges will reverse the spindle rotation, so you have to run opposite direction (on/off switch) depending which range you are using...
You need an owners manual!
Cheers Ross

Click to expand...

I do have a manual. But I'm not sure if it's the poor english translation (Spanish company) or just my extreme lack of knowledge, but I still couldn't figure it out even with the manual. Here's a picture of the mill from the manual. #33 "Speeds Change Control (High/Low)" I moved the lever to the front (left when looking straight at it) position and the spindle turned way easier by hand. It did not feel like there was a middle position when it was hanging straight down there was no click or engagement.



I signed up for a basic milling class at my local community college a few years ago but had to drop out because of an unexpected pregnancy, and never got back to taking the class. So even though I've watched hundreds of hours of videos with people making stuff on mills, some of the super basics are still not very clear to me. Thanks!

There will be a neutral there, it won't be any kind of click, just the lever rests in the middle of travel from high to low. The detent pin should have a catch there if you release the lever as soon as you take it out of whatever gear is in and move it toward the other. Every turret/knee mill I've ever run had pretty much the same type of setup.

Edit: Ross is right if it's not Vari-Speed, I was thinking that it was too. Just rotate the top lever so it's between gear ranges, there will be no detent.

Precise:
Your machine is a step pulley version...i gave info for a veri-speed ...
The High/Lo speed change lever is #3 in your manual page shown....
You are correct in that there is no real "neutral" (detent) with that setup, But putting the lever in mid travel will give that effect.as you have discovered, being in high range makes things turn easier as well....
Loosening the motor and allowing the belt to be slack will help as well.....But the neutral will be the easiest to use..
Cheers Ross