Stuck spindle nose cap help.

I hope this is the correct place to post this if not mod please move to correct sub forum.

Anyway I have King Rich KRV 3000 that needs new bearings. The spindle bearings are noisy so these are to be replaced. My problem is the nose cap is stuck. Unlike the BP this mill has an NT40 spindle so the nose cap has no pin holes. I have removed the set screw and can see the threads which look like RH.

I have a Milwaukee adjustable chain wrench that I put a 600mm pipe extension on but the darn thing still will not budge, I mean NO movement at all. Before I heat the cap with the torch I thought I would ask if anyone had any ideas. It did cross my mind to pull the quill and machine the cap off.........

IIRC sometimes the threads are LH.

It's your misfortune to figure out which...

Take the set screw out completely and check to make sure there are no others.
And use a strap wrench if you have one.

Or you could machine it off right on the mill...

It would seem the thread would tighten with turning a right hand cutter..But who knows..can you call the company and ask..I have seen machined abused with not knowing the direction of a thread..or not releasing a set screw.

KING RICH INDUSTRIES CO., LTD.

Believe me, it's no fun trying to figure out if a thread is left or right hand.

Especially if it's rusted and snot-squeezin' tight......

Deleted double post

ChipSplitter said:

IIRC sometimes the threads are LH.

It's your misfortune to figure out which...

Take the set screw out completely and check to make sure there are no others.
And use a strap wrench if you have one.

Click to expand...

I removed the set screw and the cap thread is clearly visible and definitely RH thread.


I have an adjustable chain wrench and it would not budge the cap.

JohnMartin said:

Or you could machine it off right on the mill...

Click to expand...

I'll have to reassemble the head as it is totally pulled down for replacement bearings and it needs a new main spindle support as the bearing cap is cracked. When I pressing the lower vari pulley out of the bearing (it was also stuck) it broke 3 screws and pulled 1 out of the cap cracking the cap. It's different setup to BP the bearing cap and brake housing is part of a large aluminium casting. The screws for the bearing retainer are under the lower pulley, so you have to remove the retaining clip from the spindle push the spindle out of the pulley then press the pulley out of the bearing to get to the screw holding the bearing retainer.

I have soaked the nose cap in penetrating oil put it back in the housing tightened the chain wrench within an inch of its life and beat it with a hammer. You can see the scoring on the cap from the chain, did not budge a mm.

Has anyone got suggestions on the best way to machine the nose cap off so I can get the spindle out.

How to machine it off depends on what you have for machines. Assuming an adequately sized lathe, chuck the spline end of the spindle, and put the tool end in the tailstock. Secure a dog to the quill to drive the quill with the chuck. Now use a parting tool to cut the cap right next to the spindle, just deep enough to get past the minor diameter of the threads. With luck, the nose piece should now unscrew.

A brute force method would be to weld a short pipe spacer to the nose piece, just long enough to get past the spindle flange. Now weld a flat plate to the pipe spacer, and then a large hex nut to the flat plate. Now take the assembly to a friend with a big impact wrench and have him hammer it off.

Removing spindle on a KRV 3000

Thanks for the input. I did put the quill in the lathe but at the last minute decided to give it one more try. I original tried both RH and LH but it would not budge either way, I soaked the quill nose in penetrating oil and put it back in. Guess what the nose cap is LH thread, which the book does not say.

So here's how to get the spindle out on a KRV 3000

Undo the nose cap LH thread, note the nose cap DOES NOT come off it is captive between the #40 spindle nose and the bearings - to get the nose cap off, the spindle bearings must be removed.
Remove the quill stop from the front of the quill as the screw goes through the quill and stops the top bearing damaging the screw thread.

That screw on top of the spindle should be in the collar above the top bearing. it was floating around in the spindle. So the preload on the bearings is incorrect the collar was loose as you can see the spacer between the bearings is loose.

My KRV2000 mill also has a nose cap with LH thread on its R8 spindle. It was a pain to figure it out. I made a beefy aluminum ring with two M6 bolts. These were turned at their tip to decrease the diameter a bit. The bolts were put at the right diameter on the ring to align with the nose cap holes. I then used a chain wrench on the aluminum ring.
It seems that King Rich prefers LH nose caps after all..