Wells Index 845 clutch quill feed adjustment

Desertdog · Mar 11, 2020

I just completely rebuilt the head on my 845 and I can't seem to get the clutch adjustment right. Can't seem to get it to disengage. 845 and 847 are identical other then the head from what I can see and what Marty at Wells Index said. The engage/disengage lever may be the issue but it sure looks like I assembled it right. I attached some photos and the diagram from the manual. Any input appreciated.

MetalCarnage · Mar 11, 2020

Does the clutch lever plunger move freely?

Other than that I can't see anything wrong from the pic.

-Ron

4GSR · Mar 12, 2020

Too much grease used?

Just an WAG

paulymorph · Mar 12, 2020

Desertdog said:
I just completely rebuilt the head on my 845 and I can't seem to get the clutch adjustment right. Can't seem to get it to disengage. 845 and 847 are identical other then the head from what I can see and what Marty at Wells Index said. The engage/disengage lever may be the issue but it sure looks like I assembled it right. I attached some photos and the diagram from the manual. Any input appreciated.

Interesting coincidence. I have been working on the same exact part on my 847 over the past 2 days. I just got it working yesterday. I'll add some pics and vids of mine via a google photos album. I noticed you weren't showing the spring in your parts layout. Do you have it? It's an important part of the overall engagement/disengagement. The attached pic shows the correct orientation of the parts in the feedlock housing. The video in this album should give you a good sense of the behavior to expect. You actually need to push up a bit more firmly than you might expect if you haven't done it before and aren't used to it yet.
Wells Index autofeed engagement clutch - Google Photos

The spring above the feed engage dog is vital to get it to slide down capturing the feed engagement latch then when the quill reaches the endstop, it presses down on the lever underneath the mechanism which presses up on the feed trip spaces and in turn on the feed engage dog to release it. Keep in mind that the feed engagement latch is what is pressing the brass clutch lever (wishbone shaped piece) over. That was specifically what I didn't realize because I couldn't push that in by hand so until I got the whole mechanism back together and felt how much pressure was needed, it finally all made sense.

Put lots of grease back on everything and good luck.

Desertdog · Mar 13, 2020

paulymorph said:
Interesting coincidence. I have been working on the same exact part on my 847 over the past 2 days. I just got it working yesterday. I'll add some pics and vids of mine via a google photos album. I noticed you weren't showing the spring in your parts layout. Do you have it? It's an important part of the overall engagement/disengagement. The attached pic shows the correct orientation of the parts in the feedlock housing. The video in this album should give you a good sense of the behavior to expect. You actually need to push up a bit more firmly than you might expect if you haven't done it before and aren't used to it yet.
Wells Index autofeed engagement clutch - Google Photos

The spring above the feed engage dog is vital to get it to slide down capturing the feed engagement latch then when the quill reaches the endstop, it presses down on the lever underneath the mechanism which presses up on the feed trip spaces and in turn on the feed engage dog to release it. Keep in mind that the feed engagement latch is what is pressing the brass clutch lever (wishbone shaped piece) over. That was specifically what I didn't realize because I couldn't push that in by hand so until I got the whole mechanism back together and felt how much pressure was needed, it finally all made sense.

Put lots of grease back on everything and good luck.

Thanks for the input.Sent you a PM.

john~N~dallas · Feb 25, 2022

I am going to tear mine apart tonight.. this may be what I needed.. I've scoured the internet for months.. when I all the levers are in the right place I don't get any rotation on the spot where the hand wheel used to be.. (it was missing before I bought the mill) when I push up on the lever to engage the power feed its like it is squishy but nothing latches or catches. I will break it down tonight and see if I can make sense of it. Thanks for posting these pics and vids.. John

john~N~dallas · Feb 25, 2022

How do I remove the side cover? I could not find a snap ring or set screw holding everything in place. I must be missing something.

GregSY · Feb 25, 2022

In that 15 second Google video...IMO it's not the greatest to engage/disengage the lever when the spindle is not turning.

john~N~dallas · Feb 26, 2022

john~N~dallas said:
How do I remove the side cover? I could not find a snap ring or set screw holding everything in place. I must be missing something.

I got the side cover off... everything is very gummy with old grease. I'm trying to clean everything up so I can at least see. one issue I see off the bat is, in the video where the depth stop pushes down and throws the lever.. my depth stop does nothing I'm not sure if there is a spring or a lever that is under the depth stop and run to the right but as far as I can tell I don't have anything like that. I can post pic this evening if I get a chance to work on it today. any advise would be welcomed

Thanks John

GregSY · Feb 26, 2022

Why don't you post how you got the side over off so we know?

john~N~dallas · Feb 27, 2022

not sure if this is the correct way to remove side cover or not, but how I did it was a used a punch and hammer to punch from inside through the feed lever hole after removing and from the rear there was an opening.. I hammered a little from each side until it was lose enough to pry. still trying to figure out what maybe wrong with the power down feed... I will call wells index tomorrow and see what they say.

john~N~dallas · Mar 2, 2022

talked to Marty at wells index he suggested I remove the "monkey face" cover from the rear and look at the cast bushing that may be wore out. I took the cover off tonight all the gears seem fine however the grease is really thick which I think is some concern or the problem. however when I move the transmission in and out lever nothing happens... still investigating. more work to do tomorrow.

paulymorph · Mar 3, 2022

I've got my head torn down at the moment. started 2 nights ago and one thing led to another and i decided to keep going. Been needing to clean out and regrease any way. My auto downfeed slowest gear wasn't engaging consistently. Pretty sure it's because of the 50 year old grease. So i've got the entire head stripped down and currently trying to figure out how to get the wishbone clutch lever out so I can pull the main drive and clean everything. trying to do it before i lose track of the order everything came out. lol.

What model do you have @john~N~dallas? BTW, if you're in Dallas I'm up just north of Lewisville.

Wells-Index 847 Head Teardown - Google Photos

66788151145__2AD7F388-0F0D-4E8D-B821-4BB195BD51BB.fullsizerender.jpg

paulymorph · Mar 3, 2022

Just figured out how to get the wishbone out. Now on to cleaning...

Pictures added to the google album.

john~N~dallas · Mar 4, 2022

Yes I’m in Plano actually .. I have an 847

paulymorph · Mar 7, 2022

The side cover pulls straight out. Not fastened in any way after you remove the lug bolts. It's a snug fit and may not be so obvious but if you have a couple of magnets on either side, it will pull straight out. That's part 143. Part 141 is the Feed handle coupling. It pulls straight out but be careful to keep pressure 139 to prevent the spring from pulling out. After 141 is out, then you can remove 139 and proceed with whatever else you're trying to do.

john~N~dallas · Mar 7, 2022

Ok thank you .. I didn’t get a chance to mess with mine this weekend I had family in town .. i will prob look at it this week after work .

I looked at the rear gears and does not appear to be anything wrong.. when you engage the transmission with the rear cover off should you be able to see anything happen ? Gears engage or anything?

paulymorph · Mar 10, 2022

john~N~dallas said:
Ok thank you .. I didn’t get a chance to mess with mine this weekend I had family in town .. i will prob look at it this week after work .

I looked at the rear gears and does not appear to be anything wrong.. when you engage the transmission with the rear cover off should you be able to see anything happen ? Gears engage or anything?

Yes, they should spin if the feed lever is engaged (left side of head under the high/low lever). I wouldn't turn the motor on with the back cover off however as the back cover positions the bearings precisely and keeps the 3 gear stack shafts in allignment. This means you'll have to spin the spindle manually in order to see gears spinning and they spin relatively slow in relation to the spindle so it may not be obvious that way. Also the gears will spin regardless of engaging the auto-down feed lever in the front...

Speaking of the auto-down feed behavior, I've attempted to model the mechanism in Fusion 360 and have created an animation and some renders to help explain the behavior of how the latch works. It's not perfect yet and I'll probably improve the animation and upload another version but I wanted to get this to you now since you're trying to work through it.

https://youtu.be/pFYe38luj4U

auto-feed_body_2022-Mar-09_11-37-12PM-000_CustomizedView7803757518.jpg

auto-feed_body_2022-Mar-10_05-44-19PM-000_CustomizedView11221280547.jpg

john~N~dallas · Mar 10, 2022

ok yeah I would not turn on the machine, I was just thinking I might see a gear slide or move but probably not. Thank you for the animation I will have to inspect mine a little further to see if the Bottom orange piece moves on mine, I have a feeling it doesn't. I should have time tomorrow to get back on it. ill keep you posted. Thanks John

Chevy427z · Jan 26, 2024

paulymorph said:
Yes, they should spin if the feed lever is engaged (left side of head under the high/low lever). I wouldn't turn the motor on with the back cover off however as the back cover positions the bearings precisely and keeps the 3 gear stack shafts in allignment. This means you'll have to spin the spindle manually in order to see gears spinning and they spin relatively slow in relation to the spindle so it may not be obvious that way. Also the gears will spin regardless of engaging the auto-down feed lever in the front...

Speaking of the auto-down feed behavior, I've attempted to model the mechanism in Fusion 360 and have created an animation and some renders to help explain the behavior of how the latch works. It's not perfect yet and I'll probably improve the animation and upload another version but I wanted to get this to you now since you're trying to work through it.

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Just a quick thank you for an incredible write up! I've been ignoring my down feed issues for years and finally decided to attack it. (Mine will engage but takes too much effort to disengage) Your explanation and videos are perfect! I really appreciate your time and effort, as I am sure many others do, too!

Wells Index 845 clutch quill feed adjustment

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