1dogandnoexes
Aluminum
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2019
I began work on my Elgin Mill to address excessive lash in the two horizontal feeds. I removed the table and deep cleaned everything in a vapor honing machine and other components in a dry honing machine. The space behind the gib may have never been cleaned and required mechanical means to clean the inside corners of the dovetail.
The acme nuts are past the end of their lives and will be replaced at some point in the future. For the meantime, I tightened the nut until the effort required to turn the screw was too firm, and then backed off a bit. A gap remained at the bearing point between the feed screw and table. I hand sanded two copper washers on a plate to fit. The results were excellent and the lash in the RL axis is zero.
I'd like to remove the front to back lash using similar methods. In order to remove the acme screw for cleaning and adjustment, its bearing needs to be removed from the casting which houses it, so the shaft can be unscrewed from the nut. I can't tell if the bearing is screwed in or pressed in. If all I need is a face style pin wrench, it's easy enough to set up, but I don't want to guess as to the bearings installation. So if any has faced a similar situation, please let me know.
Also, one of the dial assemblies was missing a spring and the small cup which bears on the inside if the graduated dial. I can source a spring from McMaster-Carr but it seems I will have to turn the cup. The locking handles and the washers they sit on, and the cups used inside the dial assembly seem to be from the same stock. Can anyone suggest an alloy that may have been used in the 1920's to make this little cup.
The acme nuts are past the end of their lives and will be replaced at some point in the future. For the meantime, I tightened the nut until the effort required to turn the screw was too firm, and then backed off a bit. A gap remained at the bearing point between the feed screw and table. I hand sanded two copper washers on a plate to fit. The results were excellent and the lash in the RL axis is zero.
I'd like to remove the front to back lash using similar methods. In order to remove the acme screw for cleaning and adjustment, its bearing needs to be removed from the casting which houses it, so the shaft can be unscrewed from the nut. I can't tell if the bearing is screwed in or pressed in. If all I need is a face style pin wrench, it's easy enough to set up, but I don't want to guess as to the bearings installation. So if any has faced a similar situation, please let me know.
Also, one of the dial assemblies was missing a spring and the small cup which bears on the inside if the graduated dial. I can source a spring from McMaster-Carr but it seems I will have to turn the cup. The locking handles and the washers they sit on, and the cups used inside the dial assembly seem to be from the same stock. Can anyone suggest an alloy that may have been used in the 1920's to make this little cup.