I have old tired eyes, if you could add paragraphs with spaces, i would appreciate
.
I see you say you have .001" on front bearing. I don't see a reading for rear bearing. I need that, and you do too.
I do see you said you locked up, then removed shims. Locked up again. You may have forgotten to add details that I don't know. But removing shims will make it tighter still. If anything, you need to add shims.
I prefer an even number of shims on both sides of the cap, or close to even. Does not need to be exact, but prefer to keep it close.
If you go back to post #2 of the thread, I mentioned putting a dial indicator on head stock caps, or there-bouts and indicate off spindle. Do that, front and rear. You want .001-.0015" on
both sides of spindle. Use a pry bar, very big screw driver, anything. . . but lift up and down on spindle to get a reading on both sides.
Lastly, get a thrust reading. That's back and forth,with spindle moving toward and away from tail stock. This can be tighter at .0005", but at .0005" to .0015 you should spin without issue.
I'm going to ask some questions here in no particular order:
1) to your knowledge, has anyone installed ANY of the bearings shells by crushing the top of them with the bearing expanders? Tip off here is you see an expander-shaped dent in the top of the shell.
2) are all the expanders installed correctly and have the small screws snugged up before running the lathe? If the expanders are installed correctly you would have to disassemble the bull gear and cone pulley off to remove them. They should be locked on the bearing when installed correctly.
3) have you drained and flushed the oil reservoirs?
4) are you aware of the correct way to check bearing clearance?
5) if all looks good I can only suggest you install enough shims so that you have excess clearance, possibly 0.003 inch clearance on both bearings or so, and run the machine. Keep the thrust adjustment quite slack as well. If the rear bearing still heats in operation at speed I suggest there is another problem not yet identified. If it runs OK then reduce the clearances by one or one-half thousandth, and repeat.
My go-to oil on these spindles is 0W20 mobil one synthetic engine oil. I have had 10 inch SB machines heat the spindles, when they were adjusted to factor spec, and run on the highest spindle speed, using the correct spindle oil. After flushing and re-filling with synthetic engine oil that problem stopped for me. This happened in two separate heavy 10s that I owned.
I spent 45 minutes writing a reply last night and one little computer glitch and it's gone so I'll add it
again with the short version. Measuring the headstock and bearing cap was a total waste of time. It's not
round for a reason, The bearing thickness and average starting point for shims has to be considered before
line boring. Both ends, rear small bearing and front large bearing are on separate planes or levels because
of journal size and bearing size. I understand completely the procedure for setting clearance for the
bearings to run properly. I currently have 3 bearings in great condition and 2 extra expanders, one I
flattened the VEE by 1/32" to improve oiling as suggested in the 4 page manual that covers bearing
adjustments. I shortened to felt 1/8" to see if it would help but it didn't. After losing what I wrote last
night I went back to the garage and put the spindle back in. The front is set to .018 on each side and the
clearance is just under .002, prior I had it set to inboard .017 and outboard .018 and it was almost a
perfect .001. I'm not worried about it because it consistently runs
the way it should. I set the rear bearing at .021 on each side and after doing the lift test I have .008
clearance. The thing is it won't run without getting hot within 30 seconds. The longest period it ran was
when I set it close to what it was originally and that was .028 inboard and .014 outboard. The last time the
spindle was in the headstock I removed .002 from the inboard side and .001 from the outboard side because it
already had .014 difference from side to side and .001 is what's suggested.
I mentioned this for Texas Gunsmith, he had asked in a earlier post.
My problem is the lack of lubrication evenly across the journal surface, I'm not positive but this appears
to be the issue I am having. I have removed shims from the rear bearing until I get to .002 but it will
barely turn or not turn at all. When it gets hot it pours out smoke so you can smell the oil burning. I
using Mobile1 synthetic 0W-20 hoping this would help but again nothing has changed. I have backed off on the
locknut with no positive results. I know my settings are correct but something else is going on and that's
what I am trying to explain.
I haven't taken any measurements side to side but I intend to do that today.
I have brand new capillary oilers, I have flushed out the reservoirs and cleaned the breather holes out with
pipe cleaners.
Maybe there is no way to correct this problem since it's difficult to see. I thought about shimming up the
bronze bearing just to see if it would make a difference. The instructions are clear enough for anyone to
read but apparently the rear bearings on the 13s and other size South Bend Lathes have an issue with heating
up but it doesn't apply to all of them. I bet all these lathes ran like champs from the factory because they
had all the special tools to put them on the money but the first time you take them apart you are taking a
chance that it will go back together the way it came apart. I'm amazed to see a 13" on YouTube and the guy
puts his hand on the chuck and it spins like it has ball bearings on the spindle, what in the heck is
wrong with my 13" ????????? When it comes to bearing clearance my lathe will not stay running until it has
at least .014 clearance.
Doesn't make sense at all. Thanks for reading.
One more thing, I'd be happy to share the seller on YouTube that sold me an extra 13" rear bearing if anyone
wants it.
It's now 3:17pm, a few hours later since I posted the above. I powered up the lathe with the current
settings of .008 on the rear and under .002 on the front. It did the usual and got hot. This time I backed
off the expander screws a quarter turn or so and it ran cooler. Would not run on the middle or fast speeds
long at all before you could hear the pitch of the spindle and motor change and take a nose dive. My lathe
has a 3 step pulley spindle. Right now I'm going to remove the spindle and put the bearing and expander in
the headstock. I'm going to measure the diameter of the spindle and see where it corresponds with the
bearing as I tighten the expander. Maybe this will get it back in the ballpark or indicate if I need shims
somewhere else to even it out and position the bearing so I can adjust it to the .001 to .0015