The Craftmans Shop > New from Old
Rebirth of a 6 Foot Flail Mower
awemawson:
Well amazingly eBay has provided the correct 'operators manual' for this flail - amazing because Turners were taken over by Bomfords many years ago and not a lot of documentation seems to have survived the sale. It's by no means essential as it's a pretty simple device, but nice to have if only as it gives exploded diagrams of the workings:
awemawson:
So having lugged the Traub lathe out of the workshop I now have room to bring the flail in for a bit of titivation.
Grabbed it with the Forklift and it conveniently came to rest with the mangled flappy plates upwards and easy to get at for removal.
awemawson:
But first I removed the PTO shaft before it got bent. Initial inspection suggests it's ok apart from needing a replacement safety cover, but it might be as cheap to buy a new entire unit - time will tell :scratch:
Then I set too removing the flaps. They pivot on a 1/2" shaft that runs through several suitably placed brackets on the body of the flail. It wasn't coming easily but eventually gave in to brute force - it was far from straight. But out it came depositing all the flaps on the floor :ddb:
awemawson:
Now I can't get too involved today as I have to play 'mine host' to visitors in the cottages shortly, however I thought I'd try flattening one of the flappy plates under the Epco 60 ton press.
I had expected that although it would flatten, there'd be a fair amount of 'spring back' and in the end would need to fire up the forge and hammer them flat when red hot on the anvil. In practice this one came out rather surprisingly well :clap:
awemawson:
Having the flail tilted up as it is gave me an opportunity to see how much play there is in the main flail shaft. Sure enough it is major - the bearings must have collapsed like those on the roller as I can lever the shaft up and down a significant distance. No doubt they will be fun to remove - if the bit of the shaft that the inner race seats on is badly worn (as is the case with the roller) then ingenuity is going to be heavily taxed to find a solution as I can't swing it in the lathe (too big).
In the case of the roller I have a fall back plan of cutting the ends off on the band saw, re-machining the ends as they will now fit in the lathe, then welding them back. However I don't think I can use this approach on the flail shaft - any eccentricity and it'll vibrate the whole thing to bits. :bugeye:
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