The Shop > Tools
Bumble Fingers courts disaster!
John Hill:
Stew, good one on the fridge magnets! :thumbup:
John Hill:
I suppose it is an ill wind etc etc.... when I got to actually looking into this issue I find the apron gear box has more cooling fluid than oil and a layer of 'mud' under that! :doh:
Still no sign of this errant screw, which really, really must be found or I need to clean and examine inside the gear box to establish it is not there.
So now I am looking at how to take the apron off, might be easy, might be hard but if I can do it I can clean that mud out and settle the screw issue. :scratch:
bogstandard:
John,
Did you get a decent manual with your lathe, or did you download one from Grizzly as I suggested. There should be a blow up in the parts schedule to give you some idea of how it comes apart.
Maybe you should also look at sealing the access plate with some silicone gunge or thin silicone gasket material, just to keep the coolant out of there, a couple of extra screws might help as well. But make sure you count them all in and out, you don't want a repeat of what is happening now.
Your problem has never occurred on my machine, as I don't use the flood coolant, and will never consider it in the future. Up until now, a WD40 spray or a bit of coolant squirted out of a washing up liquid bottle has done me, and in the near future, when time allows, I will be setting up a spraymist system. That coolant tank is locked in that back cupboard until the time comes for the lathe to be moved. Hopefully, not in my lifetime.
John
John Hill:
John, I received the toilet paper parts manual which shows all the parts clear enough but no mention as to the sequence for taking any parts off! I asked the same question over on Gareth's site at least his people should know what sequence is required to get the box off the front but I do not know how often he looks at that site.
It might be easier to lift the saddle off which would be an alternative I suppose.
I have the Grizzly manual too but it does not show anything about disassembly.
The design is extremely poorly protected against coolant entry, the little metal plate has no sealing surfaces and had no sealant of any kind and any coolant that gets on the top of the cross slide can run off the end and on to that plate though I suppose it is a risk that depends on mode of operation. i.e. position of the cross slide. However it will be easy to seal down when I put it all back together again.
There is no sign of coolant having got into where the threaded part of the cross slide screw is but that area is wide open to the gear box too!
Of course I am kicking myself for having got into this pickle but in the last few minutes I have found another disaster waiting to happen in that the grub screw that locks the cross slide pinion was loose, so that was waiting to drop into the gearbox too! :doh:
bogstandard:
Maybe this was a fortunate thing to happen at this time.
Just take your time, make lots of sketches, and don't force anything apart. Keep everything in a box, and make sure you have nothing left over when it is finished. If some little Chinese chappie with no skills can put it together, I am sure a man of your calibre can get it apart.
Just remember, in your distant past, you most probably came from a race of world beating Victorian engineers, lets see if any of those genes are still in there.
John
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