Sloppy Workmanship

[ozzie46]

 
When I oiled the spindle bearings on my new Grizzly 10 X22 lathe I saw a lot of black gritty oil come out around the bearings.




I then isolated the spindle by taking the belt off and removing the gears. I turned the spindle by hand and it felt very ruff. So I removed the spindle to check the bearings and this is what I found.


I washed the bearings in mineral spirits and got this.  :fan: :fan:

 



   I called Gizzly and told them what I found. They are sending me new bearings.

  I knew the Chinese mini lathes suffered from sloppy workmanship but I thought the larger lathes would be better, guess not.

  Cleaned head stock out. Now just have to wait for bearings.
 On another note I needed a pulley puller to get the spindle pulley off and don't have one.

 So I went to Autozone ( no affiliation other than customer)and borrowed one. For those that don't know you can borrow certain special tools there. You pay the price of the tool then when you return it you get your money back.


    Anxiously waiting   

   Ron
 

[Bernd]

Ron,

That's a bit disapointing that you found that "black junk" in the bearings. You'd have thought that they would at least clean out their castings.

At least they're sending you new bearings. Free I hope.

Bernd

[ozzie46]

  Yes Bernd,  Free. I would have been highly ticked  if they had mentioned money.

 At least I found it before it went south at max rpm. That would have been a brown spot moment for sure.

 Ron

[bogstandard]

Ron,

I drained and refilled all the boxes on my lathe before I started running it, suspecting something like that might be in mine, but the oil was spotless. The new oil got filthy fairly quickly because of all the rough edges being knocked off gears and other bits.

There is no excuse for a lathe, or any machine, to be sent out in that condition any more.

As far as I was aware, troubles like this were a thing of the past, because the quality control at the manufacturers was supposed to be improved to prevent this sort of thing a fair while ago.

There should be a manufacture date on your machine, I would check to see if it is fairly old stock.

As you have already done, things like this need to be brought to the attention of the suppliers to prevent it happening again.

Too many people on the net moan about it, but don't report it.

Bogs  

[ozzie46]

 Bogs,
     
     Manufacture date; May of 2009.

  The bearings don't run in an oil bath. There are ball type oil holes on top of the headstock that you use a pump oil can on. (Seems to me I remember a post about changing these to something else, but can't remember where I saw it.) Says to oil daily.

  I would say if anyone buys these far eastern tools the best bet is to tear down and clean, clean, clean. I know it shouldn't be that way, but it is.

  Ron

[bogstandard]

That is a very recent one Don, so there are no excuses at all.

I would recommend doing a complete strip anyway on all these small sized machines. By doing that you will be able to set up from scratch and make sure everything is correct, and you learn what is on the inside, as well as the outside. 'Know your machine' springs to mind.

These machines aren't set up at the factory, only assembled to something close.

Mine is a medium sized lathe, and was surprised at how close it was set up. But that might have been the suppliers doing, as I complained about the first one that was delivered.

Bogs

[ozzie46]

 I hole heartedly agree John, Stripping and cleaning are mandatory on these.


 Grizzly did send a sheet that shows they checked the setup but it was still out a little bit.

  John, when I get the new bearings in will I have to redo all my spindle checks? I had it so close.

  Ron

[usn ret]

Ron, if you still have the lathe disassembled you might want to put a rubber bushing around the wiring that comes thru the casting as shown in the second photo. Eventually the vibration will wear tyhe cover off one of those wires then, YOU WILL LET THE SMOKE OUT!!!! and Sir Lucas will have struck again.
Cliff

[bogstandard]

Ron,

Grizzly did send a sheet that shows they checked the setup but it was still out a little bit.

I would be very wary about setup lists given out with a machine, unless it has your specific serial number on the sheet, was an original (not copied) and had a signature or testers stamp verifying the results.

The one supplied with my mill had no serial number, and was a copy. When I checked the machine over, I got much better results than what the sheet stated. I suspect they get an average sheet and despatch a copy of the same one with every machine. Either that, or the inspector's needle was bent on his DTI when he checked mine over.

Bogs

[Darren]

Or just make sure that the machine actually gives better results than the test sheet .... that delights the customer who sets out to find problems.

An old trick ..... 

[ozzie46]

  Thanks Cliff I will definitely do that.

   John It wasn't a copy it was in blue ink but I didn't rely on it. I spent several hours adjusting the headstock and tailstock.
   
    Will I have to do that all over again when I get the new bearings in?

 

      Unfortunately Darren I have to agree with you.

  Ron