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| Chuck in E. TN:
More problems. While hogging metal off the spindle nose replica with a carbide tool from my inherited tool collection, the lathe started running rough, like a V8 with a loose spark plug wire… I checked high and low range, same thing. Like someone was playing with the power switch, intermittent clunking and loss of power. Since my lathe is a MicroMark with steel gears, I’m hoping it’s a bit of swarf in the gears somewhere. Today a tear-down and clean up, and I’ll see what’s up. I like the idea of a 72 tooth gear, Dean, but I’m not yet set up for gear cutting. I’m wondering if it’s worth working out a system to be able to change the gears used. I’d have to come up with a way to move the worm in relation to the gear. Maybe the answer is to go with a 60 tooth. Anyway, out to the shop for some lathe diagnostics… Chuck in E. TN PS: I seem to have trouble with previewing my posts here to check spelling, etc. When I hit preview, the post I composed disappears! I’ve gotten into the habit of composing the post in Word, copying and pasting to the post box. That way, if it disappears, I can do it again |
| andyf:
Stick to a tooth count that divides into 360, Chuck. As has already been said, 80T will result in it being hard to keep track of your dial. 60T would be a good choice if you wanted to include a detent in the rotab for simple direct indexing, where it would work for dividing circles by 2,3,4,5,6,10,12,15,20 and 30. Out of all the numbers you are likely to need in direct indexing, only 8 is missing. As to previewing posts, I think that normal operation is to compose your post, then click Preview and scroll up to see the preview pane above the toolbars containing all the smileys, dancing girls etc. You can't amend in the preview pane, but can scroll back down to the "compose" pane and make any adjustments before finally clicking on Post. Forgive me if this is too elementary, but are you scrolling back down again after previewing? Andy |
| Chuck in E. TN:
Well, the lathe is fixed. A thorough inspection revealed the gears are fine. Checked the controller connections, as that was a problem before. They were all tight. Checked the motor brush on the front side, naturally the hardest to get to, and the cap holding the brush had broken again. Previously I had glued the halves back to gether. Both brush caps were cracked, so I replaced them. I had ordered spares after the last failure. Oddly, as hard as I have used this lathe, I could see no difference in the origional brushes, and the new replacements! Put the machine back to gether and fired it up. Nothin! Power lights came on, no fault light, but no movement either. Took the controller back off and checked all the connections again. Nothing loose. Reassembled and still nothing. Took the controller off again and checked for burned components. This time I noticed one lead of the 4K ohm power resister was broken. Got out the soldering iron and added a piece of wire for a repair. Reassembled and the old girl came to life again. No bumps, thumps, as smooth as a Cadilac at idle! Back in business. Chuck in E. TN |
| Chuck in E. TN:
While troubleshooting my MicroMark 7x14 for jerky opperation, I found the controller (XMT-1135) had a lead broken on the Power Resistor. Anyone have the specs on this resistor? It's R17 on the board. I measured it with a multimeter at 3.84 K ohms. Color code is Orange, White, Red, Silver, indicating 3.9 k ohms at 10%. What I need is the power rating. My SWAG is (120vx120v)/3900 ohms=5 watt would be suffiient. Chuck in E.TN |
| Chuck in E. TN:
I continue to have trouble posting. I compose the post, and when I hit the post button it disappears! Anyway, the Rotary Table is functioning! Rough as a cob, and needing a dial, scale, crank handle, clamps, and bearings added to the worm screw, but it works, and I built it! The first job was to drill the bolt circle for the spindle nose piece. I have torn it down and refined the registration face as it was a bit tight. But, the face plate, and chucks fit. I will spend time refining it more, and I want to shorten the body by ¾”, shorten the spindle nose, and the spindle axis. I will probably remake the top plate also, as I had to offset it ¼” to fit the worm. Here’s a video of it clamped to the mill table, and being rotated via my cordless drill. Thanks to all those who commented, made suggestions, and provided moral support through this project. And thanks especially to Dean for posting his excellent project that was my inspiration. Chuck in E. TN |
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