AndyStobbs
Member
- Messages
- 2,475
- Location
- North West England
I have had a new vibration become apparant lately on the lathe. I think its only started since I finally put the levelling bolts in the corners of the cabinet, and set them for optimal coolant draining.
Its something hitting a resonant frequency and can really be felt through any mounted tooling, or placing a hand anywhere on the lathe, and the splash guard is shaking in time with the issue.
It occurs, whether the spindle is turning or not, with the belts removed it isn't happening, which led me to the gearshaft in the lathe itself. In the course of my investigation I stripped down the clutch which has been rattling like mad ever since day 1.
So decided to do a mini refurb on the clutch while I am at it, couple of pictures attached.
The pins had ALOT of wear on them, nominal diameter was 0.247" and the upper portion on which the top clutch plate contacts was down to 0.219", so I made some new pins
If anybody wants the dimensions let me know - it'll save you stripping your lathe twice - unless you are lucky enough to have two lathes (I don't)
The clutch frictions were badly eleongated also
After a couple of attempts I got the PCD almost perfect, that was a nightmare. Some of the old clutch pins were bent and my measurments and maths just didn't tally up. So I fitted the new pins, and still the spacings wern't exact (between opposite and adjacent pins) - my new pins are all within 0.0005" of 0.247". Can only conclude that the pulley holes themselves aren't perfect.
Drilling with a pistol drill it was inevitable that some holes missed the mark, but with a little bit of filing afterwards I got the frictions snug on the pins...
The bearing on the pulley wasn't best lubricated so I cleaned it off, and re-greased it, still sounds a little dry but it absolutely positively isn't worn out. I carried this operation out the first time the clutch was removed, and the vibration didn't go away afterwards, the bearing isn't being used in 'drive' mode anyway as the whole assy is rolling with the gear shaft.
I inspected the gear shaft bearings with the headstock top cover removed and can find no play or anything out of balance that could account for the vibration.
Will keep looking.
Its something hitting a resonant frequency and can really be felt through any mounted tooling, or placing a hand anywhere on the lathe, and the splash guard is shaking in time with the issue.
It occurs, whether the spindle is turning or not, with the belts removed it isn't happening, which led me to the gearshaft in the lathe itself. In the course of my investigation I stripped down the clutch which has been rattling like mad ever since day 1.
So decided to do a mini refurb on the clutch while I am at it, couple of pictures attached.
The pins had ALOT of wear on them, nominal diameter was 0.247" and the upper portion on which the top clutch plate contacts was down to 0.219", so I made some new pins
If anybody wants the dimensions let me know - it'll save you stripping your lathe twice - unless you are lucky enough to have two lathes (I don't)
The clutch frictions were badly eleongated also
After a couple of attempts I got the PCD almost perfect, that was a nightmare. Some of the old clutch pins were bent and my measurments and maths just didn't tally up. So I fitted the new pins, and still the spacings wern't exact (between opposite and adjacent pins) - my new pins are all within 0.0005" of 0.247". Can only conclude that the pulley holes themselves aren't perfect.
Drilling with a pistol drill it was inevitable that some holes missed the mark, but with a little bit of filing afterwards I got the frictions snug on the pins...
The bearing on the pulley wasn't best lubricated so I cleaned it off, and re-greased it, still sounds a little dry but it absolutely positively isn't worn out. I carried this operation out the first time the clutch was removed, and the vibration didn't go away afterwards, the bearing isn't being used in 'drive' mode anyway as the whole assy is rolling with the gear shaft.
I inspected the gear shaft bearings with the headstock top cover removed and can find no play or anything out of balance that could account for the vibration.
Will keep looking.
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