Clausing 8520 Retoration Questions

I used one of those to fit my Millrite, which has a 5/8" square drive.
I bought mine at Grizzly, which was the best price at the time. I have seen them on ebay for $25 shipped, which is what I paid.
I bought a part from one of the hardware suppliers. It was a 5" steel tube about 3/4" diameter, with a 5/8" square hole for most of it's length. 1/2" of one end was threaded. I used a truck wheel stud that was the right thread to hold it to the handle. Works great.
I recently discovered I could cut off about 1.5" of that to make a similar crank handle for the Clausing. IMO the BP crank would be too big for the Clausing. I may end up using a big handwheel.
 
Just a quick update on the tear-down:

#1: Are there instructions anywhere that explains how to take the bed/screws apart? I'm sure I can get it apart but thought I would see if anyone had an actual procedure or a webpage with it.
Almost completely taken apart: As recommended by terrywerm, it was pretty easy withe the Clausing exploded view of the manual.

#2: I was going to have the moving surfaces reground. It gets a little snug on the screws as you reach the limits which implies it has a slight wear and dish on it. I was thinking about taking 5-10 thousand off the top of the table too. My problem is I have been unable yet to locate a machine shop in central NC (Triad area) that has the equipment to regrind the ways. Does anyone know of anyone in NC that specializes in this type of work?
I'm still hoping someone in NC chimes in on this one.

#3: I read a lot about scraping the ways and looked at possible doing it my self. I'm confident with the right tools I could do it. The problem I see is the cost of a beveled camel back straight edge. So now I'm looking for anyone in NC that might scrap the ways. Machine shops just look at me and say "that's a dying art, no ones does that anymore".
Still looking into this. I plan on PMing Bill Gruby tonight when I get home for advice.

#4: I need to locate a knee handle, anyone have one they would like to sell? If all else fails, I plan to just make one.
caveBob shared some great links on eBay. If a original does not turn up in the next month or so, I'll order one of those and make it work.

Thank you for all the great advice and help!!
 
Dbike199 said:
#2: I was going to have the moving surfaces reground. It gets a little snug on the screws as you reach the limits which implies it has a slight wear and dish on it. I was thinking about taking 5-10 thousand off the top of the table too. My problem is I have been unable yet to locate a machine shop in central NC (Triad area) that has the equipment to regrind the ways. Does anyone know of anyone in NC that specializes in this type of work?

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You may give a company called Omni Mold in Winston - Salem a call. My company used them for some precision work I couldn't get done locally,about two years ago. I was impressed with what they did for us and the people I dealt with.
I do not know what they would charge (or even if they will do it) - but they are who I am going to call first when/if my restoration reaches that point.

Jim
 
I just made an adapter for raising the z-axis on my 8520. I used a 3/4" deep well socket and made an adapter to fit my 1/2 drill. I've seen these for larger machines and it turned out and easy project. It works well for large moves with the drill. It would work pretty well with a ratchet I'd think. I'll give it a try and report back. I'll take a picture and post it later. As they say on TV ..... Pictures at 11:00.
 
Don't grind the table, its the fastest way to warp it. If you have it scraped, get it all scraped so it wont warp. I ground a mill table and it warped .012" on a 26" table. You may want to actually load the mill on a trailer and haul it to someone who has a facility large enough to lift your components and put them on a surface plate. My plate is 4'x6'x8" and its barely large enough to scrape some items and get a good pattern.....my Chinese clone mill is about the same size and I have spent a lot of time trying to learn to scrap, the surface plate was my biggest expense besides the Biax I just won on ebay. Tim
 
Here's some info on the 8520. Maybe there's something there that may help you. God luck with the rebuild. They are great machines!
 
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