VN How To Proceed With #12 Head Cleaning?

Hi All:
I've recently inherited a nice VN #12 (serial 12-8793 from early 1947). It came with a lot of tooling and accessories all in need of refurbishment, so I'll be asking a lot of questions.

Right now I've got the head disassembled to the point that I can see that there is absolutely no oil left in the mid-section but there is a lot of very old grease in the upper and lower bearings. I'd love to completely disassemble everything and clean all the pieces, but I have two concerns...

1) Since I am completely new to this... should I not attempt to move the bevel gear and hope to get it shimmed properly back in place when I re-assemble it. I know nothing about shimming bevel gears other than it is important to get it right and I don't know how to do it.

2) How can I get the spindle out (press it out) without trashing the very expensive looking Timken roller bearing (28150) at the top of the housing. The spindle spins very smoothly right now. It seems to have a little more preload than I would have expected... maybe that's the thickened and aging grease that is all over the place, but it rotates quite easily by hand and I am very hesitant to mess with it.

Can the whole head be cleaned well enough without any further disassembly? So far I've removed the top and bottom caps, the upper bearing preload nut and washer, and the side access cover. I'd like to start using an appropriate grease for the bearings... Chevron SRI or Mobil Polyrex EM from what I've read, but since I don't know what was used previously I'd like to get all the old stuff out in case of incompatibility issues.

Any advice would be appreciated.... Jeff in Danvers Mass.

I would clean it as best as you can ,leave things that are working smoothly alone. Getting rid of as much of the grease as possible will not hurt anything. Once cleaned and dried out , reassemble add the called for lube and start making chips. The only way to tell if anythings wrong is when using it. Good luck with her and let's see pictures .

Flush, but don't use compressed air!
Control the drainage.
Did you find the fee online manuals on the care and feeding of VN?

Welcome to the VN club!!

Daryl
MN

Jeff Sauer said:

Hi All:
I've recently inherited a nice VN #12 (serial 12-8793 from early 1947). It came with a lot of tooling and accessories all in need of refurbishment, so I'll be asking a lot of questions.

Right now I've got the head disassembled to the point that I can see that there is absolutely no oil left in the mid-section but there is a lot of very old grease in the upper and lower bearings. I'd love to completely disassemble everything and clean all the pieces, but I have two concerns...
...

Click to expand...

Hi Jeff,

At that vintage, I would think that the front bearing whould be lubricated with oil from the center reservoir, not grease. Please post several photos of the cutter-head and also the right side of the ram gearbox, so that I can see what cutter-head and gearbox you have.

Do not take the spindle apart unless there is some problem with the spindle bearings! You can clean out the old lubricants without taking it apart. It's much easier to clean if you remove the cutter-head from the ram.

Cal

Thanks Cal:

I removed the head, scooped out as much of the old grease as I could, and then soaked the head in a bucket of kerosene. The first rinse was pretty dirty. The second rinse was much cleaner. I think I've got enough kero for one more rinse, so after that I think I'll call it clean enough for now and push fresh grease through it.

The preload still feels a bit stiffer than I would have guessed, but with mild effort I can turn the spindle by hand.

Here are photos of the head and ram, and a shot the accessories I need to refurbish... the 10 inch dividing head, slotting head, high speed quill head, sub head, and VN 8 inch rotary table. I've also got the 7.5 inch dividing head. I'm missing the change gears, banjo, and gear cover to complete the 10 inch dividing head kit, so if anyone can help me re-create those items I'd love to hear from you.

Regards... Jeff

Cal:

I forgot to mention... the head has two grease fittings. I can see that the upper bearing (Timken 28150) is definitely lubed from the upper grease fitting. I can't tell what's going on with the lower bearing... I can't see anything on that end.

...Jeff

Look to be in good shape!
Thanks for posting the pics.
-brino

Jeff,

Thanks for the photos. I need to see both ends of the cutter-head to tell for sure which model you have. You sure have a lot of nice tooling!

Do not put grease in the center cavity, it's supposed to be lubricated with oil. Mobile DTE Heavy Medium is the right stuff.

You can let your kerosene sit for a few days (or weeks) and let the heavy stuff settle out, pour off the good stuff and reuse for precleaning dirty parts.

Cal

Nice score with lots of tooling!
Take good care of her, and she'll be good for another 50years.

Daryl
MN

Thanks Cal:

I added a few more pictures of the front and back of the spindle for you to look at, and I have a few questions...

Are there any gaskets at the front of the spindle, or is the grease and labyrinth rings supposed to hold the oil in? My head had no oil in the center cavity when I took it apart, but the cover plate was sealed with a very poorly applied layer of silicone caulking, so that may have been how the oil escaped. As you can see in one of the photos, I made a new gasket and carefully removed all of the old caulking, so maybe the oil will stay in this time.

I noticed in other photos of the #12 head that the clamping bolts holding the bevel gear in place had safety wire running through the bolt heads which is absent on my unit. My bolts are drilled for such a wire. I think it would be prudent for me to check the torque on these bolts and add a wire through them. Do you agree?

And finally... how much grease should I pump into the bearings. After a fair amount of reading, I decided on Mobile Polyrex EM. I was hoping to push out any remaining old grease with the new grease and then wipe away the excess before putting the cover back on and filling the midsection. I've already used Mobile DTE Heavy Medium in the ram gearbox and it seems to run pretty quietly. Any advice would be appreciated.

Jeff