- Joined
- Oct 17, 2022
- Messages
- 8
For those who have had their apron apart, I was wondering what kind of wear you observed on the worm gear. I was trying to turn a taper with the top slide today, and it is so bad(long story) that I have just about given up on it. In light of that, and just for the sake of improving the overall capability of the lathe, I am leaning very hard towards doing away with it all together, and machining a new, more robust cross slide with a selection of t-slots and a riser for the QC tool holder. With that in mind, I started some disassembly to start working up a plan. I wanted to take a good look at the saddle to confirm some of the ideas I was tossing around, and since I had it off, I went ahead and slid the apron off the end of the screw to examine everything and clean the sludge out of the bottom(when I drained it, nothing came out until I poked a hole thru the sludge on the bottom.
Everything looked really good until I got to the worm gear and the so called bearings that contain it. The worm looks fine, as does the key in the bore, but the whole worm slid back and forth at least a quarter inch, and the bearing surfaces are tapered and scoured badly., and the bearings are just as bad. I don't want to disparage my my machine, or the manufacturer, but even a casual inspection reveals that they were not getting adequate lubrication, and call me a skeptic, but steel on steel with no lube is not a recipe for long term durability. The worm is fine, so I think I will button things back up without the worm, long enough to machine some new bearings, and clean/true up the worm gear bearing surfaces. Can't really leave it as it is, because when the worm shifts, it ends up riding offset to the wheel gear, and that can not be good for long term health of either. Have to come up with a plan that doesn't include dropping $500 on a new gear and bearings. Part of that plan will be an improved lubrication setup, because what was there was not working. I keep the apron overfilled, and keep the screw wet with oil, but none was getting to those bearings, and hadn't ever as near as I could tell.
So, for those who have been inside their aprons, I am curious what you encountered. I can not believe that mine is unique. It is probable that the damage was done long before I bought the machine. Maybe it had been run without lube, but I have no way of knowing. Everything else in there looked great.
Everything looked really good until I got to the worm gear and the so called bearings that contain it. The worm looks fine, as does the key in the bore, but the whole worm slid back and forth at least a quarter inch, and the bearing surfaces are tapered and scoured badly., and the bearings are just as bad. I don't want to disparage my my machine, or the manufacturer, but even a casual inspection reveals that they were not getting adequate lubrication, and call me a skeptic, but steel on steel with no lube is not a recipe for long term durability. The worm is fine, so I think I will button things back up without the worm, long enough to machine some new bearings, and clean/true up the worm gear bearing surfaces. Can't really leave it as it is, because when the worm shifts, it ends up riding offset to the wheel gear, and that can not be good for long term health of either. Have to come up with a plan that doesn't include dropping $500 on a new gear and bearings. Part of that plan will be an improved lubrication setup, because what was there was not working. I keep the apron overfilled, and keep the screw wet with oil, but none was getting to those bearings, and hadn't ever as near as I could tell.
So, for those who have been inside their aprons, I am curious what you encountered. I can not believe that mine is unique. It is probable that the damage was done long before I bought the machine. Maybe it had been run without lube, but I have no way of knowing. Everything else in there looked great.