Hello all,
It's been about 4 months since I got back to the mill... been a busy and eventful 4 months....
So last week, I decided to take the ram off and clean up the ways; as the lubrication of choice in it's former life has been grease... :yikes:
It was difficult to get close enough to the machine to get the slings centered, so I helped it along with some ratchet straps...
The ram is a hollow casting... still no slouch for weight, but it made it much easier to flip the ram over to clean it up. It must be at least a couple hundred pounds, but not much more...
Planer marks are clearly visible on the non-contact areas and just a hint of scraping left on the bearing surfaces...
A dark blue colour is showing on the underside of the ram. This may have been the original colour. I like the present colour of green, but it is clearly a re-paint.
Once the ram was cleaned up, I then went on to the top of the column. I decided to remove the ram clamping bolts as well as the clamps to do a proper clean-up. Unbeknownst to me, the clamps are housed in a through hole, not a bottomed hole and I heard the sickening clatter of the first clamp falling into the bowels of the machine as I removed the first bolt...
anic:
I took a look down the hole with a flashlight and could see that there was an oil return channel in the column casting where the clamp had likely gone down in. So I took the cam panel off the side of the machine, which gave me access to the main gearing and shafts. Shining the flashlight into that maze of shafts and gears as well as squirming my hand blindly into the confines yeilded nothing. Now I'm beginning to fear that I might have to pull all of the shafts and gear clusters to get at this part... so I sat down on a stool to think about it...
I was looking at the side of the mill where the clamp was when I suddenly realized that the oil sump and cleaner was immediately below and 4 feet down the area where it had fallen. What are the chances that it went down there ?:bitingnails:
Wow... !!! Was I ever lucky... There it was, so I gingerly put a strong magnet on it and had just enough clearance to get it through between the casting and gear...
Here's the part...
And here's the oil sump opening...
I had planned on removing the sump cover anyway, so I cleaned it up as well as the oil "filtricator" ...
All went back together and I was VERY thankful for my good fortune...
Cheers...
Brian