Rockford/Hedwick MV100 power table feed install

Bruce,

Now that I've dug a little deeper into the head, I'm starting to see the exploded parts diagram more clearly. I count 3 bearings on the spindle, MV-907 is a bearing at the top of the spindle inside the quill, and 2x of MV-9011 bearings down at the bottom of the spindle, inside the quill. I'm curious if the two bearings you show are the two types and which one I need two of. I'm also completely lost as to what part numbers MV-905 and MV-9012 are...? They seem to be spacers between the two MV-9011 bearings at the bottom of the spindle. Also, MV-9017 is the C/R 275127-M1 seal that I have showing up tonight. Do you know what any of those spindle bearing parts are?

In happy news, those bearings are available from Timken still, even though they're old Fafnir part numbers, and not terribly expensive from either Motion Industries or Amazon.

Thanks,
Will

I am 100% stymied getting that oil seal out, and I now have the broken off end of a wood screw in it, so I'm unwilling to run the mill in the meantime. It definitely seems like the seal is held captive by the nut at the bottom of the spindle/quill interface (the one with face spanner openings). Using a brass drift and a large brass hammer, I was unable to get that nut to start unscrewing and my single face spanner is too small to engage that nut. Have you had a chance to look at yours?

Thanks,
Will

Hey Bruce,

Does your mill head have the original tachometer still? If so, could you take a picture under the cover and a picture of whatever marking/name/serial number/etc there is on the tach itself? I have an old Stewart Warner that I'm thinking about adapting into the empty hole where I should have one, but I'd love to have some decent starting point rather than going at it completely blind.

Thanks,
Will

Will, Sorry been a little busy as my wife had a knee replacement so I'm the care-giver right now so have not been in the shop.

I was given those bearings years ago and do not exactly know where they go in the spindle, my machine is running so I'm not working on it as long as it's working fine. On the seal the way I see it is simply a press fit into the quill/spindle bore if I get a chance in the next few days I'll pull off the spindle nose cap and have a better look.

My tach cast area is cracked beyond repair and the tach is not working. I can take pics of what I have left. My plan is to add a digital tach I have it sitting on my desk but haven't worked on it yet.

I'm never in a rush about anything in my shop -- I really am just a hobbyist, so there's only what time pressure I put on things. And taking care of your wife is definitely the priority, so I hope her recovery is going smoothly.

I had another machinist friend stop by today and he pretty well agreed that the seal is held by the nut on the bottom. I should be able to get it off if I swing by one of the import tool stores and pick up a face spanner set. I just wanted a second (third, fourth, etc.) opinion on it before I got going too fast.

I would appreciate whatever pictures you can send -- it's all better than starting from scratch, but no rush on when you get to it. My cover is in good shape, but there's definitely no tach in there.

Thanks,
Will

My brother stopped by yesterday and, after some cajoling and showing me a Keith Fenner video on Youtube, helped me make a pin spanner out of some flat bar and grade 5 bolts. That got the spindle nut out, and let me mount it up in the arbor press to press out the old Chicago Rawhide seal. It was as you expected Bruce, a press fit, but oh man was it ever a tight one. I've attached some blurry and mediocre pictures of my spindle bearings, but they are not the same as what you showed further up-thread. I only see something like the top edge of an "MM" on the inside race of the bottom bearing. I clearly have grease packed bearings, and much as I imagine the spindle oil will be trying to dissolve the grease, I'd rather that it was at least wetted and not solidifying/drying up in there.

@Asm109, @Brucepts, should I start a new thread on spindle/head/original power feed teardowns or should I just keep growing this one as I do more work on my mill? I'm open to either, I just kinda want to keep it from getting so spread out that future owners have a hard time finding things.

Thanks,
Will

I would start a new thread on a specific topic. Reading 5+ page threads to dig out the one piece of info you are interested in, gets frustrating.
Besides, with more threads, we might get our own Hedwick machine section Thanks go to you Will, this is more info and activity on the Hedwick than I have seen since I got my mill in 1996. I have the tachometer on mine, I will need to pull the cover off so see what is printed on the back of the unit. I just got mine installed last spring. It was missing the drive wheel and o-ring. I took a wag at the size and machined one up. The shaft was sticky with dried lube, after oiling the shaft it loosened up enough to run but the needle does not return to 0. It sits at about 250 rpm.

I'm good with keeping it all in here if the admins have no problem, keeps all together that way. Probably only a handful of us with these machines?

I took some quick pics of whats left of my mill tach as you can see it was damaged in a drop at some point, not by me

I'll pull my cover and get a backside pic when I get a chance.

The wheel should have an o-ring that allows it to run on the pulley as you can see that is missing, tach is missing the glass dust cover. I never really worried about it, my plan is to add a digital tach using a sensor on the pulley. I have all the parts I need to do it sitting right here on my desk it's one of those "haven't gotten to it yet" projects.

You can also see the repair I had to do on the drawbar as the top of mine was damaged beyond use, turned it round and pinned a hex piece in place

I'm short on time right now so I'll get back to reading later on today . . .

Brucepts said:

I needed to use a Bridgeport dial and had to purchase one that matched my leadscrew rotation (0-100). Extra clearance is needed if you want to use the dial since my mill uses a round handle and it limits your "reach" into the dial. I spaced/shimmed everything up and then cutoff my stub extension. Fit my handwheel and added a screw to give positive load for the gears/spacing/shims.



I have a DRO setup on this mill so the dial has not been an issue.

Click to expand...

I ordered an X-axis power feed after studying your procedure a little more. I was surprised that you mention your lead screw rotation is 0.100" because mine is 0.200". Since I also have a DRO to install I'm thinking of leaving the dial off and I believe I can turn the brass drive down as well as mill some off the end bracket if needed. Or do you think I'll end up too short and have to fabricate an extension as you did?

keflaman said:

I ordered an X-axis power feed after studying your procedure a little more. I was surprised that you mention your lead screw rotation is 0.100" because mine is 0.200". Since I also have a DRO to install I'm thinking of leaving the dial off and I believe I can turn the brass drive down as well as mill some off the end bracket if needed. Or do you think I'll end up too short and have to fabricate an extension as you did?

Click to expand...

You are correct I am in error I did use a .200" Bridgeport dial not a .100" one.

I wanted to not make any changes to parts on my mill from stock so I elected to not do any more work than extending the lead screw (not sure why I was resistant to doing any machining on the mill, not like it's a collectable or anything it's a tool that works for me). I'm sure you could accomplish the same thing I did in many different ways.

Keep in mind if you have to do any milling on your parts your machine will be apart, unless you have a second mill? Least you will only have one axis to work in, in a pinch my thought had I needed to mill anything I could "rig up" a temp lead screw out of a threaded rod to cut a keyway if I had to. Making the stub shaft eliminated this problem as I could machine the keyway before taking the lead screw out of the mill.