Another Hendey Refurbish

[682bear]

I finished cleaning the apron and cross slide yesterday, this morning I painted them. While they are drying, I have turned my attention back to getting the Buffalo Forge drill press running. Figuring out the best way to route the wiring from the motor (on the bottom right of the press) to the switch (on the top left) and keep it away from all the various pulleys, belts, gears, and handles wasn't easy.

I finally came up with a plan. I routed the wire out of the motor up the rear frame brace (through conduit)...



...all the way to the top, then over the top gearing...



...then down, straight into the drum switch...



The power wire comes back up from the drum switch to the ceiling, and across to the breaker panel.

I mounted the drum switch upside down for 2 reasons... first, it was easier to route both wires, I didn't have to come out the bottom of the switch, then have to make a 180 degree bend to go back up. Second, with the switch handle on the bottom, I can reach it while working from a chair... the table is pretty low and fat guys like me don't like standing on our heads for very long...

I wired it all up and fired it up... it runs great! I do have a noise in the upper gears... it sounds like a gear is scrubbing one of the covers. Hopefully it just needs an adjustment.

Back to the Hendey tomorrow...

-Bear

 

[hman]

Them thar new-fangled 'lectrics shore do make them old classics real complacated, don't they?

 

[682bear]

I'm back to working on the Hendey today... I started this morning cleaning the inner parts of the apron and assembling them outside the apron to check that everything fits together as it should. I had some issues with disassembly the other day, someone has replaced some of the keys, making the keyed parts a press fit instead of a tight slip fit, so I had a couple of hours of 'hand fitting' to do.

The longitudinal feed clutch assembly was the biggest issue... I did get it fitted and assembled...



Then I began assembling everything in the apron casting...





I made it this far before realizing that somehow I missed painting the rear half of the apron casting, so I went ahead and painted it...



While it dries, I finished assembling the cross slide...



The cross slide operates very smoothly... there is practically no backlash at all in the screw... not more than a couple of thousandths... I am surprised it is as tight as it is considering it is 100 years old!

-Bear

 

[682bear]

I found time this morning to finish assembling the Hendey apron...



All except for the handwheel disconnect... I cleaned and painted it this morning, it should be ready to install tomorrow.

I was a little worried about whether I could mount the apron on the lathe by myself. I mounted the apron on the first Hendey, but didn't have a chip pan in the way on it. It turned out to be pretty easy, I propped it on the very end of my hydraulic cart and maneuvered it in place and got it bolted up... without damaging the crossfeed gear!



I then disassembled the compound rest...



It is soaking in the parts cleaner now... it seems to be in very good condition, but has a few 'character marks' from getting too friendly with the chuck...

I've been trying to come up with the best way to clean the lead screw... on the first Hendey, I just chucked the screw up in my South Bend and spun it while using a brass brush to clean the crud out of the threads. That won't work with this one... it is over 8 feet long!

I may just sit in my shop for a few hours with it across the saw horses and scrub it one section at a time... it will take a while to do that way...

-Bear

 

[682bear]

Today I finished cleaning the compound rest, the QCGB gears, and the lead screw. I test fit the gears to the lead screw to be sure they would slip on fairly easily... they are keyed to the end of the screw, 4 of them were too tight on the key. I set them on my die filer and *just* cleaned up the keyways in the gears. They are still snug, but don't have to be tapped on.

I installed the lead screw and feed control shaft into the apron, then bolted the gearbox housing to the bed and connected the end of the feed shaft to the clutch engagement mechanism.

I then 'grit my teeth' and began assembling the upper gear train in the gearbox... it's tedious... you have to manipulate the screw as you add the gears to it... one at a time... lining them up with the keyway... until you get to the last (largest) four gears. They have to be put in in reverse order and held in place with a 'dummy shaft' while the screw is aligned and slid through them.

It's complicated...

Anyway, I 'got-er-did'...



The lathe is beginning to look pretty good...



I'll finish up the compound next, then tackle the headstock... I'll have to mentally prepare myself to disassemble the spindle. I always have a feeling that I'm going to screw something up when working on the headstock.

-Bear

 

[hman]

Much more than "pretty good!"

 

[Nogoingback]

That lathe is looking great.

 

[682bear]

I've been busy working on the Hendey the last few days. I finished cleaning and painting the compound, while it was drying, I began disassembling the headstock.

After removing the spindle, I found something that surprised me... I really don't know what to think about it...

The spindle bearings on these lathes are tapered sleeve bearings... made of aluminum bronze. The spindle has a matching taper that fits inside the bearing. To prevent the spindle from locking up when pushed into the taper, there is a thrust washer between the shoulder on the spindle and the face of the bearing. This thrust washer should be sized to allow a thousandth or two of oil clearance in the tapered area when the spindle is seated against the washer.

As the bearing wears, the face of the bearing is designed to wear with the taper... thus preserving the clearance in the taper. Actually, the face usually wears faster than the taper... so over the years, the clearance in the taper diminishes until the spindle begins locking in the taper.

When I removed the spindle, I discovered that there is a gap... about 0.025"... between the thrust washer and the bearing face...



... the thrust washer has indications that it has been spinning against the front of the bearing... but... there is absolutely no wear or marking on the face of the bearing! None at all!



I am 99% positive that this is a new, unused, bearing! That is the only explanation for it... someone replaced the bearing with a new one, and never 'fit' the spindle to the new bearing!

Now, honestly, I have no idea how many years it has been since these bearings were available new, but I would guess that it was in the early 1960s at the latest... but I do know that the lathe can not run with that gap behind the thrust washer! The spindle would lock in the taper as soon as any pressure at all was put on it...

I can't come up with any other explanation for this...!

Anywho, This morning, I put the tool tray on the gear box to keep dust out of the gears...



Then I began working on the compound again. I set the top half up on the surface grinder and ground it flat (where the tool post mounts)... it had a .005" 'dish' worn in it... I removed about .006" to clean it up, then reassembled the compound and installed it...







The inside of the t-slot on the compound is a little rough... it has been repaired by welding at some point... I may have to work on it later, but I'm going to wait and see how it works, first.

Up next... the headstock... I'll have to make a shim to fit behind the thrust washer to eliminate that gap... we'll see how all that plays out later this week maybe...

-Bear

 

[WobblyHand]

You have done some really beautiful work. Thanks for bringing your old iron into top shape. It's been a pleasure following along.

 

[francist]

Just out of curiosity, roughly what is the taper on a tapered sleeve bearing such as in the headstock? I’m not real familiar with this type of bearing, seems useful. I don’t need to know the exact angle, just ballpark as in is it like a Morse taper angle or more like an ER collet angle? Just curious.

-frank