How to reduce the vibration of a bench lathe ( Emco Compact 8 )

OCJohn said:
Tapered roller bearings are usually cheap, so no need to be hesitant about adjusting preload.
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Precision tapered roller bearings are far more expensive than industrial quality. The manual shows this lathe uses 32007 P6 bearings. Industrial grade of this size costs in the $50-70 range, P6 would be about double that, and going up one more tolerance class to P5 would be at least double that, and more likely 4x the cost. That of course is using quality name brands, you can certainly find cheaper ones out there.

@compact8, 6 revolutions is too much for proper preload. Since the machine is 25 years old, the grease is probably used up, so it would be worthwhile to remove the spindle and clean out everything and inspect the bearings. Components over time can get stuck on the shaft as well, so cleaning everything will enable you to set the preload properly. Even with no use, the bearings can sustain damage. Since you live in a city, there is likely vibrations from traffic most of the day that can be transmitted to the lathe. The rolling elements will over time wear slight grooves in the inner and outer races from the vibration. If you disassemble the spindle, that would be something to check for, it will show up as very small marks that line up with the rolling element pitch. If you see that, I would recommend replacing the bearings, and don’t keep a chuck on the spindle when not in use if you are doing that now.

To remove the spindle, you might be able to make a press off tool instead of using a hammer to loosen it. The press off tool would have a screw that presses against the spindle to push the spindle out and eliminates any damage from using a hammer to loosen it.
 
FAG makes a 32007 in P5. 123 bearing carries them for around 70$ ea.


Odd, it showed FAG as the brand untill I clicked on it, then changed to generic.


www.123bearing.com

Tapered roller bearing 32007-X-P5 - 35x62x18 mm | 123Bearing

<p><span>The Tapered Roller Bearing, known as 32007-X-P5 Generic, has an inner diameter of 35 mm, an outer diameter of 62 mm and a thickness of 18 mm.</span></p>
www.123bearing.com www.123bearing.com


Here it is.

www.123bearing.com

Tapered roller bearing 32007-X-P5-FAG - 35x62x18 mm | 123Bearing

<p><span>The Tapered Roller Bearing, known as 32007-X-P5-FAG FAG, has an inner diameter of 35 mm, an outer diameter of 62 mm and a thickness of 18 mm.</span></p>
www.123bearing.com www.123bearing.com

I replaced my spindle bearings with P5 bearings from these guys. Shipped from France, but arrived pretty quick and we're great bearings.
 
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As I have mentioned before, there is a lot of counterfeiting of bearings worldwide. If you don’t purchase from an authorized distributor of that manufacturer, you are taking a chance the bearing is not authentic. 123Bearing does not claim to be an authorized distributor, so I would assume they are not and the sources of their products becomes questionable.

That price is a major red flag. This could be old stock they acquired from somewhere that they are reselling, or could be a fake. In either case, a price that low screams run away to me. If it works for you, great, but I would never put anything but an authentic bearing in any of my machines, and I will never recommend someone purchase from other than an authorized distributor.
 
Ken226 said:
I found several other companies in Europe selling the same FAG bearing for similar prices. They could be counterfeit as well though.



Is BDI express out of Cleveland, OH reputable?

They sell p6 and p5 bearings from Consolidated bearing for similar prices.




Either way, the Timken P5 bearings I got from them for my lathe have been running great for over a year, and still have less than a ten though of runout.
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BDI is an authorized FAG distributor, as is Consolidated, but you posted links to bearings claiming to be manufactured by Consolidated Bearings. Consolidated is not a premium brand, so of course they are going to sell for less than something like FAG. I never said you can’t find cheaper P5 bearings, just that the price of the ones in France for FAG bearings is too low for me to trust as authentic. I don’t have access to pricing data any longer, but that price looks lower than what it cost FAG in North America to purchase it from FAG Germany.

I suspect your source in France buys surplus bearings from various sources and can offer low prices since they are likely paying less than it costs the country distributors to buy from the parent company. The problem with companies like that is you don’t know if they are authentic since there is no link to the source. There is a company I worked with in the states that bought bearings from companies that had too much money tied up in maintenance inventory and paid pennies on the dollar. If the manufacturing plant they bought the inventory from bought counterfeits from somewhere, they could then unknowingly sell a counterfeit to someone else down the line.

Hopefully your Timkens are authentic and you got a great deal, they likely are, but I have seen counterfeits that were so good that they fooled the application engineers at first glance, so I do not take chances when I don’t need to, and why I recommend others don’t either.
 
Thanks for the information. From here on out, when I need bearings I'll try to verify that the vendor is a authorized distributor for the brand I'm looking for.

Thanks again.
 
You’re welcome. I’m trying not to be a Debbie Downer, really! lol.
 
Ischgl99 said:
You’re welcome. I’m trying not to be a Debbie Downer, really! lol.
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No worries. I didn't take it that way.

I'm not sure if you remember, but last year when I put those Timkens in my lathe, I started a thread on them.

You and Mikey were both part of the thread. I only remembered because in that thread you, or possibly someone else mentioned counterfeits, which prompted me to contact Timken to verify the markings and part#, and their status as P5.

Of course, they said they couldn't be certain from pics, but the part numbers and markings all looked correct.


This thread.
www.hobby-machinist.com

Timken Spindle Bearings?

The spindle bearings in my 2002 era Birmingham Chinese lathe are still humming along fine, but I sprung a oil leak in the gasket right behind the d1-4 mount. I knew ahead of time that I would need to completely remove the spindle to access that gasket. My current spindle bearings (SG...
www.hobby-machinist.com www.hobby-machinist.com
 
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I forgot about that post. I’m glad you contacted Timken and checked with them, and it looks like they are genuine. It looks like you did a good job rebuilding it, hopefully many decades of good service until next bearing replacement.
 
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