Need Advice On My Mill.

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Lood

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Well, we've started cleaning my Remac milling machine and it is quite a job, removing and getting rid of many years' oil, chips and all other sorts of gunk. I'm actually very tempted to take it apart completely, clean it thoroughly, paint strip it and do a proper job with a complete reconditioning. At the moment, that will have to wait though, as I'm to excited to start working on it.
I have two questions, please:

From what I can determine by looking at the insides, after having removed the bed, the machine only has power feed on the X-axis - both ways. There is one knob and gear that puzzles me a bit though. My guess is that its function might be to take up backlash on the feed screw, but I'm not sure. It only turns about 1/4 of a turn in both directions before it becomes really tight.

The second question is about the spring loaded plunger, that supplies oil to the power feed gears, bed ways, etc. I worked it a few times, but there's no oil coming out the copper lines. Could it be that the oil is supplied under pressure, by some sort of oil pump down in the feed gearbox, when the machine is running, by simply pulling the plunger?

Below are a few pictures showing everything described above. Thanks in advance.

Remac 8 copy.jpg

Remac 9.JPG
Remac 7_edited-1.jpg
 
Hello and welcome to the site :)

Nice mill you have there.. Is it an Italian made mill ? I have an Italian made Rambaudi mill with exactly the same make of spring oilers. The first thing that I did with mine (they were leaking), was to take the oilers out of the machine and give the oil sump a good cleaning. You likely have a layer of sludge built up on the bottom and the intake filter isn't able to take up the oil. When it is clean, put back together (I used gasket sealant between the oiler and the casting), and filled, in use, you must pull the plunger back and hold it there for maybe 10 or so seconds, to allow the reserviour to fill up before releasing the handle. At this point, the handle will stay pulled out and slowly pump the oil through. At first, you think that it will never go back in, but it will. If you still can't get the oil to pump, I'd have a look at the manifold and maybe change or clean the outlets, as they can get pretty gummed up.

I've just noticed that it appears that the oiler body is cracked. This crack may also be affecting the oiler and not allowing a suction to build up. That might also be repaired with a gasket sealant.

I can't help you with the gear you talked about. Maybe post a few more details and pics.

I'd also be suprised that your mill doesn't have power feed on the "Y" axis. Can you post some close-ups of all control levers ?

Cheers... :)

Brian
 
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Brian[/QUOTE]
I'm back again... this new software for this site is a bit goofy to get used to.... when I try to reply to a thread, it seems to automatically quote the whole thing... anyway... It looks like your table might be a universal (swivelling) table...

Brian :)
 
Hi Brian,
Thanks for your reply. My mill is indeed Italian made and the table can swivel. After I posted the initial post, I went back and pulled the oiler. It was completely blocked with all sorts of junk. I took it apart, gave it a complete clean and I also cleaned out the reservoir. Put it all back and tested it and I am amazed at how well it actually works. It generates quite a bit of pressure and it does pump oil through all the oil lines - as it should. I was worried that it might leak through that crack, but fortunately it does not. It does leak a tiny where the shaft enters the oiler body and I think there must be some sort of o-ring or something. I'll look into that some other time. So, that one is sorted.

I also removed the secretive gear to try and figure it out. The feed screw moves freely through it, so its function is not to take up backlash, like I thought. The gear is bolted onto the brass bush, through which the feed screw runs. I removed the cap which holds the bush down to look inside there and what happens is this:
When the knob on the outside is turned, the screw turns the gear, which in turn turns the brass bush. I still can figure it out and at this stage it looks like it might have something to do with the lubrication of the bush? However, when I put the cap back and after fastening it, the gear was stuck again and it would not turn the bush - obviously. What puzzles me though, is that the same setup directly opposite does not have this gear.

I'll take more pictures tomorrow and post them here so you can see all the levers.
 
Hello Lood,

I'm glad that you got your oiler fixed up so easily... I see by the pics in the link that you showed, that it certainly looks like just the X axis has power feed. Not a big deal, as these horizontals would be used 95% of the time in that direction, anyway. I hope that it didn't seem like I doubted you, I was just suprised. It looks like the levers on the feed control box are for changing the feed speeds and the levers on the left of the main body are for changing the spindle speeds. I see 3 electrical switches. Is one for the main power and the other two for the main motor and suds pump ?

Cheers... :)

Brian
 
Hi Brian, not at all. I have no experience with milling machines whatsoever and to be honest, I haven't even seen one in action, in real life. So, I appreciate every bit of advice that I can get.
The 3 electrical switches are as follows: one for the pump, one to select the turning direction of the spindle - forward or reverse and the last one is to change the speed (of the motor?) between two ranges - I & II. The functions of the levers are as you described above.
I'm planning to power the machine up today to see how it runs and I will the play around with all the levers, figuring them out.

The sad part is that I don't have any tooling nor a vice! Can't wait to go to the big city again to start acquiring some tooling!
 
Lood said:
I also removed the secretive gear to try and figure it out. The feed screw moves freely through it, so its function is not to take up backlash, like I thought. The gear is bolted onto the brass bush, through which the feed screw runs. I removed the cap which holds the bush down to look inside there and what happens is this:
When the knob on the outside is turned, the screw turns the gear, which in turn turns the brass bush. I still can figure it out and at this stage it looks like it might have something to do with the lubrication of the bush? However, when I put the cap back and after fastening it, the gear was stuck again and it would not turn the bush - obviously. What puzzles me though, is that the same setup directly opposite does not have this gear.
Click to expand...

May I speculate? It looks to me like the knob/worm gear turns a splined tube that's coaxial with the feed screw. The (bushing?) that the lever moves right and left is splined internally to engage said splined tube, thus driven with high mechanical advantage by the rotation of the knob. The lever moves this bushing into engagement with one or the other of the bevel gears, so only one is driven at a time. I assume there's a third bevel gear above or below, which is in continuous engagement with both of these. Therefore, the lever selects which way the third gear is driven.

Your photos don't show this third bevel gear - it could be located above or below. My guess is below, possibly connected to the Y axis saddle, to control rotation of the table. If things appear to be locked up, it may well be that there's a rotation lock somewhere that's still engaged.

This is all total guesswork on my part, but I was intrigued by the "challenge." Glad you got the oil system working, and best wishes. Looks like you have a fine mill there!
 
Lood said:
Hi Brian,
Thanks for your reply. My mill is indeed Italian made and the table can swivel. After I posted the initial post, I went back and pulled the oiler. It was completely blocked with all sorts of junk. I took it apart, gave it a complete clean and I also cleaned out the reservoir. Put it all back and tested it and I am amazed at how well it actually works. It generates quite a bit of pressure and it does pump oil through all the oil lines - as it should. I was worried that it might leak through that crack, but fortunately it does not. It does leak a tiny where the shaft enters the oiler body and I think there must be some sort of o-ring or something. I'll look into that some other time. So, that one is sorted.

I also removed the secretive gear to try and figure it out. The feed screw moves freely through it, so its function is not to take up backlash, like I thought. The gear is bolted onto the brass bush, through which the feed screw runs. I removed the cap which holds the bush down to look inside there and what happens is this:
When the knob on the outside is turned, the screw turns the gear, which in turn turns the brass bush. I still can figure it out and at this stage it looks like it might have something to do with the lubrication of the bush? However, when I put the cap back and after fastening it, the gear was stuck again and it would not turn the bush - obviously. What puzzles me though, is that the same setup directly opposite does not have this gear.

I'll take more pictures tomorrow and post them here so you can see all the levers.
Click to expand...
 
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