Unimat-sl db 200 restoration

Lex_Peacekeeper

Lex_Peacekeeper

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Ello Everyone I have just joined to hopefully pick some peoples brains for the info I cant find online in restoring a unimat-sl db 200 that fell into my lap

IMG_20220128_125356.jpg

right now my main projects are little things made from resin and wood so this will help alot the plan is to restore this as close to original as I can with what I have.
I am unlikely to hunt down OG parts for it unless I need to as they are costly for how tiny this little lathe is.

lets get to what I need help with so far.

1: does anyone know of a digi copy of the OG manual? the few links I have found via video and googling are all dead what I mainly want from it is how the spindle is put back together as I think mine is missing the preload washers some video have talked about not 100% sure on this as I am waiting to borrow a parts washer before I finish taking the spindle apart

2: what grease do I need to repack the spindle? the only info I have found that's not a product no longer sold is "never #2 grease" its to solid from what they have said

3: should the back gear plate (the darker part of the chuck) be able to come off? the chuck is a bit rusty so was going to soak it in Evapo-Rust to help clean it up as I do this.

4: one of the things that's missing of main parts are centers was wondering would it be reasonable for a brand new person to turn down the shaft of some cheap ones from amazon or the like? I missed my window for buying some off ebay and the ones on amazon are 1mm to big if their measurements can be believe

5: I know the OG motor is a 80% cycle one (8 minutes on 2 minutes off for cool down) are there full cycle motors out there that can be mounted on the old bracket and are still drive the unit proper? every thing I have seen been this big clunky thing with a control box mounted on like a steel plate and was hoping to keep this guy moveable and able to go back into the OG box I have

this is all I have for now I am sure more things will come up as this goes on, I plan on repainting it, saw a few video of the same paint type in a nice dark blue so will likely hunt that down once I am ready for painting (never liked machine green paint saw to much of it in the 89/90s)
if more pictures are needed/wanted I can take more forgot to grab one before I started taking it apart
 

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The original green paint is unobtainable.
 
There's a yahoo group for unimats.
 
Dhal22 said:
There's a yahoo group for unimats.
Click to expand...
"Yahoo! Groups, once upon a time a hub to many online communities, was shut down in 2020. Yahoo! Groups used to host mailing lists going as far back as 1997, and perhaps you may have once been a part of it yourself."

saw it talked about many times but its gone no clue if they opened up somewhere else, trust me when I say I looked around the net before picking here to join and ask stuff
 
Hello and welcome.

You are definitely in the right place to ask questions and learn. I don’t have a unimat but I’m sure one of out members will be able to answer questions.

There are three Unimat docs in our downloads section but you do have to be a supporting member ($10) to access that area. It’s well worth the price imho.

www.hobby-machinist.com

Premium page

This space allows you to choose a Premium deal
www.hobby-machinist.com www.hobby-machinist.com

Yes, some Yahoo groups live on but this place is very active compared to most mailing lists I’ve been on. It looks like @Ulma Doctor may have your same machine so hopefully he’ll be able to answer some questions.

John
 
Richard King 2 said:
It is mechanical and looks pretty simple to me. I have never done one, but I am sure I can help you. I recommend 30% fill https://www.exxonmobil.com/en/aviation/products-and-services/products/mobilgrease-28
Click to expand...
will be taking apart the spindle tomorrow, if no one else has a "this should be use" I'll go with that, not sure what a 30% fill is (guessing 30% of the housing filled of grease) so might need some more info there, ^^; this project is out of my wheel house, I mainly fix computers so everything is new to me
 
over all update, I dont get to borrow a parts cleaner turns out if you let them sit for a bit they rust out very easy knew three people that had them all three now just have rust piles. so will be cleaning the spindle by hand with a bucket and degeaser hopefully I dont lose anything I did however get use of a sand blaster chamber so I can remove the paint need to order the new paint before to long
 
I took a SKF Bearing class several years ago where I learned that most bearing failures were from poor installation of new bearings and to much grease. Theytold me to never pack a bearing with more then 30% Volume. I just spent a 1/2 hour looking on You Tube for a super way to pack bearings. The tech counted the openings of the cages that separates the bearings and divided by 30%. Using a syringe he bought a a farm store, he filled it with grease. Then he filled the 30% of the gaps with grease. Stopped and installed the bearing. I did find this SKF booklet and on Page 933 they discuss grease and how to much grease heats the bearing up and ruins it. If the area around the bearing is open then if you fill say with 50% then as the bearing turns it flings the grease out. http://bearing.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/SKF.Bearing.Installation.Guide_.pdf

I also use Kluber grease on the expensive bearings. Kluber is probably the best grease made. Look on page 13 where they show a photo of a bearing.. They suggest 25 to 35% pack file:///C:/Users/richa/Downloads/B010000502_Rolling_Bearings_EN_1220.pdf
 
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