Busy Bee DF-1224G lathe

D

Dr.Fiero

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Hey all...

Saw a few people here posting that they had one of these (as I do!).
I got a PDF of the manual (owners & parts) for it, that also covers the 1237G, 1240G, and 1340G.

View attachment B441.pdf

Hopefully we can all bring our back to life.

Enjoy! :D
 
Did a little bit to the lathe tonight (what else you gonna do on your b'day right?!).

It's always run what I considered loud, and it always sort of bothered me. Then I was at a machine shop a little while ago where lo and behold... they had the EXACT same model as mine! Asked if I could play with it for a minute, which they said ok to. Well - now I *really* think mine runs loud! That thing just purred....

I lubed everything up I could find. Ran it for a while, facing off the base plate of my new quick change tool post (happy b'day too me!!) to bring it down to size.
No change in noise (started bad, finished bad!).
Geartrain was all slightly warm.

Engaged and disengaged various parts, then came the "aha!".
There's an idler cam gear (#15&16) right behind the main shaft (runs parallel to it). It can be pushed backwards to "mostly" disengage the drive (though I'm lost why you would do this).
The main shaft still spins, but just from the drag of the other parts. But the point is - it's TOTALLY quiet at this point!

So - I guess the next step is to pull that assembly out and figure out if the bushings are gone, or what.

Any ideas?
 
What type of noise are you referring to?

If the gears are abnormally warm you may want to check them all for proper gear mesh. Also check for any burrs on the teeth while you're at it. I've notice import gears can sometimes have concentricity issues where the center shaft hole may not be perfectly center or in more rarer cases oversized.

If it's the gears that are loud, remove or loosen all the gears & start by meshing two gears. After meshing, spin the two & see if you find any high spots where they would feel like they're getting tighter. If yes, then set the mesh again at that point. Then continue on to mesh the next gear to the assy & continue on. I sometimes use paper between the teeth to set gear mesh. You can use different thicknesses to adjust what works best for you.

BTW, that manual would be a good addition to our Downloads section. Please feel free to upload it as it may be very useful to others.
 
In the PDF that you posted, go to pg 11 which has "Headstock Casting" and look at #17 and 60. This is the lever that you need to adjust. Loosen the screw, likely a set screw. I posted a picture of mine and the screw is on the back side of the lever. You want to loosen it to allow you to fully disengage the back gears with the shotpin in the back hole and fully engages with the handle forwards with the shotpin in the forward hole. I found the best way was to engage the back gears and reset the handle. You need the shotpin to properly sit in the holes. It may take you a couple tries to get it just right but that should fix your problem. BTW you will get your hands dirty quite likely.
Pierre

handle.jpg handle-and-screw.jpg
 
darkzero said:
What type of noise are you referring to?

BTW, that manual would be a good addition to our Downloads section. Please feel free to upload it as it may be very useful to others.
Click to expand...

It's a "growling" noise - and from the other post above, it sounds (no pun intended!) like they're possibly all noisy.
Would also explain why I've always thought my spindle speed was too low! Like having your 4*4 stuck in 4 low and not realizing it....

Those pictures are VERY similar to my setup. I can just pull up on the lever, and swing the back gear(s) out of the way.

There's a pin/knob on the side of the large gear right by the chuck. Has a spring under it.
But I'm kind of confused, since the spring pushes the knob (22) away from the gear(23), and I don't see a way to push it in and lock it.
Possibly it's broken off inside?
Or maybe I'm just not doing it right. I'd assume you push in, engaging the pin in a hole, then maybe give it a half turn to lock?
(as you can see - that manual really sucks when it comes to details!!!)

I can't upload the manual (yet) since I'm pretty sure I need 20 posts, and I just joined.
But don't worry... writing is a hobby... you'll be sick of hearing from me in no time flat. ;)
 
That knob on the bull gear is as you noted, to lock the bull gear to the pulley set. This gives you the higher range of speeds with the back gears OUT. With the back gears IN, you pull that knob out to unlock the bull gear and turn it 90 degrees so the t bar sits in the cut recess. This holds the knob shot pin out of the pulley and allows the spindle to rotate at the lower speeds. When you allow the shot pin to move into the locked position you will likely have to slowly by hand turn the spindle until the pin finds the hole in the pulley. It will then slide into the hole to lock the bull gear to the pulley. There is only one hole, what you should do is mark that position so that the next time you do. Or have to search for it.
The pictures are very similar as they are similar machines but not the same.
Another thing is the gear noise can come from the gear train on the side of the head stock going down to the gearbox. If the gears are too tight they will be noisy. They require a bit of space between each. A piece of paper doubled up and placed between the gear prior to tightening will help huge!
Pierre
 
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Pierre (and others), thanks!

I'm going to head down to the shop right now and go try to find that hole in the bull gear.
Sounds like I was on the right track, but just slightly missed my train. ;)
 
Wow. You know the feeling of elation when that "AHA!" moment hits?

I had that feeling a short while ago. :D

The pin (that turned out to not be a pin) that was actually a screw... well, I screwed it in (after much frustration of not being able to push it in!).
Rear gears were pulled back.
Hit the button.... whamo! Chuck was screaming along at 1300RPM instead of the what turned out to be 330!

Got further motivated, and ripped the chuck off, stripped it down and rebuilt that too.


TOO COOL! I've had this thing nearly 12 years now, and finally feel it's worthy of use!
 
Success can be measured in leaps and bounds and in tiny steps as well.
Pierre
 
Dopey question of the day, that I'll no doubt end up hanging my head in shame from when I see the simple answer...

I've had a tailstock test bar made up at a local machine shop, since I've always cut in a taper (not on purpose!).

How does one go about securing a live or dead center in the machine end?
I've of course got one (both really) for the tailstock with it morse taper.
But the other end.... ummmm.... ????
 
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