This is a continuation of a similar thread in the "harbor freight..." machine section. I am posting these questions here because I hope to get more traffic thus more answers.
I am new to home machining and bought this used 7x10 on a whim. I recently upgraded the bearings to tapered roller bearings, ordered the larger spindle from London, and had to add/ replace various gears (replaced to metal from LMS).
So all the work is done, but i am having issues now. The machine bogs down more easily. I am wondering if this is due to the preload I have set? I was not able to find many resources on how to correctly set preload. Here is how I have it now: when you remove the 2 spindle nuts there is a fair amount of lateral play that i believe is just inherent in this design of bearing since there are a few parts that must mesh together. All of this play goes away when the nuts are installed, but then there is little "free wheeling". (If i disengage the gears and spin the chuck by hand I get 2-3 rotations then friction stops it.) Also I think I need to trim down the plastic spacer because the spindle gear will not full mesh with the pinions (off about .075). This was one of the reasons I have so much preload, I was trying to force the gear into alignment.
The other issue is that I cannot disengage the lead screw unless I remove one of the pinions. It seems there is too much play in the mechanism that adjusts this. If I support the handle in the neutral position there is room, but as soon as i remove the support the gears try to mesh. Is there a simple way to fix this?
I am new to home machining and bought this used 7x10 on a whim. I recently upgraded the bearings to tapered roller bearings, ordered the larger spindle from London, and had to add/ replace various gears (replaced to metal from LMS).
So all the work is done, but i am having issues now. The machine bogs down more easily. I am wondering if this is due to the preload I have set? I was not able to find many resources on how to correctly set preload. Here is how I have it now: when you remove the 2 spindle nuts there is a fair amount of lateral play that i believe is just inherent in this design of bearing since there are a few parts that must mesh together. All of this play goes away when the nuts are installed, but then there is little "free wheeling". (If i disengage the gears and spin the chuck by hand I get 2-3 rotations then friction stops it.) Also I think I need to trim down the plastic spacer because the spindle gear will not full mesh with the pinions (off about .075). This was one of the reasons I have so much preload, I was trying to force the gear into alignment.
The other issue is that I cannot disengage the lead screw unless I remove one of the pinions. It seems there is too much play in the mechanism that adjusts this. If I support the handle in the neutral position there is room, but as soon as i remove the support the gears try to mesh. Is there a simple way to fix this?