Jet Mill Lubrication Help

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umahunter

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I have a jet jmd 18 and I'm getting a lot of squeaking in the hand wheel going up and down when milling but only the hand wheel not when using like a drill press .there's no grease zerk but is there a way to lubricate in there. anyone have tips on doing this. do I remove the hand wheel and go in that way and grease or is it a sealed bearing . thought I would ask since I didn't find anything in the manual I found thanks for any help :) 20161015_164216.jpg
 
I would just try some light oil anywhere you can drip some in the area. If that doesn't get it, then go a little deeper.
 
I have an RF-31 that is almost identical in design/construction so maybe I can help. I'm not sure where the squeak is coming from. There is a sealed bearing that supports the fine downfeed shaft but it also passes through and is supported by the head casting. If I had to guess, the squeak is coming from the shaft rubbing on a dry passageway. It isn't a big job to pull things apart but it is more involved than just pulling off a knob. There are no oil/grease ports anywhere near this shaft - guess they figured Taiwanese grease lasts forever. Anyway, I'll give you a rundown on how the thing fits together and you can decide if you want to tackle it. Again, this isn't a big job - 5 minutes?

  1. Remove the fine downfeed knob. There is a set screw holding it on the shaft.
  2. Now remove the downfeed scale plate on the front of the head. This is the one that tells you how deep a cut you're taking. There may be a screw and indicator plate attached to the nut that sits behind this plate; remove those and then you can get the plate off.
  3. Thread off the nut on the leadscrew behind the plate. There should be a pull pin at the top and the nut will come off.
  4. Now loosen the clamping nut on the collar at the bottom of the quill; this holds that downfeed indicator leadscrew. Once loose, you can wedge a screwdriver tip into the slot of the clamp to loosen it and the collar will slide off, bringing the leadscrew with it.
  5. Lock the quill in place with the locking cotter handle.
  6. Now remove the locking knob over the quill return spring and relax the spring. The spring housing is held in place by tabs that lock into grooves in the housing. Pull the housing away from the head while holding the housing firmly and let the spring unwind. Once it relaxes you can let go of the housing.
  7. Now you have to remove the spring and housing from the pinion shaft. Grab the spring housing and turn it clockwise and the end of the spring will disengage from the screw on the pinion shaft that is anchoring it. Once the spring is off you can see the screw that anchors the spring. Note how far the screw head projects and try to duplicate it when you reinstall the spring. Mine screws in and stops at the proper depth.
  8. Now loosen the quick indexing pin by loosening the nut and then back off the screw. This pulls the pin out of the slot in the side of the quill.
  9. Now you can pull the entire pinion shaft with the quill handles and all from the right side of the head. As it comes out the fine downfeed shaft will also disengage from the pinion shaft and it can be removed at the same time.
  10. It is a good idea to pull the housing (just two cap screws) that holds the fine downfeed shaft; clean and grease everything. This smooths the engagement of the fine downfeed.
Now you can clean everything, grease it all up and reverse the process. It is actually a very simple job that looks worse than it is in words. Sorry but there is no other easy way to do this job. Besides, it needs to be done from time to time so have at it.
 
Thanks for the tips and write up I will have to get into it here soon when I finish up some other projects :)
 
You're welcome. Let me know if anything is unclear.
 
Those Chinese handwheels are notorious for squeaking from the handle or knob. A couple of drops of oil on the handle where it attaches to the handwheel, the swivel part should stop any squeaks. Ken
 
Lol so I'm an idiot I get all my stuff ready to pull this apart get off the hand wheel and feed dial then look at the hand wheel and noticed the handle is lose tighten it up an boom no more squeaking lol it was going back and forth every time I went up and down crisis averted :) :) :)
 
Brilliance at work ladies and gentlemen lol
 
I love it when I make those "good" mistakes - not dumb, just lucky. Glad you got it sorted.
 
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